Spicy Fish Curry with Coconut and Tamarind makes for a soul soothing weeknight dinner and can be made with any seafood you have at hand. There’s nothing that seafood can’t cure and this recipe is worth turning to! Its ready in under 30 minutes!

We are big fish eaters and fish and other seafood features on our tables at least 2-3 times a week. This spicy fish curry is a regular because the gravy is out of this world. It’s a pulimunchi fish curry inspired thing. Pulimunchi basically means ‘a gravy rich in tamarind juice’ and that’s basically what this spicy fish curry is.

Its tangy, spicy, sour, garlicky and has a very mild flavour from coconut. It’s made to be served with ghee rice, coconut rice, idiyappam, appams and neer dosas – all the things that can soak up flavours from the fish curry. Which is why the gravy is the right amount of thin, but not so thin that its water.

Ingredients for Fish Curry

Here’s everything that you need for this recipe:

Which fish to use?

Now we all know how much Denver loves his Surmai/ Seer Fish/ Anjal, which is why it features most often in our fish curries but you can just as well use any other fish you want. Mackerels work beautifully as do Pomfrets and I’ve even tried red snapper and prawns. You really need any firm fish for this recipe.

Freezing this fish curry masala

I also often grind a large batch of this masala and freeze it for later – do this before you cook the masala. This makes life so much easier when I need to throw something in and get dinner ready. While I love this curry mainly with seafood, I’ve used it with chicken too and guess what – it works!!

Step by Step Recipe

1 Saute onions, freshly grated coconut and dried kashmiri red chillies in some ghee or coconut oil till the onions and coconut are a light brown around the edges. Set this aside

2. In the same pan, dry roast whole spices, garlic pods, tamarind and curry leaves for a few minutes on a low flame. Be careful not to let the spices burn. You know they are done when they start smelling sweet and the aroma fills your kitchen

3-4 Blend the onion and spice mixture together with tomatoes and enough water required to make a really smooth paste

1 While the masala is being made, marinate the fish pieces in a little turmeric and salt and let this sit for 5-10 minutes. This gets rid of the fishy smell and adds flavour

2-3 Heat some coconut oil in a pot and add the ground masala. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and let the masala simmer for 10-15 minutes

4-5 Add the fish pieces and let them cook in the masala for 10 minutes. Some people like to fry the pieces before hand but I’ve never felt the need and my family prefers it this way. Pre-frying can over cook the fish and make it too tough

6 Make the tempering by heating up some coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard and whole smashed garlic pods (skin on). Once the garlic starts to brown, add curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds

7-8 Add the tempering back into the fish curry and mix it all up. Thats your flavour bomb right there!

9 Let the fish curry rest for a few minutes – trust me it gets better, before serving!

This is not for the faint hearted. But I bet even the faint hearted will be coming back for more!

Top Tips for Fish Curry

• Use freshly grated coconut as far as possible. If using frozen, look for freshly grated frozen coconut. This is different from dessicated coconut which won’t work here
• Don’t reduce the amount of garlic – that’s where the flavour is
• Grind the masala to a really smooth paste. Start with a little water and then add more if required
• The consistency of the gravy should be thicker than milk – more like coconut milk
• You know the gravy is ready when you see bits of oil floating on top
• Oil: My choice of oil for this recipe is coconut oil, but a good replacement is ghee
• Fish: Choose any firm white fish. Seer, mackerel, pomfret, red snapper, cod, sea bass will all work well here
• Other proteins: Prawns, squid and even chicken work well with this gravy so throw in whatever you like. The cooking times for these will differ based on which protein you are using

This is such a simple yet heartwarming meal and is perfect for weeknight dinners as well as leisurely weekend lunches. I usually serve this with steamed basmati rice and a salad for a quick and wholesome meal. Be sure to make extras as this one disappears really fast!

Watch the Video

LOVE THIS RECIPE? Subscribe to my newsletter and be the first to receive all new recipes!

Seafood Lover? Try these Recipes

• Goan Prawn Curry with Coconut
• Prawn Rava Fry
• Teriyaki Shrimp
• Shrimp Sausage Gumbo
• Orange Mustard Salmon
• Salmon Piccata
• Fish in Basil Butter Sauce