{Cook And Share A Pot Of Curry} Indian Fish Curry plus Prepacked Spice Paste Giveaway

About two weeks ago, I received a facebook invitation through friends regarding about this "Cook And Share A Pot Of Curry" event which request participants to cook and share a pot of curry on Sunday, 21 August 2011(from 11:00am - 11:30pm), in Singapore or anywhere of the world in order to share/introduce this wonderful cuisine together with your family or neighbours from another culture.

And sad to say, this event is also a silent protest over a recent "Curry And Neighbours" disputes which hits media headlines and upset many Singaporean. It all happens between what a Singaporean Indian family had to put up with, due to a request from their neighbour, who has just recently moved in from China. (You can read more about the disputes from TODAYonline HERE)

Today I am contributing this "Indian Fish Curry" to the Cook And Share A Pot Of Curry event to support our local culture food which might just disappear one day if nobody appreciate the way it is prepared. And to make this a fun and interesting dish, I actually bought my son to the wet market and share with him the different between fresh and prepacked spices as well as the ingredients to prepare this dish. I believe in order for others races to accept our food and culture, we ourselves must first do our parts to educate and share this local food with our kid(s) and if possible get them involve in the preparation process too.

In Singapore although we can easily find prepacked Indian Spices in most supermarkets or provision shops, I still like to patronize this type of typical Indian Spice stall that is available in most wet markets. As you can see apart from those commercial prepacked cooking spices/paste, you can also request for freshly packed mix-and-match curry pasta that are suitable for either meat or seafood.

And while queuing to buy the fish curry paste, I overheard some customers in front of me chatting about their preference in this type of freshly packed spices which taste more authentic and fragrant compared to those prepacked. From their conversation I was feeling rather upset relating it to a current Nation Hot Topics on "Curry and Neighbours" disputes. Do you really think curry STINKS whenever your neighbours or your family member(s) prepares it at home? For those of us whom grown up in Singapore (a multi-racial country), I am sure these mouthwatering curry cuisines definitely have whet our taste buds with it's aromatic fragrance from the spices used.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
1 Packet of Fresh Fish Curry Paste
3 Medium Pieces of Mackerel Steaks, about 500g
2 Medium Tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 Medium Potato, peeled and cut into chunks
3 Small Egg Plants, cut into quarters
8 Lady Fingers, cut into diagonal half
6 Long Beans, cut into 8cm sections
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 - 1 Teaspoon of Sugar(if too spicy)
750ml Hot Water
5 Leaves of Curry Leaf, optional
50ml Coconut Milk, optional

NOTES:-

~ I bought my fish curry paste (S$1.50) from an Indian spice stall in the wet market at my area.

~ You can replace Mackerel Steaks with Fish Head or firm fish fillets.

Method:-

1. Rinse and marinate the fish steak with some salt and cornflour for at least 5 minutes.

2. Shallow fry the fish pieces till slight golden brown, drain and set aside.

3. Using the same frying pan, saute the egg plants and lady fingers with 1 tablespoon of oil for a minute, remove and set aside.

4. Next repeat the same procedure for potato chunks till slight brown in colour, remove and set aside.

5. Using either the same pan or another soup pot, saute onion with 1 tablespoon of oil till soft, add in curry pasta and curry leaves and continue to cook over low heat till fragrant and paste has thicken and change to darker colour. (refer to the step-by-step photo above)

6. Add in 750ml boiling water and potatoes to the cooked paste, when the mixture comes to boil lower the heat and simmer for 8 minutes, add in the egg plants and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. When the potatoes starts to soften, add in lady fingers and long beans and Mackerel Steaks. Cover and simmer for another 7 minutes or until fish and vegetables are cook through.

8. Turn off the heat, slowly stir-in coconut milk at one corner of the pot and mix it into the curry. Serve hot with steamed rice.


TIPS:
~ For shortcut method, you can first steamed the fish steak together with the vegetables for 8 - 10 minutes. Set aside.

~ Add the cooked fish and vegetables into "steps 6" and simmer for about 5 minutes, switch off the heat and stir in coconut milk.

Although occasionally I did use prepacked spices to cook my dishes for convenient purpose due to my busy timelines, I still prefer using the traditional curry paste from freshly grind spices. I love the aroma when sauteing the spice/paste with chopped onion or lemon grass which perfume the whole kitchen and living room area. And the taste of the curry will be more home cook and authentic taste compare to prepacked spices. But however if you cannot find most of the fresh ingredients over at the place where you stay, I guess by using some of those prepacked spices will be great too.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE THE

PREPACKED CURRY SPICES GIVEAWAY

In order to encourage more people cooking/trying "Curry Dishes", I would like to Giveaway 3 Packets of Instant Curry Pasta which can be use to cook with Fish, Poultry and Beef. This Giveaway opens to ALL readers around the world, if you are keen to try these curry pasta just leave your NAME and a valid EMAIL while filling the COMMENT box, also tell us more about your favourite Curry Dish(s). (example: Ellena, cuisineparadise@hotmail.com, My favourite curry dish is Fish Head Curry as I love the xxxxxxx)

I will pick up ONE lucky winner after the contest ends on Wednesday, 24 August 2011(12 Noon) and he/she will get 3 complimentary packets of prepacked curry spices(Rendang Curry, Chicken Curry and Fish Curry) from Cuisine Paradise. You can also find a related post of mine on how to cook with the Seah's Singapore Chicken Curry Spices shown above at this LINK.


Have Fun and Enjoy homecook CURRY!!!!!

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{Updated on 24th August 2011}

GIVEAWAY RESULT!!!!!