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Cape Malay Seafood Curry
Cape Malay Seafood Curry is a traditional South African recipe for a clasic safood and vegetable curry that originates with the Cape Malay population of Cape Town. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: Cape Malay Seafood Curry.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
25 minutes
Total Time:
45 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : CurrySpice RecipesVegetable RecipesSouth-africa Recipes
This is a classic seafood curry from the Cape Malay population of Cape Town. This is more aromatic than spicy and unusually for a South African dish makes use of cassava as well as sweet potatoes (note that the sweet potatoes used are white and are harder and take more cooking than orange-fleshed sweet potatoes). As written, the curry is quite mild, you can add a finely chopped green chilli to give it more of a kick if you wish.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
4 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 celery stick
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 small cassava roots, peeled and cubed (keep in a bowl of water until needed)
3 medium carrots, scrapped and cubed
400g (14 oz) tin of chickpeas, drained
1 handful of lentils
2 tbsp fish masala
6 tomatoes, grated
1 tbsp ginger, grated
3-5 fresh curry leaves
500g (1 lb) angelfish, cut into chunks
1 bunch of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1 bunch of fresh dhania (coriander/cilantro), coarsely chopped
fresh lemon juice, to sprinkle
sea salt, to taste
rye bread, for serving
For the Cape Malay Fish Masala:
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 cloves
4 allspice berries
Powdered spices:
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp turmeric powder
Method:
Begin with the fish masala: Dry roasting whole spices: Add the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds, along with the black peppercorns and cloves to a small pan dry clean pan and dry roast on medium heat until it smells fragrant (about 90 seconds). Take off the heat, place on a trivet and continue to stir as the residual heat in the pan continues cooking the spices. Cook for 2 minutes more then turn onto a plate to cool completely before grinding.
If using a pestle and mortar, grind the spices until it is a fine powder, or as fine as you can. If using an electric spice (or coffee) grinder, pulse the spices until it is a fine powder. Try not to let the motor run for so long that the spices start to heat up, as it ruins the flavour, inducing bitterness.
Add the chilli powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, cinnamon powder and turmeric powder to a bowl then stir in the freshly ground spices. Use immediately or decant into a container with an airtight lid and store until required.
Braise the onions, garlic and celery in a non-stick pan. Add the sweet potatoes, cassava and carrots. Increase the heat, stir well and add your spices, the chickpeas and red lentils.
Add the seafood masala; an amazing fragrance should unfold almost immediately. Almost straight away grate in your tomatoes to prevent the spices from burning. Stir to combine, and when the ingredients have mixed nicely, add the ginger and curry leaves.
As soon as the vegetables are soft (a few minutes, at most), add the chunks of angelfish, parsley and fresh dhania. Simply place the chunks and the herbs on top of everything but don’t stir!
Replace the lid and the steam will cook the fish as it releases its flavour into the curry. The parsley and coriander (dhania/cilantro) add a delicious freshness.
The fish will be done within a couple of minutes. Stir once only to gently combine.
Sprinkle with some fresh lemon juice and sea salt and serve with a slice of freshly toasted rye bread.
