This (basic version) of a Keralan classic (Malabar sauce) will work well with fish, poultry or vegetables. If you get into this there are lots of twists you can do (both in ingredients/spices and the precise curry method) but this is a good starting point and makes it easy to do veggie and non-veggie versions from the same sauce. Curries made with this sauce go well with rice or Indian breads, especially parathas (I will post a recipe for these soon).
You will need INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp oil
1 onion
Fresh ginger (say 3cm x 3cm) grated
Fresh garlic (say 4-5 cloves) chopped
Fresh chilies (3 x green chopped) (or a tsp of chilli powder)
3 tomatoes chopped
50 ml tamarind water (see below*) or the juice of a lemon or lime
Spice mix (3 tsp coriander, 1.5tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp tumeric, black pepper and 1/2-1tsp salt)
1 tin coconut milk (400 ml)
METHOD:
Fry the onions on low to medium for 10-15 mins
Add the garlic/chilies/ginger and continue frying for 5 mins on low
Add the tomatoes and spice mix and saute until the tomatoes are softish (if it gets too dry splash in tablespoons of water during this phase)
Add the coconut milk and the tamarind water (or lemon/lime juice)
Simmer on low for 10 mins
THAT IS THE SAUCE - Use it as is or liquidise it for a smoother sauce (my preference).
You can then make a curry with almost anything.
Veg: cook your veg in your prefered way and then pour on the sauce
Chcken: fry some chicken pieces then add the sauce and make sure they are cooked through
Fish: Pour the sauce onto the uncooked fish and poach it in the sauce (10 mins for an average fillet of salmon for instance)
* Try and get a block of tamarind pulp from an Asian grocer as this flavour is better than lemon or lime for this recipe. To make 50ml of tamarind water, soak a 2cm wadge of the pulp in 70 ml of hot water fro 20 mins. Squidge it around to get the juice out then strain through a sieve (you'll end up with a murky looking brown liquid that should taste about as strong as lemon juice)
EXPLANATORY NOTES (might help you get a good result):
If the coconut milk is particularly creamy you might want to add some water - the key to this sauce is getting the balance right between the rich creaminess -alkaline quality- of the coconut against the citrus acidity of the tamarind water/lemon+tomatoes. Seasoning with just enough salt will marry those two together. The spices give depth and complexity.
