Thai Seafood Curry

It has been a really good busy 2 weeks clearing work as well as preparing for the break ahead.

 

Now I'm back after the short hiatus though I wish the break could have been longer. Maybe it will happen soon enough :)

 

At IHCC this week, it is once again our potluck for December. I hope this will not be my last dish be it cooking or baking for the year 2015.

 

I wanted a one-dish meal where I could make easily as well as not fuss much since we just got back. So I settled for Nigella's Thai Yellow Pumpkin Seafood Curry. However, I didn't get pumpkin since Mr G is not a big fan of it. Instead, I used the local favourites of eggplant and okra to replace the pumpkin.

 

This recipe is from Nigella's Bites and it is very apt because it is simply too simple to resist cooking it. You really must try. Let's check out the recipe and see my modifications in blue.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 x 400 ml tin coconut milk (I used 250ml coconut milk)

1 - 2 tablespoon red Thai curry paste (or yellow) (I used about 3-5 tbsp sambal tumis)

350 ml fish stock

3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)

2 tablespoons caster sugar (I added about 1 tbsp brown sugar instead)

3 stalks lemongrass (cut into 3 and bruised with flat of knife) I only used the white part of the stalks

3 kaffir lime leaves (destalked and cut into strips)

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 kilogram pumpkin (peeled and cut into bite sized chunks)

I used 1 packet okra (sliced lengthways) and 2 eggplants (sliced lengthways)

500 grams salmon fillets (pref organic) skinned and cut into large bite sized chunks

I also added 500g (1 packet) stingray, cut into large bite sized chunks 

500 grams peeled raw prawns (I kept the prawn heads and shells for further use)

pak choi (or any other green veg of your choice)

Juice of 1 lime (to taste) (I added about 1.5 limes)

1 bunch coriander (to serve)

 

Method:

1. Skim the thick creamy top off the tin of coconut milk and put it, over medium heat, into a large saucepan or casserole add half of the coconut milk with the curry paste. Let it sizzle and, using a fork, whisk or wooden spoon, beat milk and paste together until combined.
2. Still beating gently, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish stock, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves and turmeric. Bring to a boil and then add the pumpkin. Cook on a fast simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 15 minutes, although different sorts of pumpkins can vary enormously in the time they take to cook; some squash take as little as 5 minutes. Add the okra and eggplants to the curry.
3. You can cook the curry up till this part in advance, maybe leaving the pumpkin with a tiny bit of bite to it (it will soften and cook as the pan cools). Either way, when you're about 5 minutes away from wanting to eat, get ready to cook the seafood.
4. So, to the robustly simmering pan, add the salmon, stingray and prawns (if you're using the prawns from frozen they'll need to go in before the salmon). When the salmon and prawns have cooked through, which shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes, stir in any green veg you're using - sliced, chopped or shredded as suits - and tamp down with a wooden spoon. (only if you are adding bak choy)
5. When the pak choi's wilted, Just before serving, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir and taste and add the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it. Take the pan off the heat or decant the curry into a large bowl, and sprinkle over the coriander; the point is that the coriander goes in just before serving.
6. Serve with more chopped coriander for people to add to their own bowls as they eat, and some plain Thai or basmati rice.

 

 

Trust me, you wouldn't think that this easy peasy curry would take you less than 30 minutes to prepare. It is really that easy. I was absolutely delighted by this curry from Nigella. Mr G was busy slurping the curry away so that tells even more.

 

I'm submitting this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs - December Potluck.

 

 

I'm also submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#29 organized by Joyce of kitchenflavours.