Thai Fish Curry
9:43 AM
Who am I? No. Not a question for you to answer rather this seems to be something am asking myself again and again. You can say am on a journey to discover myself, to look into my own eyes, peep into my inner self and find out the truth. Its a quest that's been haunting me and am longing for an answer.
No the surge is not sudden...definitely not when you are at 35. Rather its quite disorienting at times when you cant balance the whimsical contradictions in yourself. The past year have been quite difficult one...It seemed like I was constantly battling against the odds as a mother and a daughter. Hardly it crossed my mind that in all these I was losing myself...my voice...my choices ...and my time. Till date the days are passed in haze...divided between chores and duties...sometimes sprinkled with little bit of personal work. But thats it. and just a few days back when I looked into the mirror I could not find myself...The reflection stared back at me with a quizzical look, and asked who are you? The muscle around my mouth felt tight and smiling seemed like a chore...the dreams in my eyes that always gave my peeps a beautiful twinkle seemed to have faded away, making way for daily grind leaving their mark as wrinkles...In the mirror I could see my mother, in her mid 30's... always worrying for the failing health of the elderly people of the family, the well being of her kids and yes the burden of daily grind...
I have always been so irritated with her for her anxiety, for her constant worries about home and her business, for her unkempt hair, her sleep deprived deep dark eyes...I always told her not to worry so much but at the end of the day I have so become like her...and thats just not all...
It seemed like I have bartered my life with something else...I know some of you will say thats normal. but why? I ask. somewhere down the line it had been my mistake, to try to make everyone happy...and not asking for help when I needed. Guess its time to change that...change many things about me, my surroundings and most importantly reminding myself that happiness means life...so what if its little imperfect at times.
Well the recipe has nothing to do with this realisation rather I consider this soul food. Yes, its fish curry but not the regular Bengali spiced one. Rather a very fragrant curry from Thailand where a spicy yet soupy broth engulfs all the vegetbales and succulent pieces of white fish and makes a perfect meal when eaten with rice. I have used Basa fillets here but you can use any white fish. Even our regular Carp, Rohu or Tilapia wont be bad.
Thai Fish Curry
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
White fish: 250 gms, cut in 4 pieces
Beans: 6-8
Sugar snap pea: 6-8
Tomato: 1 medium
Button Mushroom: 5-6
Onion: 1 small
Red curry paste: 2 tsp (See HERE)
Fresh ginger: 1/3 tsp chopped
Coconut Milk: 2/3 cup
Kaffir lime leaves: 2 (I used dried)
Lemon grass: 1 stalk (optional)
Coriander stalk and root: 1 tbsp chopped
Fish sauce: 1/2 tsp
Sugar
salt
Turmeric
Oil: 2 tbsp
Lemon juice: as per taste
Method:
Smear the fish with salt and keep aside for 15 minutes.
Trim the ends of the beans, cut in half and reserve.
Trim the ends of the snap peas and reserve.
Clean, wash and remove the skin from the mushroom, cut in half or quarter and keep aside.
Cut the tomato in 8 pieces, keep aside.
Peel and cut the onion in cube and set aside.
If using lemon grass chop and bruise it with a rolling pin and keep aside.
Heat the oil and shallow fry the fish pieces for a minute on each side. Take out.
Fry the veggies except tomato for a brief minute, take out and keep aside.
In the same oil add the lemon grass, fresh chopped ginger, chopped coriander root and torn kaffir lime leaves. Saute for a minute till the aroma hits you. Add the red curry paste and saute till you see oil starts to appear as little bubbles. Add the coconut milk and 1/3 cup water.
Bring it to boil and then add the fish pieces, salt, sugar and fish sauce. Adjust the seasoning and cover. Let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. Finally add the veggies along with the tomato pieces. cook for a minute and finish with a dash of lime juice.
Serve hot off the pan with steamed white rice.
 |
| Yes. That's Me :-) |
It seemed like I have bartered my life with something else...I know some of you will say thats normal. but why? I ask. somewhere down the line it had been my mistake, to try to make everyone happy...and not asking for help when I needed. Guess its time to change that...change many things about me, my surroundings and most importantly reminding myself that happiness means life...so what if its little imperfect at times.
Well the recipe has nothing to do with this realisation rather I consider this soul food. Yes, its fish curry but not the regular Bengali spiced one. Rather a very fragrant curry from Thailand where a spicy yet soupy broth engulfs all the vegetbales and succulent pieces of white fish and makes a perfect meal when eaten with rice. I have used Basa fillets here but you can use any white fish. Even our regular Carp, Rohu or Tilapia wont be bad.
Thai Fish Curry
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
White fish: 250 gms, cut in 4 pieces
Beans: 6-8
Sugar snap pea: 6-8
Tomato: 1 medium
Button Mushroom: 5-6
Onion: 1 small
Red curry paste: 2 tsp (See HERE)
Fresh ginger: 1/3 tsp chopped
Coconut Milk: 2/3 cup
Kaffir lime leaves: 2 (I used dried)
Lemon grass: 1 stalk (optional)
Coriander stalk and root: 1 tbsp chopped
Fish sauce: 1/2 tsp
Sugar
salt
Turmeric
Oil: 2 tbsp
Lemon juice: as per taste
Method:
Smear the fish with salt and keep aside for 15 minutes.
Trim the ends of the beans, cut in half and reserve.
Trim the ends of the snap peas and reserve.
Clean, wash and remove the skin from the mushroom, cut in half or quarter and keep aside.
Cut the tomato in 8 pieces, keep aside.
Peel and cut the onion in cube and set aside.
If using lemon grass chop and bruise it with a rolling pin and keep aside.
Heat the oil and shallow fry the fish pieces for a minute on each side. Take out.
Fry the veggies except tomato for a brief minute, take out and keep aside.
In the same oil add the lemon grass, fresh chopped ginger, chopped coriander root and torn kaffir lime leaves. Saute for a minute till the aroma hits you. Add the red curry paste and saute till you see oil starts to appear as little bubbles. Add the coconut milk and 1/3 cup water.
Bring it to boil and then add the fish pieces, salt, sugar and fish sauce. Adjust the seasoning and cover. Let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. Finally add the veggies along with the tomato pieces. cook for a minute and finish with a dash of lime juice.
Serve hot off the pan with steamed white rice.
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4 comments
Curry looks authentic and recipe says it's delicious...will try out soon
ReplyDeleteReally tempting
ReplyDeleteAs I grow older, I can't help realising how we turn into our mothers, whether we like it or not!
ReplyDeleteYour curry looks great!
Curry is just awesome and alluring, can smell the flavours from here.
ReplyDelete