Lucia Mthiyane is a well-known South African actress who is also skilled in the culinary arts. When she isn’t reading lines, she’s cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
The beauty of making a curry is that you can really unleash your creative culinary spirit.
A sprinkle more masala here; a dash more turmeric there; a tad more cumin or ground coriander; or a few more seeds of cardamom can make your dish more fragrant, more earthy, hotter or simply more spicy.
Over the holidays I read the delightful Durban Curry by Erica Platter, photographed by Clinton Friedman (with Devi Sankaree Govender), which brought back extremely fond memories of this sultry Indian ocean city where I spent my first year at Natal University.
I enjoyed many afternoons after classes wandering around Grey Street, which the book fantastically evokes, and you can almost smell those curries and the wonderful spices that no doubt have remained almost exactly the same in the many decades since I studied there.
The book also whimsically describes how different communities all share a love of curry in this exotic city, and takes readers on a wonderful tour as different pockets of society and veteran shop owners, public figures and cooks are all anecdotally described.
It's a lovely, evocative book and also a real slice of our rainbow nation. Using some of the recipes as a guideline, the book inspired me to try out many dishes, and one of the ones I liked the most was my version of fish curry.
Still being cash-strapped after all the spending during the festive season, I used angel fish, which is not only pocket-friendly but one of the most ideal to use as it’s firm fleshed.
Another huge plus is that it’s sustainable, being on the Sassi (South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) green list.
To make a healthy helping for two people you’ll need the following ingredients:
600g angel fish or any other firm fish, skinned and filleted
3 large, soft tomatoes, grated
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 thumb-size knob of fresh ginger, grated finely
1 tsp good quality curry powder
1 tsp garam or mixed masala
½ tsp ground coriander
5 cardamom pods, deseeded
1 or 2 bay leaves, whole
5 curry leaves, finely sliced
Juice of half a lime or lemon
Salt and pepper
1 cup coconut milk or light coconut milk
Fresh coriander leaves
Method: Using a large, shallow pot, sizzle the onion, ginger, garlic.
Add the spices, allowing to dry fry briefly.
Put in the grated tomatoes and simmer gently, adding the curry leaves and bay leaf/leaves, and then add the lemon juice and then the coconut milk.
Add the fish fillets whole and continue simmering until the fish flakes, but is not overcooked.
Season with a dash of salt and pepper.
Take off the stove and gently break the fish into generous bite-sized pieces.
Serve with steamed basmati rice and top with the fresh coriander leaves, destalked.
Sambals: Tomato salad Finely chop up a few ripe tomatoes and one small onion and gently mix with rice vinegar or any other good quality white vinegar (not balsamic) and a tsp of sugar.
Cucumber: Dice three firm cucumbers and mix with a good dollop of Greek yoghurt or low-fat yoghurt.
Add a tsp or two of lemon or lime juice, and optional are a few mustard seeds, and season with salt and pepper.