John_Houston

I came across a post by an Indian blogger,

http://brindavanrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/05/jamun-raitajava-plum-raitanerele.html

that laid out the pathway to an unusual raita that would provide cooling relief for an assortment of spice infused dishes that I had in mind.  Spanish mackerel curry would provide a worthy adversary for for any culinary fire extiguisher and I just happened to have the ingredients for a killer curry from scratch, well almost all of them.  I had curry leaves from a recently acquired curry leaf bush, a fresh coconut ready to milk and grate, a substantial amount of good chili powder, all the garlic, cumin, tumeric and coriander that would be needed but after a triple search of the spice cabinet I had no fenugreek.   It was an excellent curry without it but when you make yours throw in a teaspoon or so of those curry essentials during the seed and leaf fry.  When I make this in the future I’ll skip the toasted coconut, it didn’t add enough to justify the hassle and my texture sensitive dining partner had no appreciation for it whatsoever.  Those asterisks aside this is a good one that definitely goes into the rotation and the plum raita was the perfect foil for a spicy mackerel curry.

Ingredients

1 lb Spanish mackerel (amberjack, redfish, bluefish)

3 Tbs oil

1 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 t cumin

5 cloves of garlic, minced

25 curry leaves

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup tomato, chopped

1 Tbs ginger, minced

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsp chili powder

1 Tbs coriander powder

2 Serrano peppers, whole

1 tsp tamarind paste

1 cup coconut milk

2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup toasted unsweetened shredded coconut

3 Tbs cilantro, chopped

1 1/2 cup water

Procedure

In a blender, mix tomato, garlic, ginger, chili powder, tumeric and coriander powder into a paste

Fry fenugreek, cumin and half the curry leaves in oil for 30 seconds

Add onion and lightly caramelize

Increase heat and add the tomato/seasoning paste, cook for 10 minutes addingsmall amounts of water as necessary to keep it from sticking

Add the rest of the water, Serranos and remaining curry leaves and return to a boil, reduce to thickened curry consistency

Add the cocnut milk and reduce again

Add the mackerel and simmer for 5 minutes until just cooked through

Serve with basmati rice and garnish with the toasted shredded coconut and cilantro

Plum Raita

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup fresh plum in a small dice

1 tsp mustard seed

1 Thai chili, minced

5 curry leaves in a chiffonade

Mix all of the ingredients and chill

Serve with any spicy dish