Last Friday I made possibly the easiest and most delicious curry I have made to-date. It was one of those dishes, that when I tasted it, I thought to myself – did I really make that?!  It was delicious, and I was excited. Yes, I get incredibly excited when something that tastes so good is made by myself  – spatula in hand I did a little jig and then than called C over to taste it. I expected him to break out into a little dance too – naturally that didn’t happen, but he did agree it was delicious.

Not only was it delicious it was easy! I love curries, but sometimes I get put off making them when I look at the sheer length of the ingredient list, and many of the items are impossible to get here in Brazil.

So when I came across this recipe in BBC Good Food (where else?  That site is my internet Bible), I was immediately struck at how straightforward it was and with a few personal tweaks here and there, I had all the ingredients at hand.

Instead of rice (which would have been lovely with this dish), I served the curry on a bed of lightly sautéed bean sprouts in garlic. I made sure the bean sprouts were just warmed through, yet still maintained their crunch, and it worked wonderfully. The sprouts added a lovely texture, but also served as a great vehicle for all that rich sauce.

For the original recipe please click here.

Fried Fish Curry – Serves 4

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 4 – 5 garlic cloves
• Thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 tblsp of Madras curry paste (OR 3 generous tsp of curry powder + water)*
• 165ml  coconut milk
• Large handful coriander, finely chopped
• 500g white fish fillets, skinned (any white flaky fish will do)
• Juice of half a lemon

Heat coconut oil in a pan. Tip in the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 8 mins until soft and golden.

Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes, garlic and ginger in a food processor to a smooth purée.

*If you do not have curry paste at home, put the curry powder into a little bowl and, progressively add water to the powder until you get a thick runny paste. This is what I did and it worked perfectly.

 Add the curry paste to the onions and fry for 3 mins more. Stir in the tomato mix and simmer for 10 mins until thickened. Add the coconut milk and handful of chopped coriander (leave some for garnish later). Simmer again to thicken.

Heat the remaining oil in a non-stick frying pan. Cook the fillets, in batches, over a high heat for 1 min or so on each side, until they begin to brown. Carefully place fish in the tomato mixture and simmer until just cooked through. Squeeze half a lemon over the sauce and give it a quick mix. Scatter over coriander sprigs and serve.