Pressure Cooked Coconut Fish Curry
Try this Pressure Cooked Coconut Fish Curry recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Pressure Cooked Coconut Fish Curry recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- or
- 1 tbsp. ground coriander
- 1-1.5 lb (500-750g) fish steaks or fillets rinsed and cut into bite-size pieces (fresh or frozen and thawed)
- 1 tomato, chopped (or a heaping cup of cherry tomatoes)
- 2 green chiles sliced into strips
- 2 medium onions sliced into strips
- 2 garlic cloves squeezed
- 1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger or 1/8 tsp. ginger powder
- 6 curry leaves or bay laurel leaves or kaffir lime leaves, or basil
- 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
- 1 tsp. chili powder or 1 tsp. of hot pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp. ground fenugreek (methi)
- 3 tbsp. of curry powder mix. (instead of the 5 spices note
- 2 cups or (500ml) un-sweetened coconut milk
- salt to taste (i used about 2 tsp.)
- lemon juice to taste (i used the juice from 1/2 le
- Carbohydrate 5.675275 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 2.09606 g
- Fiber 3.09665008831024 g
- Protein 1.568965 g
- Saturated Fat 0.169519 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (11g)
- Sodium 22.145 mg
- Sugar 2.57862491168976 g
- Trans Fat 0.268107 g
- Calories 37 calories
Step-by-step
- In the preheated pressure cooker on medium-low heat without the lid, add a swirl of oil and then drop in the curry leaves and lightly fry them until golden around the edges (about 1 minute).
- Then add the onion, garlic and ginger and sautee until the onion is soft.
- Add all of the ground spices: Coriander, Cumin, Tumeric, Chili Powder and Fenugreek and sautee them together with the onions until they have released their aroma (about 2 minutes).
- De-glaze with the coconut milk making sure to un-stick anything from the bottom of the cooker and incorporate it in the sauce.
- Add the Green Chiles, Tomatoes and fish pieces. Stir to coat the fish well with the mixture.
- Set the pressure level to LOW. Turn the heat up high and when the pan reaches pressure, lower the heat and count 5 minutes cooking time at LOW pressure (or 2-3 at HIGH). When time is up, release pressure using the Normal method - release vapor through the valve.
- Add salt to taste and spritz with lemon juice just before serving.
A fragrant plume of toasted cumin, fenugreek, and fried curry leaves rises immediately when the lid of the pressure cooker lifts. Simmering fish inside an emulsion of coconut milk and acid requires strict timing to prevent the proteins from contracting too forcefully and expelling their moisture. Cooking at low pressure for five minutes limits thermal stress on delicate fillets while allowing the starches in the coconut milk to thicken the tomato-onion base.
Chemical Interactions in Coconut Seafood Sauces
Ground spices contain volatile essential oils that must undergo lipid extraction in hot oil before liquids are added. Frying coriander, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, and fenugreek in oil disperses their fat-soluble flavor compounds throughout the pan. When unsweetened coconut milk enters the hot pan for deglazing, its suspended fat droplets and proteins interact with the caramelized aromatics, creating a stable emulsion that clings to the fish pieces. Acidic components like tomatoes and lemon juice added late in the process lower the pH just enough to brighten the heavy fats without curdling the coconut proteins.
- If the curry tastes flat or muddy, check the initial spice-blooming step; spices not fried in oil for at least two minutes fail to release their fat-soluble compounds.
- Substitutions like dried bay leaves or basil alter the herbaceous profile significantly compared to fresh curry leaves.
- Using high pressure instead of low pressure requires reducing the cooking time to two or three minutes to prevent overcooking the fish.
