Fish Head Curry

Our sushi chef friend, Nobu gave us 4 fish heads the other day. I immediately opened up the Best of Singapore recipe book I got from Elsie and made this Fish Head Curry. It was awesome because the Fish Head (Salmon) were so fresh and the recipe was fantastic !! Thank you Nobu !

If you ever watched Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, he ordered Fish Head Curry in one of his travels. It is a delicacy for those who devour fish cheeks, fish lips and eye balls ! Sooo Good ! Taste like the bone marrow in Osso Bucco.

Ingredients:
5 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs mixed curry seeds (see below)
2 tsp ginger, peeled and finely shredded
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 onions, finely sliced
4 tbs curry powder, mixed into a paste with 1 cup water
1 cup of coconut milk
6 red chilies, slit lengthwise
8 green chilies, slit lengthwise
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3 tomatoes, quartered
2 oz tamarind paste mixed with 1 cup water, drained
2 sprigs curry leaves
8 oz okra
1 Fish Head

Note:
To mix curry seeds for fish curry, combine 2 tsp each of fennel seeds, fenugreek, skinned black beans, poppy seeds and cumin seeds. Place in a clean dry bottle and store in the refrigerator for future use. This dry spice mixture is also available from Indian grocers as rempah tumis for fish.
You can add 3-4 dried sour fruit (asam gelugur) slices for a sharper, tangy flavour.

Method:

Heat cooking oil and fry the curry seeds and ginger until light brown. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a min. Add the sliced onions and fry until soft and transparent. Add the curry paste and 1/2 cup of the coconut milk.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the fish head adn continue to cook over a low heat. Add the remaining coconut milk and leave to simmer for 5 mins.
Add the fish head, cover pan and let simmer until cooked (when the eye balls turned white).

enjoy with jasmine rice !!