Vegan Fish Curry
Today I'm going to share with you my childhood favourite: fish curry or kari ikan but veganised! My Tok Mah used to cook this for us all the time. My dad can literally eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner... everyday. Needless to say, I had to get this recipe right!
Instead of fish, I'm using frozen tofu for that chewy bite. To bring in that ocean-y, umami flavour I'm adding roasted seaweed or nori. It may seem like a small amount but you don't want the seaweed to overpower the flavour of the curry. You just want a hint of that ocean-flavour.
I have vegan friends that don't enjoy the taste of seaweed as it's too "fishy". If you feel the same way, you can totally omit this from the recipe. But I promise you won't be able to taste the seaweed in here at all! It will just taste good ;)
Apart from that, the only thing that I think really makes this dish taste as umami and rich as the original non vegan version is mushroom seasoning. It brings in another depth of flavour very similar to the original.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! I can't wait to hear your feedback.
See you in the next one!
Love,
Elliz
Vegan Fish Curry
Ingredients
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. You may need to add water to help get the blender going.
- Put a wok on medium heat and pour in cooking oil. Before the wok heats up, toss in mixed fenugreek seeds (halba campur) and curry leaves.
- As the ingredients heat up they will start to crackle and become very fragrant. At this stage, add in sliced onions and garlic. Cook until soft.
- Once that happens, add the blended ingredients into the wok and fry for 2-3 minutes until the mixture turns darker.
- Add in the curry paste mixture and cook until the oil starts to separate or pecah minyak.
- Next add in the eggplants, water and okra. Let everything simmer on medium low heat for 8 - 10 minutes or until the vegetables are almost cooked.
- Then add the tomatoes, big chillies and season the curry with salt, tamarind paste (asam jawa), mushroom seasoning and MSG if you like. Taste test and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
- Add the tofu into the curry and submerge them gently. Let it simmer for about 5-8 minutes.
- Now pour in the coconut cream, stir it through gently. Let everything come to a gentle simmer and then turn off the heat.
- Serve with jasmine rice with a side of sambal and ulam. Enjoy!
Notes:
- Kaffir lime leaves (daun limau purut) is optional, but I like the extra fragrance it lends to the curry.
- The seaweed is there to give that ocean-y, umami flavour to the curry. If you're not a fan of that fishy taste, feel free to exclude this ingredient.
- If you use less oil, the telltale appearance of the oil separating or pecah minyak will not happen. But that's okay, just fry the curry paste for a few minutes until it changes colour and move on to the next step.
