Indian Style Fish in Mustard Curry

It's not often that I use fish to cook for Indian dishes. So,when I saw this interesting fish curry recipe a while ago, it ,of course, caught my attention at the first sight and I undoubtedly wanted to give it a try ! Finally, I managed to make the dish and was very happy with my outcome!


The recipe

500 grams halibut
1 and half tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
A pinch of fenugreek seeds
1 medium tomato (pulp)
2 green chillies, slit
3-4 tbsp mustard oil (for frying)
2 tbsp mustard oil for frying the masala
½ to 1 tsp chilli powder (depends on how hot you want the curry)
½ tsp turmeric powder + ½ tsp tsp for sprinkling over the fish
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander for garnish



Wash the fish under running tap water. Strain the fish and place it on a plate. Sprinkle it with salt and keep it aside for 2-3 minutes.
Wash the fish again under running water and place the fish on a separate plate. Sprinkle the fish sparingly with turmeric powder and keep aside for 5-7 minutes.
During this time, you can prepare the masala for the curry. Ground the yellow mustard seeds to powder and add 3-4 tbsp or more of water. Again pulse it till a fine paste is formed. Keep this aside.
Heat the oil in a pan. Since this oil has a very pungent smell, you need to let it smoke on low flame.
Once that is done, carefully slip slices of fishes in the pan (be careful since the fish can splutter oil; I use a large spoon with a long handle to do this job)
Cook the pieces of fish on high flame till they are golden brown. Remove from the oil and keep them aside. Fry the fish in batches.
Remove the oil from the pan and in the same pan pour 2 tbsp of oil and again smoke it. Carefully add green chillies (if you want lesser heat of green chillies, you can add it towards the end of the frying process to obtain only its flavour) and add the fenugreek seeds to the oil.
Then add the mustard paste along with ginger and garlic paste. Fry it on medium heat till the masala becomes almost dry. You need to constantly stir the paste to prevent it from getting burnt.

Once this is done, add 2 tbsp of water and re-fry it till it becomes dry again. Add the tomato paste alongwith the dry masalas – red chillies, salt, coriander powder, garam masala powder and cumin powder. Fry for about 30 seconds and then pour 450 ml of water.


Once the water starts to boil, add the pieces of fish* to it. Let the water boil again. Now, reduce the flame to low and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Remove the fish from the fire and transfer it to the serving bowl. Serve the fish, garnished with fresh coriander leaves, with steamed or cumin fried rice.
Serves 4