Fish in Red Curry Sauce

From Sorgawiki

From Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400 ml can of coconut milk, left undisturbed for 3 hours or more
• 3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil (olive or sunflower oil works as well)
• 5 tablespoons Red Curry Paste (less if you don't like too spicy)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla), or to taste
• 1 teaspoon thick tamarind paste, or lemon juice
• 450 g fish
• salt
• 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, or a teaspoon of lemond rind, julienned
• 15-20 fresh sweet basil (bai horappa) leaves

Directions

Carefully open the can of coconut milk without disturbing it too much and remove 4 tablespoons of the thick cream that will have accumulated at the top. Stir the remaining contents of the can well and set aside. Pour the oil and the coconut cream into a large, non-stick, lidded pan or well seasoned wok and set on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the curry paste. Stir and fry until the oil separates and the paste is lightly browned. Reduce the heat to low and add the fish sauce, tamarind and sugar and 175 ml water. Stir and taste for a balance of seasonings. Cover and simmer on a very low heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved coconut milk. Lightly dust the fish pieces with salt and then slide them into the sauce in a single layer. Bring to a simmer. Spoon the sauce over the fish pieces, cover and simmer very gently until they just cook through. Just before serving, either tear up the lime leaves or else remove the central vein and cut them into fine strips. Scatter these (or the lemon rind) and the basil leaves over the top of the fish when serving.