Fish Curry Recipe
Updated: January 25, 2023, By Swasthi
This Fish Curry is satisfying, nutritious and packed with a burst of Indian flavors. Onions, tomatoes, spices & herbs enrich the taste & aroma of this Fish curry that is sure to delight the entire family. Chapati, roti, Naan or a bowl of steaming hot rice with this Fish Masala is comfort food at its best!
About Fish Curry
Fish curry is a staple in a lot of Asian countries and is made in various ways using different locally available ingredients like coconut, poppy seeds, tamarind etc. In this post I show you how to make it the easiest way with the most basic ingredients – the panty staples.
The coastal cuisines of India are incomplete without a delicious Fish Curry. Traditionally fresh caught fish were cleaned, minimally spiced & cooked in clay cookware that would impart delicious flavors.
My Recipe
This fish curry is made much the same traditional way by sautéing onions, ginger garlic, tomatoes & ground spices. Later this onion tomato masala is simmered to cook down the ingredients & bring out the flavors.
Marinated fish is seared on a pan and then cooked briefly in the prepared curry.
A lot of people add the fish directly to the simmering curry. But we personally prefer to marinate and sear first as this cuts down the fishy smell. Though this step is optional I highly recommend this if you are new to seafood curries & stews.
I prefer to blend the onion tomato masala to give the curry/gravy a thicker texture with superior flavors. This is what makes this dish the best!
This recipe uses a small amount of coconut. You can use fresh grated or frozen coconut or coconut milk. If you don’t consume coconut, you may simply leave out that or substitute with cashews.
This recipe is easily adaptable & you can play around with the ingredients. If you love tamarind in your Fish curry, feel free to add some while you make the curry. You can also squeeze some lemon juice before serving. To use amchur, add it at the finishing stage.
More Fish Recipes
Salmon Rice Bowl
Fish Pulusu
Salmon Curry
Fish Biryani
Fish Fry
Tandoori Salmon
Ingredients & Substitutes
Fish: While you can make a fish curry with any kind of firm flesh fish, I would suggest to use something you love. Because everyone has their own favourite fish and you may not compromise on that. The following fishes are a good choice and go well in a curry.
Mackerel
(Spanish mackerel or King mackerel)
Tilapia
Snapper
Mahi mahi
Halibut
Catfish
Cod
Grouper
Barramundi
Pompano/ pomfret
Basa
Seer fish
Ginger garlic paste is nothing but ground ginger and garlic in equal quantities. If you don’t have that, you can simply use them in minced or grated form. You can make it following my recipe here – ginger garlic paste or use a store bought paste. There is no substitute to this. However you may use dried ginger and garlic powder at the finishing stage.
Curry leaves impart a unique flavor to the dish. Do not use dried curry leaves. It is okay not to use them or simply use a Indian bay leaf.
Garam Masala is an Indian spice blend that is easily available in Asian stores. I do not have a recommended brand for that because I make my own following this recipe – Garam masala. It is important to use a flavorsome masala as it is the key ingredient that flavors your dish.
Fennel seeds are my favourite spice as it adds natural sweet tones and balances the pungent flavors of the other spices. You may skip if you don’t have.
Coconut milk: If you like more coconut flavors in your curry, add as much coconut milk as you want but note that it brings down the flavors. So increase the garam masala and other spices proportionately.
Photo Guide
How To Make Fish Curry (Stepwise Photos)
Make Masala Paste
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cumin and allow to splutter. Then add onions & saute until golden.
2. Add ginger garlic and fry for 30 to 60 seconds. When they turn fragrant, add tomatoes and half tsp salt.
3. Fry until the raw smell goes away.
4. Add coconut, red chili powder, turmeric and fennel seeds (optional).
5. Fry everything well until the onion masala smells good. Ensure the raw smell has gone. Cool this completely.
Prepare Fish
6. This one and next step are optional. Marinate fish with red chili powder, turmeric, very little salt and ginger garlic paste. Do not leave this marinated fish aside, just fry them right away.
7. Heat a pan with 1 tsp oil, fry the fish until the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste has gone. You can use the same pan used to fry the onions, I used a different one since I used a steel pan. Set this aside.
8. Add the cooled ingredients to a blender jar along with 2 to 4 tbsps of water.
9. Blend to a coarse or smooth paste to suit your taste. We prefer coarse texture in our curry so I made a coarse paste. If you prefer a smooth texture, make a smooth paste.
How to Make Fish Curry
10. Add another tbsp. oil & heat on a low flame. When the oil turns slightly hot, add curry leaves and green chilies.
11. When the leaves splutter, add the ground paste. Mix everything well .
12. Sprinkle garam masala and salt. You can add more red chilli powder at this stage to adjust the heat. I added a bit more. Fry everything well until the masala smells good.
13. Pour 1 ¼ cup water and mix well to make lump free gravy. You may need to adjust the amount of water slightly.
14. On a medium flame boil until the oil begins to separate and the gravy thickens. This may take about 5 mins. Check the salt and spice now. Adjust any taste that is needed. If you like to use tamarind, you can soak some tamarind in hot water. Extract and filter the juice to the gravy. We do not prefer tamarind so i have not used, the sourness from tomatoes is good enough.
15. Add the fish pieces to the gravy and cook for few mins. Flip them and cook until they bulge, meaning they are cooked completely. If desired garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve fish curry with rice or chapathi.
More Indian curry recipes
Mutton curry
Chicken curry
Chicken korma
Prawn curry
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Fish Curry Recipe | Indian Fish Masala
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
Marinade
- 1.1 lbs (½ kg) Fish (any firm fish)
- ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
- ⅛ tsp turmeric
- ¼ to ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- ¼ tsp salt or as needed
To saute & puree
- 1 tbsp oil (adjust as needed)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 2 medium onions sliced about 1 cup sliced
- ½ tbsp ginger garlic minced or paste
- 2 medium tomatoes ripe (¾ to 1 cup chopped)
- ½ tsp salt (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (adjust as needed)
- ⅛ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp fennel seeds (optional) (saunf)
- 2 tbsp coconut (grated or ¼ cup coconut milk or 12 cashew nuts)
For curry
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves or small bay leaf
- 1 to 2 green chili (chopped or slit)
- 1 to 1 ½ tsp garam masala or curry powder as needed (refer notes)
- 1¼ to 1½ cup water
Instructions
Preparation
- Marinate fish with ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste, ⅛ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp red chilli powder & ¼ tsp salt.
- On a flat fry pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Fry fish pieces slightly until the raw smell goes away just for 2 to 3 mins on both sides. You can also sear the fish. Keep this aside. (refer picture below)
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot and add cumin. When they sputter, add onions and saute until lightly golden.
- Next add ginger garlic paste and saute for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes & ½ tsp salt. Saute until tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
- Next add coconut, fennel seeds (optional), red chili powder & turmeric. Fry until the mixture turns fragrant & raw smell has gone away.
- Cool this & add to a blender jar along with 2 to 4 tbsps water. Blend to a smooth or coarse paste to suit your liking. (refer notes). You can also use a immersion blender. Keep this aside.
How to Make Fish Curry
- Add 1 tbsp more oil to the same pot used earlier. Heat up on a low flame.
- When the oil turns slightly hot, add curry leaves & green chilies.
- When they splutter, add the ground onion tomato paste and garam masala. Taste test the paste and add more chilli powder at this stage if you want more heat or more deeper color.
- Saute until the mixture smells good.
- Pour 1 ¼ to 1½ cup water. Mix and bring it to a boil. Cook until you see traces of oil on the surface and the gravy thickens a bit.
- Gently slide the fish pieces and cook covered on a medium heat.
- Carefully flip or turn the pieces to the other side after 3 to 4 mins.
- Cook until the fish pieces bulge a bit. This is the indication they are cooked completely. Taste the curry and add more salt if needed.
- Optionally garnish fish curry with coriander leaves if desired.
Notes
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
Iโm Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโs Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Easy and sooooooo yummy. Light on the stomach, but hardy and filling…This will be a recipe I will make again and again…. I need to have more dinner parties so I can cook it for a my friends and family…
Can I make the curry paste in advance and freeze it? Any advice on what to Donald what to avoid.
Of course I will cook the fish fresh on the day of cooking and use defrosted paste.
Yes you can freeze it. Don’t need to make any changes. Hope you enjoy the dish
Totally delicious! I googled fish curry, found this recipe, and now I’ll try your other recipes because this one was great ๐
Thank you so much Kate. So happy to read that
Iโm going to make this fish curry for a group of friends. Planning to use Baramundi. Do I cut the fish into pieces? What size pieces ?
Thanks
Hi Stacey,
If the fish is cut to steaks, 1 inch thickness is good. If you are going with fillets, 3 x 4 inches should be good enough. If the pieces are too large they don’t soak up the flavors well and if they are too thin they will break down in the curry. I have the pictures in my post. Please take a look to get an idea. Hope you all like it
Thanks so much
So delicious! Used salmon because for me, it worked better than cod in holding together after frying.
Thanks Jess. So glad it came out good
Can this be made a day ahead?
Yes you can make it ahead and reheat until bubbling hot. Handle the fish with care, else they can break
Super delicious!
Thank you
Can this be done in a crockpot/slow cooker?
I have no experience with crockpot/slow cooker.
I have made dozens of your recipes and I think this is your best one
Thanks Ashley
Great recipe! Can you explain the cashew nuts and what step you would use this in? I’m guessing instead of coconut milk you would blend the cashews in with the cooled ingredients to make a more creamy sauce?
Thanks Joanna,
Add them in place of coconut before you blend the masala. If you don’t have a powerful blender, soak the cashews in hot water for 15 to 20 mins before using. Hope you enjoy!
Wonderful fish recipe. Made this at a gathering and everyone liked it. Thanks for sharing this
Your recipe invoked childhood memories, when my neighbour cooked her fish curries, and she always told me ” you must fry fish first- very important lah!”
So, it was no surprise, that I knew your recipe, would be absolutely delicious, coupled with the simple ingredients you used
I choose Barramundi fish, as the flesh is thick and firm, and has sufficient oil, under its skin ,
The aroma in my kitchen was Devine, and there was no fishy smell.
Going to leave it overnight, for the flavours to” marry “each other, before I devour it .
I know it is going to a hit.
Nice simple recipe.
Swasthi’s recipes have always been our family go to recipe bookโ almost all your recipes we have done. Adding fenugreek seeds + Cummin seeds to make sambar is a unique idea.
So i dont have time to do all the steps due to kids, so i just fried up the onions and fish then put all the other ingredients in with coconut milk instead of water both lots and let it simmer while the rice is cooking , and i think it still came out YUM YUM YUMMY .
Will definitely be making it again ,
Swasthi Shreekanth’s is the best curry recipe I have ever tasted! I did find it took much longer than the stated 40 minutes, but maybe I am just slow as there are many ingredients to assemble. I served this over brown rice and everyone loved it! I would have like to have 2 or 3 vegetables included besides the onions and tomatoes and will try to add some in next time.
Delicious recipe!
Thanks Swasthi. The curry turned out yummy. I added some tamarind juice too when the curry came to a boil. It enhances the flavour for those who like their fish curry more tangy.
Loved this recipe, added in some garlic marinated prawns to increase the quantity and it was great. As I used coconut milk I didnโt bother to put it in the blender and that was fine. Do you have a cook book out by any chance?
That’s nice to know Therese. So glad you like it. I don’t have a cookbook. Thanks for your interest.
Hi I’m about to make your fish curry but I’m a little confused about the ginger garlic. Do you mean 1/2 tbsp of ginger and garlic, or 1/2 tbsp combined (1/4 tbsp each)? Thank you!
Hi Lorraine,
It is half tbsp combined (1/4 tbsp each). But we use it twice half tbsps in marinade and half tbsp in curry. Hope you enjoy
Simple and amazing!