MEEN CURRY BAKED COCONUT AND TAMARIND SALMON

This heady curry, speckled with mustard and fenugreek seeds and curry leaves, is tangy, spicy and fragrant. Meen means ‘fish’ in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala; in fact the word ‘curry’ is often thought to have originated from kari, the Tamil word for sauce or gravy. At any rate, the southern states make some of the best fish curries (outside my home state of Bengal, of course, wink wink). This recipe, my go-to fish curry, has its roots firmly in Tamil Nadu. It is a particularly good midweek quick fix, as you can make the curry sauce in advance and just put it together with the salmon when you’re ready.

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% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Pre-heat the oven to 1?0°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5.

Step 2

Put the oil into a sauté pan or wok and place over a medium-high heat.

Step 3

When it’s hot, toss in the mustard and fenugreek seeds and half the curry leaves. As they sizzle up, mix in the shallots and sauté for 5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook for another 5–7 minutes until the mixture is pale golden.

Step 4

Add the turmeric, chilli powder, pepper and tomatoes, stirring for 2 minutes until pulpy. Now, stir in the coconut milk. While it’s bubbling, mix the tamarind paste into the hot water and pour into the pan.

Step 5

Lower the heat and let everything simmer vigorously for 5 minutes until you can see oil oozing out through the surface of the curry. Get your salmon fillets ready in an oven-to-table friendly dish. Pour the curry over, scatter over the remaining curry leaves and bake in the oven, loosely covered, for 20 minutes.