Tamarind Fish Curry

♥ The way to my heart. ♥

Valentine's Day is on it's way: make your restaurant reservations now!

Or, don't. I might be in the minority here, but there are so many reasons why eating at home is more romantic than eating out (which, even those in the minority like myself have to accept is what most couples seem to want to do for this red-and-pink paper heart scattered holiday).

Chief among these is my belief that nothing - that's right, nothing - says 'I love you' like cooking someone a meal. Ironing for them will come a close second, granted, but that simple act of preparing something to eat for someone other than yourself is the ultimate expression of love. It's about sharing, caring and nourishing; it tells your lover, friend or family member that you value them. It's a beautiful thing to do.

It's also a great way to show off, which you might find yourself wanting to do if you're newly attached at this time of year. We've all been there.

This, for me, is the ultimate food for the occasion. It's exotic (and be honest with yourself: you need that at this time of year), it's simple (I made it in my Multicooker REDMOND RMC-M4502, so it almost made itself, truth told) and it will wow.

One day, I am going to travel to Southern India and taste this sort of seafood curry for myself. I might even take my Valentine (so long as he pays half). But until then, I'll make it in my little Cardiff kitchen on dark, dreary February days and dream.

 

The red utensils around my Redmond may make it seem like I am a Valentine's aficionado. 

But do not be fooled. I am still bitter. :)

You can vary this quite a bit. If you don't have any cod, use another white fish. Or use prawns (straight from frozen will be fine). Vegan? Throw in a tin of chickpeas.

Happy Valentine's Day. (And don't worry - I will be back to the sweet stuff soon enough!)

Tamarind Fish Curry

You will need:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, chopped
1 chilli (red or green), finely chopped
a thumb-sized chunk of fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
tamarind paste (to taste; I added a generous tbsp)
2 fillets of cod
chopped fresh coriander, to serve

1. Set the multicooker to fry. Add the oil, mustard and cumin seeds and fry until the mustard seeds splutter and pop. This takes around a minute. 
2. Immediately add the chopped onions and fry for 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft.Add the ginger and chilli, and fry for another minute.
3. Add the turmeric and stir well. The mixture will dry a little. Now add the tin of coconut milk and tamarind paste and stir well.
4. Switch the multicooker to the cook function and set the temperature to 120C. Close the lid and set the cooking time for 10 minutes.
5. Stir the curry sauce well, add the fish fillets and cook with the lid closed for 5 minutes.
6. Check that the fish is cooked through and serve with rice and fresh coriander.

Delicious Delicious Delicious received a sample multicooker courtesy of Redmond and was commissioned to write a recipe. My opinions are, as always, my own.