Poached Tilapia with Tart Coconut Milk and Garlic (Kokum Muchee)

This fish curry comes together astonishingly quickly and easily; it also seems like it would scale well. You may need to adjust the cooking time slightly for different fish, or thicker (or thinner) cuts, and if the fish is frozen or particularly thin the initial searing step may do more to cook the fish through than to sear it, but that's ok; the main event here is the sauce that coats it.

If you can't secure kokum, dissolve ½ teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate in the boiling water instead, or, failing that, the juice of one lime or lemon.

Poached Tilapia with Tart Coconut Milk and Garlic

660 Curries

Ingredients

• ½tsp ground turmeric
• 1lb (450g) skinless tilapia filets
• 5 pieces dried black kokum, each roughly 5cm×2.5cm
• ¼C (60mL) boiling water
• 2tbsp (30mL) corn oil
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, stems removed, cut in half lengthwise, seeds left in
• 1C (240mL) coconut milk
• 2tbsp (30mL) finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rub the turmeric over both sides of the fillets. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
2. Combine the kokum and the boiling water in a small bowl, and let it steep for 10-15 minutes to absorb the flavour of the kokum. Remove the kokum pieces and squeeze them over the bowl to extract any remaining juices; discard the kokum husks and reserve the liquid.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the fillets and sear on both sides until browned, ~1 minute/side. Remove to plate.
4. Add the garlic and chiles to the skillet and cook until garlic starts to brown, ~1 minute.
5. Add coconut milk and deglaze the skillet. Stir in the kokum liquid.
6. Return fish to skillet. Continue to boil, uncovered, spooning the sauce over the fillets until they start to flake, 3-5 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.