Anumita improvises and experiments with her cooking. Here’s her red curry fish, exclusively for Different Truths.

Cooking is a process of experimenting. Taste, colour, texture and the liking of the people who will eat it are the deciding factors. I favour certain flavours and often tend to gravitate towards those aromas. Most of the time such flavours are acquired from childhood food or some food from travels.

Usually, when we visit an Oriental eatery, I prefer to have the Red Curry Chicken or the mixed pot. It comes sizzling hot and each spoonful is like a combination of all senses doing the foxtrot in my mouth.

Usually, when we visit an Oriental eatery, I prefer to have the Red Curry Chicken or the mixed pot. It comes sizzling hot and each spoonful is like a combination of all senses doing the foxtrot in my mouth. Well, I said it, Oriental food doing the foxtrot, pretty impressive, ha! My family does not like the spices in the Red Curry, so, I decided to improvise to make both our likings meet at a common ground.

The nonvegetarian ingredient I chose was salmon. Salmon is a stiff fish which flakes in larger chunks and often holds steady after being boiled in broth. I just changed some of the spices to the usual Indian cooking ones and brought about this dish. It did turn out to be good and both me and my family members enjoyed it with white rice.

Try out this easy recipe and see for yourself how a foreign flavour could be incorporated into our desi palate.

Try out this easy recipe and see for yourself how a foreign flavour could be incorporated into our desi palate.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Cuisine: Fusion

Meal: Main course

Ingredients:

Salmon (4 chuncky, single servings without skin)

Onions 2 large ground

Garlic 4tbs ground

Ginger 1tsp ground

Green chilli 4 slit into half

Tomato Paste 4 tbs

Frozen or fresh peas 1 cup

Kashmiri chilli powder 3 tsp

Whole garam masala roasted and ground 2 tsp (cardamoms both green and back, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, whole peppercorn, stone flower, aniseeds, star anais, mustard and dry red chilli)

Turmeric powder 1tsp

Coconut cream 1 cup/ coconut milk 2cups

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

Cut the fish into 2” cubes and marinate it with salt, a little turmeric, some of the garlic and ginger paste, for a minimum of half-hour.

In a deep bottom, pan-fry the fish pieces and keep them aside.

In that same pan fry the onions and then add the rest of the garlic and ginger paste.

Sprinkle some salt and turmeric.

Once the ingredients start letting off oil add the tomatoes, garam masala powder and Kashmiri chilli powder.

Once all the spices have incorporated add coconut cream and a cup of water. If you are using coconut milk you do need to add water.

Lower the heat and add the fish pieces and the peas.

Simmer on low and add the green chilies at the end.

Fried mushrooms can be added to this too.

Garnish it with fresh cilantro and serve hot with white rice.

Enjoy each spoonful.

Photo by the author