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In a previous post on 8020Living I wrote about Roger, the fish man from Masachapa who regularly came house to house in the village with his bucket of fish, straight from the sea. (You can find the post HERE) Since the civil unrest here in Nicaragua we haven’t seen him so I have had to find a different way to buy our fish.

Allow me to introduce Ileana…

Not only does she sell the freshest of fish but also knows how to fillet too, a job I’d rather not do myself!

Living only half an hour from the Pacific coast means we have access to an abundance of fish and the market is an excellent place to buy a wide variety. I usually buy a whole fish – white tuna, makarela, etc.- at about 5-6 pounds in weight and Ileana fillets it for me. This recipe that I’m about to share with you can be made from your favourite fish, it’s quick and tasty with a sauce that begs to have coconut bread dipped in it.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 green finger chillies (I use 1 jalapeño)
• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 5-6 curry leaves (optional)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 200ml (7fl oz) coconut milk
• 500g (1lb +) fish cut into pieces
• 2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp oil

METHOD

• Mince the garlic, chillies and ginger together
• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and curry leaves, if using, over a medium heat until the onions soften
• Stir in the minced garlic mixture along with the salt and turmeric
• Fry for another couple of minutes
• Add the coconut milk, a splash of water and the tomatoes, simmer for a couple of minutes
• At this point the sauce can be whizzed with a hand blender if you like a smooth sauce.
• Add the fish pieces and gently cook for 5-6 minutes

Serve with rice and/or coconut bread and a salad. I’ll post a coconut bread recipe very soon, don’t feel intimidated it’s super easy to do!

Hope you enjoy the recipe, let me know if you try it. Until the next time…