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Sri Lankan Monkfish Curry

Sri Lankan Monkfish Curry

I was fortunate enough to cycle through Sri Lanka a few years ago. I joined an organised tour, cycling from Sigiriya and the Lions Rock, right the way through the centre of the country and tea plantations to the southern coast, finishing in Galle. Not only was this an amazing and challenging journey, but the food was also very good too.

This curry is inspired by some of the tastes I experienced there, trust me though I don’t think we ate anything as posh as monkfish on that trip. 

Cooking surfaces

Wok

BBQ Temperature

200°C

Ingredients

Monkfish marinade

  • 500 g monkfish
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • Juice of 2 limes

For the sauce

  • 2 onions, sliced finely
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 5cm piece of ginger, grated
  • 2 fresh green chillies, sliced finely
  • 10 ripe medium-sized tomatoes
  • 15 green beans, chopped into thirds
  • 2 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1 small handful of fresh curry leaves
  • 3 cardamom pods, crushed and husks discarded
  • 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste
  • Maldon salt or fish sauce to taste

Equipment

  • The Big Green Egg Wok and Eggspander basket are needed here

Method

To prepare the monkfish

  1. Chop up your monkfish into 1.5-inch chunks.
  2. Place into a glass (non-reactive bowl) and stir in the turmeric to coat the fish.
  3. Squeeze over the lime juice and stir again.
  4. Set aside to marinate for 1-2 hours.

Cooking the curry

  1. Setup your Egg for a direct cook at 180°C with your Eggspander basket.
  2. Preheat your wok.
  3. Add 2 tbs of oil your onion, curry leaves,  garlic and ginger to the wok and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion softens and starts to brown.
  4. Now add the mustard seeds, cumin, fenugreek, turmeric, cardamon and the green chillis and cook for a further two minutes.
  5. Now add the tamarind paste, coconut oil, tomatoes and monkfish (and marinade) and cook until the internal temperature of the monkfish is about 63°C (use a Thermapen).
  6. Taste and season with Maldon salt or a tbsp of fish sauce.
  7. Serve with some nice lemon rice.

Coconut rice would also be very good with this dish. 

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