Tilapia Tomato Curry

Here's a spicy, tasty, truly delicious tilapia recipe. Serve it with naan or piping hot plain boiled rice.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Tilapia fillets cut into 2" thick slices
• 6 tbsps cooking oil
• 1 tsp paanch phoran
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 2 large onions ground to a paste
• 2 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tbsp green chili paste
• 4 large tomatoes ground to paste
• 1 tbsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp fish curry powder
• Salt to taste
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp dry fenugreek (methi)leaves
• Chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

• Rub 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder on fish. Marinate fish for 10-15 minutes. This will help the fish maintain its color and add to its flavor.
• Heat the oil in a wide heavy-bottomed pan and add the paanch phoran and curry leaves. When they stop spluttering, add the onion paste and fry till light brown.
• Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and green chili paste; fry for 3-4 minutes. Add red chili, turmeric, coriander and fish curry powders along with salt; fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.
• Add 2 cups of hot water and bring the gravy to a boil and then simmer. Mix in lemon juice.
• Gently add the fish to this gravy. Add methi (fenugreek) leaves after crushing the leaves between your fingers.
• Cook till fish is done. Remember Tilapia takes less time in cooking as compared to other fishes.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with naan or plain boiled rice

Tips:
Before adding the herbs to the food, crush the leaves between your fingers. This helps in releasing volatile oils and increases the herb's flavor.
When cooking in the Crockpot, add dried herbs (and fresh herbs too) at the end of cooking time. Long, slow cooking times can diminish the herb's intensity.
Mix all five spices of panch phoran in equal amounts.

Do You Know:
Panch phoran (also known as Bengali five-spice) is an Indian spice blend typically consisting of five whole spices in equal measure:
Fenugreek (methi)
Nigella seed (kalonji)
Mustard seeds (rai)
Fennel seed (saunf )
Cumin seed (jira)