Cari Poisson (Mauritian Fish Curry)

Ingredients:

For the Mauritian Curry Powder:
250g (5 cups) coriander seeds
25g (1/2 cup) cumin seeds
15g (5 tsp) black peppercorns
5g (2 ½ tsp) fennel seeds
2.5g (1 1/5 tsp) cloves
3.5g (1 1/3 tsp) ground cinnamon
12.5g (2 1/5 tbsp) cardamom seeds (from green cardamom pods)
50g (5 1/3 tbsp) ground turmeric

For the Curry:
2 fillets or steaks of firm white fish
8g (½ cup) coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped
2 tbsp Mauritian curry powder
2 large tomatoes diced
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5cm (1/2 in) piece of ginger, minced
10 curry leaves
Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
Vegetable oil
210g (1 cup) basmati rice

For the coriander sauce:
16g (1 cup) fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
Freshly-squeezed Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 hot green chilli
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
3 tbsp water

Method:

Begin with the curry powder. Individually toast the whole spices in a dry pan over medium heat for about 90 seconds each, until aromatic. As each one finishes toasting turn out onto a cold plate to cool.

Working in batches, process the spices to a fine powder using a spice or coffee grinder. To ensure a fine powder, pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl then mix in the ground turmeric. Turn into a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in a cool, dark, cupboard until needed.

For the curry: Cut each fillet or steak into 3-4 pieces and season liberally with salt and black pepper. Heat a glug of oil in a pan and use to fry the fill until golden brown all over. Remove with tongs and set aside until needed.

For the curry gravy, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and use to fry the onions for 1 minute. Add the ginger and garlic, stir-frying them for 30 minutes. Scatter over the curry powder, add the curry leaves and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Now add the tomatoes and mix well to combine. Continue cooking for 2 minutes then add 500ml (2 cups) water.

Stir half the coriander into the sauce then nestle in the fish, bring to a simmer and cook, covered for 15 minutes. Boil or steam the rice according to your favourite method (or according to the package instructions.

Whilst everything else is cooking prepare the coriander (cilantro) sauce. This is easy to make: simply combine all the ingredients in a blender then blitz for 30 seconds until smooth.

To serve, drain the rice and divide between two plates. Top with the fish and curry gravy, scatter over with the remaining chopped coriander. Spoon over some of the coriander sauce and serve.