Fish Makhani is just what its name suggests - fish in a delicious, thick, creamy sauce! Serve it on a bed of plain boiled rice or better still, team it with Kaali Daal, Naan and a salad!
Yield: Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients:
- 1 kg fish fillets (any fish with firm white flesh) skin removed, cut into 2' pieces
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your taste)
- 6 cloves
- 8-10 peppercorns
- 1" stick of cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 8-10 almonds
- Seeds from 3-4 pods of cardamom
- 1 cup fresh yogurt (must not be sour)
- 3 tbsps vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 tsps garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 2 tsps coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 400g/ 14 oz of chopped tomatoes, ground into a smooth paste in a food processor
- 1/2 litre fish stock
- 2 tbsps kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- 3 tbsps unmelted, soft butter
- Salt to taste
- Coriander leaves to garnish
Preparation:
- Mix the fish, lime juice, salt and red chilli powder in a large, non-metallic bowl. Cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour.
- Heat a flat pan or griddle on medium heat and gently roast (stirring frequently) the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves and almonds till they darken slightly. Cool and add the cardamom seeds. Now grind into a coarse powder in a clean, dry coffee grinder.
- Mix the yogurt, above whole spice powder (from previous step), coriander, cumin and turmeric powders together and add them to the fish. Allow to marinate for another hour.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan on medium heat. When hot, add the onions. Fry till a pale golden brown in color and then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.
- Add only the fish from the fish-spice mix and fry till sealed (fish will turn opaque and the flesh will go from pink to whitish in color). Stir very gently.
- Now add the tomato paste, fish stock, kasuri methi and remaining part of the yogurt-spice mix to the fish.
- Cook till the fish is tender and the gravy is reduced to half its original volume. Stir very gently every now and then to avoid breaking the fish up.
- Melt the butter in another small pan and then pour it over the fish. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Naan, Kaali Daal and a salad.
Tip: For an authentic and traditional cooked-over-the-coals flavour: When the fish is cooked, make a small bowl shape with aluminum foil and place it on top of the curry ('floating' on it). Heat a briquette of charcoal on an open flame till red hot and gently put the charcoal in to the aluminum foil bowl. Cover the dish immediately. Remove the cover just before serving, discard the foil bowl and charcoal and serve. The curry will be infused with a lovely smokey flavor!
