Faithful readers, thanks for waiting. I’m still dealing with tech issues on this site, and have made this dish 3 times since my cyber-ordeal began!!! It’s that good, and it’s prepared in less than 30 minutes. The technique of poaching is the perfect method to gently cook fish (I also like to bake en Papillote). Cod, halibut or any sturdy, but flaky fish is the ideal choice. If curry (which is actually a blend of spices) is not your jam, play around with cardamon, coriander and turmeric. I omitted the cardamon pods because I didn’t have any on hand, but still had delicious results. Tomato, coconut and curry work as the perfect broth for poaching cod. To finish, stir in shredded basil and serve over rice, or just use crusty bread to sop up all the YUM. This recipe is on our bi-weekly rotation.
Poached Cod In Tomato Curry
Serves 4
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or coconut
1 red chile, halved, seeded, thinly sliced
1 1″ piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground turmeric
2 pints cherry tomatoes (about 1¼ lb.)
**¼ cup unsweetened coconut cream
Kosher salt
4 5-oz. skinless cod fillets
1 cup basil leaves, torn
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium until melted. Add chile, ginger, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until garlic has softened but not taken on any color, about 3 minutes. Add cardamom, coriander, and turmeric and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the tomatoes have burst and released their liquid, 12–15 minutes. Stir in coconut cream; taste and season curry with salt.
**I found that you can freeze the remainder of the coconut cream. I chopped off a chuck for my next time I made this. If you can’t find coconut cream you could use coconut milk.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Season cod with salt and nestle into curry. Cover and cook at a bare simmer until fish is opaque throughout and beginning to flake, 5–7 minutes (thicker pieces will take longer to cook).
Gently transfer cod to shallow bowls. Stir basil into tomato curry, then spoon over fish.
Adapted from: Bon Appetit
