Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Ader1 on January 28, 2014, 11:59 PM
-
I've mentioned before that I've been helping out a little in a local Indian restaurant. They eat what is known as the 'Staff Curry' at the end of the night but also, in the afternoon they eat another 'Staff Curry' which is fish based while the one at the end of the night is either chicken or lamb. They use this fish which doesn't have an over-powering taste but it's riddled with small bones. I've never come across such a fish with so many bones. They claim it's comes from Bangladesh. I've been told the name but I've forgotten. Anyway, I asked the owner's wife if the same curry could be made using a fish from the UK's shores or at least more locak than Asia. She said that mackrel works. I bought a couple of mackrel and took them in and the chef cooked them. Personally, I don't think the mackrel worked as well and were a little overpowering. The chef also said that unlike their fish, he didn't fry the mackrel because they were too brittle to be fried and then added to the curry. He did say though that they would work fine in a kind of spicy fish chutney which I've seen him make before.
My question here is, since I'm not very well up on my fish, what kind of fish do you people think might work? Hopefully somthing which maybe cut into stakes and fried before adding to a curry and which wouldn't be brittle and break up and also not too over-powering in taste. It would be an added bonus if the fish wasn't too expensive. Thank you.
-
Pomfret ?
** Phil.
-
Monkfish works really well. Also Hallibut, although it can be a bit pricey.
-
Ive used Trout a few times for curries - more Sri Lankan style though but really tasty. Its about ?3ish a kilo
-
It'll be tilapia fish. Very firm texture and good for curries as it doesn't break up easily like some other fish.
-
Is shark any good? my local indian supermarket has some good deals on frozen shark. I've been meaning to do a fish masala for ages.
-
I'd say its most likely Hilsa fish.
-
Depends on the chef, If he prefers fresh water fish, or sea water fish.
tilapia fish = fresh water
Hilsa fish = sea water
-
I asked the chef again what it's called and he said that in Bangladesh they call it 'rooi'. That's the best I can do phonetically with the 'i' at the end sounding like 'e' in 'email'. I cleaned one of it's scales and boy were they tough. There's also another fish which they sometimes buy but it's twice the price and nicer so he says. Thanks for your replies. I'll make a not of your suggestions and see what's available at the local shops. Has anybody here made a 'Staff fish curry'?
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohu)
Rohu or Rui in Bengali.
According to that link it's a member of the Carp family. What's Carp like? Expensive?
-
I assumed from your original post that the fish were small, hence the Hilsa suggestion.
And maybe perch wouldve been a better suggestion than mackeral, as the staff curry used a river fish?
Carp is delicious though, Ive had it a few times here and abroad.
Try a Polish shop if you cant source it from a Bangladeshi...or get your fishing rod out.
:)
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jan/17/freshwater-fish-fight (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jan/17/freshwater-fish-fight)
-
Thanks Dalpuri. I just went along with what the restaurant wife suggested to me ie to try mackrel as it was nice with mackrel. Maybe she whould have said that "I think it would be nice with mackrel but I haven't a clue". I'm sure she said that she had tried it in their curry. But the chef then came back and said it hadn't really worked but would be better in a kind of fish chutney. I do sometimes get quite frustrated by being told one thing by one of them and another by somebody else there. I read somewhere that in some countries in Asia, people will give an answer even if they don't know to try and save face or something similar. Maybe there's something like that at play here? And then there's also the added communication problem with their lack of vocabulary and basic sentences when speaking English. But it's an interesting experience on the whole.
-
Could post a recipe of how to make the staff curries? How do they different from regular?
-
These should keep you going for a while. I've probably missed a couple out though :-\
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5958.196 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5958.196)
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11933.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11933.0)
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11911.11 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11911.11)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqpsvUxb9LU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqpsvUxb9LU)
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6171.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,6171.0)
-
Thanks for those links curryhell. Does anybody have a good recipe for mixed powder which they use for these staff curries and many others too. I was just told that it was a 'secret' mix. I've given up on working out in this restaurant. The owner wasn't helpful. I'm quite disappointed by it all.