Fish curry with pumpkin and sweet potatoes

Typically Indian curries do not mix vegetables and meat or fish (that is of course if we don't count potatoes as vegetables). I'm not sure why this is so especially as in most east and south east Asian countries one-pot meals are quite common. In india we do find the odd curries of Bengal where fish is cooked with cauliflower florets or big cubes of 'potol', but like I said around the country as a whole, usually the meat/ fish etc is cooked by itself and the vegetable dishes are served separately.

Having lived in east Asia for a while now, I've got quite used to mixing up my meat/ fish with a selection of vegetables -- in essence creating a convenient one-pot meal. I've also got used to experimenting with spices and curry pastes, retaining a basic Indian flavor but freely borrowing from Asian techniques and ingredients that seem to me to go well with Indian spice mixes. The recipe below is the result of this sort of experimentation. In this dish I've used small chopped bits of fresh coconut -- it adds a delicious crunchy texture to the dish. Fresh coconuts are not always easily available, a good substitute would be a handful of lightly fried unsalted cashew nuts.



The Recipe


4 fish steaks (use a nice fish that absorbs flavors well like cat fish or carp)
200 gm sweet pumpkin cubed
1 large sweet potato peeled and cubed
2 tomatoes (medium sized) chopped fine
handful of curry leaves
2 tablespoons fresh coconut chopped into little cubes (or the cashew nut substitute)
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
oil for frying

Make a paste of the following using a mortar and pestle or blender:
2 shallots
1 inch piece ginger
3-4 fresh green or red chillies
1 teaspoon whole white pepper


Wash and pat dry the fish on kitchen towels. Rub some salt and tumeric powder on the fish and keep aside for about 10 minutes. Heat some oil in a pan and when smoking, put in the fish and fry about 2 minutes on each side till fish turns nice and golden. Keep the fried fish aside.
Add some more oil to the pan, put in the spice paste and fry well for a couple of minutes; add the teaspoon of tumeric and coriander powder, the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Fry some more and then add the vegetables and curry leaves and about a tablespoon of warm water. Fry very well 6-8 minutes till the vegetables are well coated with the paste.
Add about two cups of warm water bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer another 6-8 minutes. Add the fried fish and coconut pieces and simmer again for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot with steamed white rice.