Curried fish a hit - from Julie Biuso at Home

Following Tuesday's wonderful launch of this new title I have now had a chance to spend seveeral happy hours reading it and also to make one of the dishes.

It is a big handsome hardback (300 pages) covering all aspects of cooking at home.
To give you an idea here is the list of chapter headings::

introduction  

beginnings  

bread & wraps  

soups & things 

at home  

pies & tarts  

grains & stuff  

mains  

sizzling grill  

star vegetables  

sensational salads  

sweet things  

pantry  

cook’s notes 

weights & measures  

index  

And here is the recipe I made last night with great success:

Recipe extracted with permission from Julie Biuso at Home by Julie Biuso, with photography by Aaron McLean, published by New Holland, $65.00.

curried fish

SERVES 4

Here’s a good mid-week fish meal. Serve with rice.

Fish curry

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 Tbsp grated peeled ginger

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 Tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 x 400g can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup water

Salt

750g skinned and boned meaty white fish fillets

Spice topping

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

6 stems curry leaves

2 tiny dried bird’s eye chillies, crushed

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 Put onion in a large frying pan with vegetable oil and set pan over gentle heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender and just turning pale gold in colour. Add garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 1–2 minutes.

2 Add tomatoes, water and ½ a teaspoon of salt and bring to a gentle bubble. Cook gently for 15 minutes, until pulpy.

3 Run your hands along fish fillets while rinsing under running water, checking for bones and scales, then pat dry with paper towels. Cut fillets into large chunks. Tuck them into the tomato sauce, making sure they are covered in sauce. Cook for several minutes, until fish is just cooked through.

4 Meanwhile, make the spice topping. Heat vegetable oil in a small frying pan and add curry leaves, chillies, cumin and mustard seeds and sizzle for 30 seconds, then stir in garlic. Sizzle for 1 more minute, then pour it over curry. Serve immediately.

Recipe extracted with permission from Julie Biuso at Home by Julie Biuso, with photography by Aaron McLean, published by New Holland, $65.00.