Belizean Monkfish Curry or 'Poor Man's Lobster' Curry
Sweet, tender, melt in the mouth slices of monkfish, soft cubes of potato, coconut milk and an array of peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic, come together beautifully in this delicious curry. The thick sauce is actually light and fresh and balances wonderfully with the mild and meaty monkfish and flavour infused potatoes.
Ingredients
- 300g waxy potatoes, such as baby new or Charlotte
- 1 teaspoon fine salt – for cooking the potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 350g prepared monkfish fillets
- 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper/capsicum, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1 orange pepper/capsicum, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1 yellow pepper/capsicum, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 20g/5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 200g sweet tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 teaspoons Belizean curry powder – I use Jamaican curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 x 400g tin coconut milk
To serve:
- steamed rice
- squeeze of lime
- chopped coriander or parsley
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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Chop the potatoes into bite size pieces and place in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with cold water, bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are just soft. Drain well.
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Heat 1 tablespoon oil in frying pan/cast iron casserole over a moderately hot temperature and quickly fry the monkish on all sides. You do not need to cook it through – you are simply sealing it. Take out of the pan and set aside.
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Throw the onion, peppers, garlic and tomatoes in a food processor and blitz until very, very finely chopped.
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Tip into the pan in which you seared the monkfish. Cook on high until any extra liquid has evaporated. Add another tablespoon of oil and cook for 5 minutes until very soft, reduced and slightly caramelised.
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Add the curry powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and cook for 1 – 2 minutes, or until aromatic.
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Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
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Slice the monkfish and stir into the curry sauce with the cooked potatoes. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and everything is piping hot.
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Serve over rice, sprinkle with some chopped parsley or coriander and add a squeeze of lime.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- chopping board and knife
- saucepan
- food processor
- frying pan/cast iron casserole
Where is this recipe from?
This recipe is based on the classic Belizean dish for Coconut Curried Lobster which I found on a website called Hot Mama’s Belize. See here for the original Coconut Curried Lobster recipe.