I don’t recall ever using this one…
…out of the three in their somewhat limited range of instant curry pastes, just the one for meat and the one for rendang. My missus did use it a number of times before though – for her fish head curry. She would buy the head of the ang chor (red snapper) for this and yes, it was very nice and could easily give the ones at the restaurants here, there and everywhere a run for the money.
I did not feel like having the head that day and there was this ikan tenggiri (bay kar/mackerel)…
…in the freezer, not a very big one but that was enough for the two of us for lunch and in the evening for dinner when my girl came home for the weekend.
As always, everytime we use the instant paste, these would the added ingredients…
– one Bombay onion, peeled and finely chopped, a few stalk of serai (lemon grass) and a few sprigs of curry leaves.
I went and bought these…
…that one would usually find in a dish of fish head curry at a restaurant – some ladies’ fingers, brinjal, pineapples, bean curd sticks and tofu puffs. I think they do add long beans at some places too but I did not feel like having any that day.
I fried the chopped onion in a bit of oil…
…before adding the serai and the leaves from one sprig of the curry leaves…
…and the instant paste…
Since it was not a very big fish, I just used half a packet and stored the rest in the freezer for use at a later date.
After adding a bit of water, I put in the head and tail of the fish and the vegetables…
I did not put in the rest of the fish for fear that it would disintegrate in the course of the simmering to cook the vegetables.
When I felt that the vegetables were more or less cooked, I added the pineapples, the bean curd sticks and the tofu puffs…and also the rest of the fish and curry leaves…
…before adding santan (coconut milk), half a can of it, to the gravy.
After bringing it back to boil, it was done…
…so I just dished it out and served…
I guess it could do with a nicer presentation but since it was solely for our own home consumption, I did not bother about it. What would be more important would be the taste and yes, it was good. My girl, when she had it for dinner that evening, remarked, “Very nice curry, dad!” and that sure made up for all the effort that I put into cooking it.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I think the taste and enjoyment of a meal is more important than presentation, Arthur. And this is good, because I am not good at presentations, but anyone who has tasted my food has enjoyed it. 🙂
That’s true. Some dishes may not look good but they taste great. On the other hand, some may have nice presentations, too good to eat, in fact, but they do not taste as nice.
Looks scrumptious.
It was. Will surely want to cook it again sometime.
Will give this paste a try if I ever cook fish head curry. If the curry paste for meat is good, then I bet this will be as good as the meat one. The fish curry head looks extremely good.
Yes, all three are good. I would never bother using any of the rest.
I like mackerel in my fish curry. Meatier.
Cooked fish curry once using the ready paste pack. Only me that like to eat it so I do not cook it much at home.
Oh? We do love curry, meat or fish. So easy to cook now that we have these instant pastes – thankfully, they are really very nice.
Home-made ones are always the best, less oily and more hygienic
Exactly!
Very nicely done!
I was very pleased…with myself too. Hehehehehe!!!!
I drools looking at the curry (photo). I think tenggiri is a good choice for curry. More meaty too. Good cooking guide there, Arthur!
Yes, and not so many bones unlike some other fish. Bawal hitam would be my choice as well for curry or asam fish.
Thumbs up
Thank you.
One dish like this is certainly enough…very appetizing just by looking.. I would love to try this one day.. must go and buy fish and the paste first..
Makes a balanced meal no doubt – there’s fish, all the vegetables, more protein from the bean curd sticks and tofu puffs…and rice.
Very, VERY nice, curry – I agree with her! 😀
Thanks.
Oh, you have a very nice bay kar there! The curry must be really good. My late grandma used to fry bay kar and we eat that with either budu or the Terengganu sweet black sauce.
My girl loves it deep fried too and for some reason, she goes for the tail! Dunno why.
Next time I’ll just follow your recipe! Looks easy to cook!
This one very nice to eat one, I can wallop a big bowl of rice!
Yes, the gravy was so good with rice.