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Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra and Eggplant

January 17, 2020 by Senthil Sadasivam Recipe rating:
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If you always make plain fish curry all the time, why don’t you try some variations like adding some sour mangoes, fresh okras or sauteed okra/ eggplant to your fish curry when you make it next time?  Each of these variations may produce an interesting twist to your otherwise standard (or boring) fish curry .  Today, I will share a very interesting variation to the fish curry wherein we will be adding some sauteed okra and eggplant.

You can also try the Malaysian Fish Curry with Fresh Okra (along with an interesting background story on my experience eating out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) or my basic Fish Curry without any vegetables.

Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra and Eggplant
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Malaysian Fish Curry with Okra and Eggplant

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

Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Eggplant, 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 Okra
  • 4 Eggplants
  • 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 to taste.  The salt level will balance out when you add and cook the fish.

  8. While the curry is cooking, on a separate pan, heat 1 tbsp sesame oil and saute the cut okra and eggplant slices until they become tender.

  9. Add the sauteed okra, eggplant and 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.

  10. Continue cooking without lid for another 5 mins or so and finish off by adding one tbsp sesame oil and giving a gentle stir. Serve hot with rice!

Recipe Notes

  • Vegetarian fans: just this curry with okra and eggplant and without fish will taste heavenly too.  But you can also add other veggies like mango, drumstick, 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.
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