Fish Kofta Curry
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For masala:
  • 1 large onion OR 2 small onions
  • oil (approx 120ml)
  • a small pinch of fenugreek (methi) seeds (optional)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp mixed curry powder (I use Rajah brand)
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • water (as desired)
  • 4 green chillies
  • fresh/frozen coriander for garnishing
For mincing fish:
  • 700g Pangasius fillets (also known as Pangash in Bengali)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp mixed curry powder
  • 2 green chillies
  • ½ tsp ground panch puran (Indian five spice)
Method
  1. Peel and quarter the onion(s) and blitz in your food processor, you can slice the onion(s) if you prefer. Whenever I process the onion(s) in a food processor, I find I tend to need a little more oil to cook a curry, if you want to avoid this then just slice the onion(s) by hand and follow the recipe as is. The only reason I blitz them in this way is because it cooks quicker.
  2. Heat approximately 120ml of oil in a medium - large saucepan like the one pictured here (although a wider pan with more base room is preferable, don't ask me why I didn't use one myself).
  3. Once the oil is hot, add a pinch of fenugreek (methi) seeds if you are using them, followed by the blitzed onions and 1 tsp of salt (you can adjust this later if necessary). Cover and cook the onions till they are soft and translucent (about 10 minutes). While the onions cook prepare to process/mince the fish.
  4. Make sure the Pangasius fillets have thoroughly defrosted before you attempt to blitz them, you'll damage your food processor otherwise. Rinse and drain the fillets to remove excess water before commencing.
  5. I don't own a large food processor but own this handheld blender/mini chopper which serves the same purpose. To aid mincing the fish I like to cut them in half and then cube the fillets.
  6. Next add the spices to the food processor; ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp mixed curry powder and ½ tsp ground panch puran (Indian five spice).
  7. Chop 2 green chillies and add to the food processor also (chop it finely before adding to the food processor as I find the processor often leave chunks of chilli otherwise)....
  8. blitz it until you have a smooth fish mince/mixture and transfer to a bowl.
  9. As my food processor is small, I process the fillets in two batches, make sure you mix both parts really well to ensure the spices and chillies are evenly distributed (bottom right photo), leave to one side after mixing.
  10. By now the onions should be soft and translucent, if you find the onions are a little dry as I did, add a splash of water to loosen.
  11. Next add the ground spices; 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tsp mixed curry powder (I use Rajah brand), ½ tsp turmeric powder....
  12. and 1 tsp coriander powder. Mix the spices and add a little more water if your onions seem too dry.
  13. Cook the masala covered for a 5 - 7 minutes, till you can see the oil has separated from the masala.
  14. Once the oil has separated you want to start forming round balls/koftas with the fish mince and place them in the pan, the mixture will be sticky and can be difficult to mould, so you don't need to shape them perfectly.
  15. Fill the bottom of the pan and then start to layer the fish balls on top (don't worry if they get stuck together whilst cooking, they separate fairly easily afterwards). If you've used a wide shallow pan gently place them in one layer working from one side across to the other.
  16. Once you have used up all of the fish, cover the pan and allow the koftas to cook through gently over a low - medium heat.
  17. Once all the koftas look completely cooked (should take about 8 minutes) and opaque you can add some water to create the gravy, add as much or as little as you like. I added about 1 glass of cold water.
  18. Slice the green chillies and add them over the top of the curry, cover and gently simmer over a medium heat for another 8 - 10 minutes.
  19. You will find that the koftas swell up when the curry begins to boil (top left photo), this is completely normal and the koftas will return back to their normal size when the curry cools down. Turn the heat down low if the koftas swell up too much.
  20. After the curry has boiled for the specified time, garnish with fresh/frozen coriander and promptly remove from the heat.
  21. You should find that the oil rises to the top of the curry after it has cooled down and the curry has a beautiful colour, the aromas will fill the entire kitchen!
  22. Serve your fish koftas with plain basmati or a Jeera rice and appreciate just how good fish can be!
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/fish-kofta-curry/