#ewew cooks (Ratha Raub's) Fish Head Curry

The last time I was at Ratha Raub, I bought a couple of their pre-made curry pastes and decided to cook something using Ratha Raub's Fish Head Curry Paste for a pre-Chinese New Year lunch at my mom's place (which happened to be yesterday).

Yes, I'm going to make Fish Head Curry.....with a little help from Ratha Raub...minus the fish head! ;D  I decided against using fish head since there's not much flesh to savour in a fish head.

I substituted it with thick cuts of "kau yee" (otherwise known as Spanish mackerel or ikan tenggiri).  You can let the fish slices cook in the curry just like that....the way my sisters like to eat it.

.....or pre-fry them before adding them to your curry, the way I like it!  So, I had a combination of both in my curry to cater to everyone's preference.

One packet of Ratha Raub's ready-made curry paste @ RM8.90 (380g) is supposed to be sufficient for 1kg of fish head (or, in my case, 4 fish slices weighing about 800g).

You can very much put whatever vegetables you want in your curry.  I went with ladies fingers (10), brinjal (1), tomatoes (2), green/red chillies (5) and tofu puffs (10) plus curry leaves for fragrance.  [#Tip: For those who thinks tofu puffs in an Indian curry is kinda weird...well, it is...it's quite a Chinese thing but you'll understand why as you read on.]

First, you need to prep all the veggies that goes into the curry.  Cut the tips off the ladies fingers and cut into two, cut the brinjal into 2-inch strips, deseed the green chillies and cut lengthwise.  Quarter the tomatoes and cut the tofu puffs into two.

The recipe calls for the fish to be cooked first in about 750ml water for 5 minutes.  Add in curry paste and all the vegetables and cook for a further 5 minutes and finally add in the coconut milk.  I decided not to follow this method coz, when I did that the first time, the fish (I used black pomfret or ikan bawal hitam then) ended up too soft and the veggies weren't soft enough...yikes! >.<  On hindsight, the reason could be due to the fact that the recipe was meant for fish head (which is sturdier, I think).

So, this time, I brought 750ml of water to boil and emptied the curry paste mix in.  I then added in the sturdier vegetables first...brinjal and ladies fingers (instead of everything at once) as my previous attempt made me realise that not all the vegetables soften at the same time.  Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

Next, I added the tomatoes, green/red chillies, tofu puffs and curry leaves....and the fish slices as well. Simmer on medium heat for a further 5 minutes.

Finally, add the coconut milk and it's done!  The recipe called for 6 tbsp of coconut cream but since I bought an already squeezed packet which had at least double that amount, I added it all in.

So, here's Ratha Raub's Fish Head Curry which is great if you have a lot of people coming for say dinner. Taste-wise, I found this to be a more than decent rendition.

photo credit: eatdrinkkl

I'm not sure how this home-cooked version compares to the one Ratha Raub makes at their restaurant (since I've not had it before) but here's a pic of it for comparison purposes (courtesy of eatdrinkkl's blog)....hee...hee!  Same-same?  No? ;D

It had all the flavours an authentic Indian-style fish curry should have....so I'm quite pleased with the result as it's not something I can make from scratch anyway!  So, using this curry paste takes all the hard work out of it and makes this a foolproof and failproof fish curry even a novice cook can stir up....and I'm all for this kind of quick and easy recipes.

Well, my family (mom and sisters included) did enjoy this Fish Curry I whipped up....even if it's a 'cheat' version :D  I found this Fish Curry to be much tastier than the Malaysian Fish Curry I made with the curry paste from Kampong Kravers (@ RM12.90 for a 250g pack)...plus this one by Ratha Raub is also a bigger portion and cheaper.

With a little help from Ratha Raub's Curry Paste, you now have a Fish Curry that not only can you whip up in mere minutes but one's that able to feed quite a lot of people too.  Game to cook something different for your Chinese New Year Eve dinner? ;)