Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra

In today’s blog, I will share the recipe for the Malaysian Fish Curry with fresh, uncooked okra.

The only vegetable I am used to adding to the fish curry is mango.  But during my many visits to Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malaysia few years back, I observed that sometimes Malaysians enjoy fish curry with raw okra or cooked okra/ eggplant.  I tried those combinations few times and the fish curry tasted awesome with those vegetables.

If you are visiting any of the restaurants that offer fish curries in KL, you will see about a dozen whole fresh green okras swimming in the curry sauce along with the fish pieces. You will have the option to add an okra (or two or more) to your fish curry if you want to, and it is a great feeling to bite into the crunchy raw okra while enjoying a fish curry!  They only throw few okras into the curry at a time so that the okras do not get cooked, the okras are constantly replenished from a nearby basket as and when they run out of them in the pot.   Some restaurants offer fish curries with cooked okra and eggplant, to be honest I love that version better as it tastes closer to my favorite okra/ eggplant kara kozhambu (spicy curry).

I think KL should qualify as one of the food capitals of the world.  If you are a food lover like me, you may very much enjoy your visit to Malaysia.  From what I observed, the Malaysians are food lovers, and I also noted that they enjoy any type of cuisine be it Malay, Indian, Chinese, Indo-Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, European or American!  There is a huge ethnic population in Malaysia comprising of Indians (mostly Tamils), Chinese, Indonesians and Filipinos.  The flavors of these great cultures combined with those of the local Malays have produced unimaginably awesome fusion dishes.  For example, let us take this fish curry.  The fish curry may taste entirely different depending on what type of restaurant you are walking into, whether it is a Malay, Chinese, Indo-Chinese but each variation is mouth watering nevertheless.

During my various interactions with the people over there, I learnt that Malaysians love to eat out mostly and you can definitely tell it is true based on the crowds you see in the restaurants round-the-clock.  In KL, there are lot of restaurants that are open 24×7.  One of my favorite restaurants is Nasi Kandar Pelita.  My boss took me to this restaurant during lunch on the first day of work,  and I frequently ate at this restaurant in the evenings as well as it was close to my hotel.  Typically in these type of restaurants, various food items will be on display all the time.  You just walk in a line, and tell them what/ how much meat, seafood, vegetables you want, and they will price them at the checkout counter.

Now over to the recipe, please make this awesome Malaysian style fish curry and enjoy it with crunchy okras.  Vegetarians, please read the notes section on how to adapt this recipe for your palate.

If you are looking for other variations to this fish curry, please try the Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra and Eggplant, or my basic Fish Curry

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Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra

The best tasting spicy and tangy Malaysian style fish curry with okra recipe from Senthil's Kitchen!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Fish, Fish Curry, Fish Kulambu, Ladies Finger, Malaysia, Malaysian, Okra

Prep Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Senthil Sadasivam

Ingredients

• 1 lbs Fish wild caught sockeye salmon fillets
• 10 Okras
• 1 tbsp Methi seeds
• 4 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1/2 cup Shallots chopped
• 10 Small/ pearl onions
• 10 cloves Garlic crushed
• 3 tbsp Sambar powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• Tamarind juice to taste
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp Sesame oil

Sambar powder substitute

• 1 tbsp Chili powder to taste
• 2 tbsp Coriander powder

Instructions

1. Sesame oil is a must for this recipe (unless you are making Kerala style fish curry for which case you can use extra virgin coconut oil).  Heat sesame oil in a pan, and when it is moderately hot, add methi seeds and when they turn slightly brown, add the curry leaves and give a quick stir.

2. Add the chopped shallots and fry till they brown a bit.

3. Add chopped garlic and fry till they sweat a bit (do not brown them otherwise the curry will turn bitter).

4. Add chopped tomatoes and pearl onions and some salt (to speed up the sauteeing process) and fry till the tomatoes are cooked well and oil oozes out.

5. Add sambar powder (or substitute) and turmeric powder and fry for couple mins.

6. Add 2 cups water, tamarind juice and mix well and adjust salt.

7. Cover and boil for about 10 to 15 mins till the curry gets cooked well.  Check for salt now – the curry should be a bit salty/ soury to taste than normal.  The salt and sourness level will balance out when you add and cook the fish.

8. Add the fish (spread/ space them out in the pot) and cover and cook for about 5 mins.  Open the lid and give a gentle stir (you can also lift the pan and give a gentle shake).  Key is not to stir too much and break the fish.

9. Continue cooking without lid for another 5 mins or so and finish off by adding one tbsp sesame oil and giving a gentle stir.

10. Throw the whole uncooked raw okras into the curry just before serving!

Recipe Notes

• Vegetarian fans: just this curry without any vegetable will taste heavenly.  But you can also add veggies like mango, drumstick, eggplant, potato, yellow pumpkin, or vathal (sundaikai/ manathakkali – fry and add), or if you are eggetarian, you can also add boiled eggs at the end or directly break eggs and cook them in the curry.