I’ve been meaning to share this tamarind king fish curry recipe for a while now. Since my husband recently bought some fresh king fish, yesterday I decided to make this tamarind curry and finally share it with you.
A good fish curry next to a bowl of steamed rice has become my favorite food since I moved to India. It’s light, flavorful, healthy and easy to make. Yet I noticed that I haven’t posted enough of fish curry recipes on my blog.
The tamarind king fish curry recipe that I’m sharing today is inspired from Kerala cuisine, well known for its fish and seafood delicacies.
I have used king fish (surmai/king mackerel), a firm fish that holds up well in stews, and if you fry it you don’t need to use flour in your seasonings. If you don’t find easily king fish, you can use other firm-fleshed fish (e.g. tilapia).
The sauce is an amazing mixture of hot, sour and pungent flavor. If you prefer your curry a bit milder like I do, then adjust the ground chilies. I used tamarind paste as a souring agent but if it’s not available for you then you can use lemon/lime juice or amchoor (dried sour mango) powder. Tamarind paste/tamarind concentrate can be found mostly in Asian food stores or you can buy it online from amazon
Here are some other fish curry recipes you may want to try:
Fried Indian salmon with coconut gravy
I hope you enjoy this fish curry recipe! And if you do try it, I hope you will keep me posted on how it turned out for you. Enjoy!
Step by step Tamarind king fish curry recipe – king fish (surmai) in tamarind sauce
Into a bowl mix garlic, ginger, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and keep aside.
Heat oil into a deep frying pan. Add cumin and fennel seeds
Add garlic, ginger, salt, coriander and turmeric powder mixture. Mix and fry for about 3 minutes.
Now add pureed tomatoes and red chilli powder, mix and cook for another 3 minutes.
Pour in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
Add 1 tsp tamarind pulp, mix and cook for another 1 minute.
Turn the heat to low and add fish slices. Cover the pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and serve warm with boiled rice, flat bread or grilled vegetables.
- 6 slices/fillets of king fish/surmai or other firm-fleshed fish;
- 1 tbsp crushed garlic or garlic paste;
- 1 tbsp grated ginger or ginger paste;
- 1 tbsp coriander powder;
- 1 tsp turmeric powder;
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, more or less as per taste;
- 1/2 tsp salt or as per taste;
- 1 onion, chopped;
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds;
- 1 tsp fennel seeds;
- 2 tomatoes, pureed or grated;
- 1 cup of water;
- 1 tsp tamarind pulp/tamarind paste;
- few cilantro/coriander leaves, to garnish;
- vegetable oil.
- Into a bowl mix garlic, ginger, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and keep aside.
- Heat oil into a deep frying pan. Add cumin and fennel seeds. When they start to sizzle add chopped onion and stir fry until the onion gets golden brown in color.
- Add garlic, ginger, salt, coriander and turmeric powder mixture. Mix and fry for about 3 minutes.
- Now add pureed tomatoes and red chilli powder, mix and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Pour in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
- Add 1 tsp tamarind pulp, mix and cook for another 1 minute.
- Turn the heat to low and add fish slices. Cover the pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and serve warm with boiled rice, flat bread or grilled vegetables.
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