No bland flavours over here! This yellow Thai fish curry is simple, delicious and speedy too! Plus the homemade Thai curry sauce is great for multiple recipes - I've included some ideas below.
I often use ready-made pastes when I'm making a Thai curry, but it's actually quicker than you think to whip up your own paste from scratch.
Five minutes extra and a food chopper to wash - not too much to ask for a dinner that's fresh and delicious (and also means you don't have to put that half-used jar of Thai paste on the top shelf of the fridge along with the other 5 jars you forgot you bought! - guilty as charged).
Fresh, vibrant ingredients of onion, garlic, ginger and coriander (cilantro) stalks go into the food chopper along with spices:
These are blended together to form a thick paste:
Half of this paste is spread onto the fish fillets, which are then fried. Then the remaining paste is added, along with coconut milk, stock and a few other goodies.
Super simple!
Ooh ooh guess what! We've finely come to the end of our family summer diet challenge. We lost 80lbs (36kg) between the 5 of us over the last 10 weeks. Not too bad, considering we had 3 trips away during that time where we ate what we liked.
Apparently that's the weight of a medium sized cheetah!
Now we're on our own in the big, wide chocolate-and-donut-filled world, so I'm working on creating a go-to list of meals that are nutritious, healthy and quick to make when I'm hangry.
This meal falls into that category and here are some of my other faves:
- Healthier Chicken and Red Pepper Pasta
- Skinny Thai Green Curry
- 30 Minute Pan-Fried Salmon with Creamy Lemon Spaghetti
- Hidden Veg Meatballs
- Thai Prawn with Cauliflower rice
Hopefully these meals will stop me from cooking up sinfully-delicious-but-naughty meals like this and this too often!
The paste for this Easy From Scratch Thai Yellow Curry With Fish is based on the recipe I use for my seafood laksa, but instead of using prawns and noodles etc, this time I'm adding kale to bump up the vitamins, and also rice.
Some other options for the sauce:
- Replace the fish with chicken and serve with noodles
- Steam salmon and pour the sauce over the top
- Replace the fish with cooked sweet potato and chickpeas for a veggie version (you'll need to replace the stock and fish sauce for veggie versions too)
So good!
Can I make it ahead?
You can make the paste ahead or you can make the whole thing ahead. Cool quickly, then cover and refrigerate for up to two days.
The fish won't be quite as tender when reheated, and may break apart more, but it's still delicious. Reheat in a pan over a medium heat until piping hot throughout. Don't let it boil rapidly, as the coconut milk in the sauce may split.
Will it freeze?
I prefer this dish freshly cooked, but it can be frozen. Cool quickly the dish, then cover and freeze for up to a month. Defrost thoroughly in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan over a medium heat until piping hot throughout. Don't let it boil rapidly, as the coconut milk in the sauce may split. You may find the sauce is thinner after defrosting. Stir in a little cornflour/cornstarch and cold water slurry (1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp cold water) to the hot sauce until thickened to your liking.
More Delicious Curry's
Still hungry for more ? How about my;
- Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
- Chicken Madras
- Chicken Rogan Josh
- Lamb Curry
- Thai Green Curry
- Slow Cooked Beef Curry
- Butter Chicken
- Chicken Tikka Masala
All served with Boiled Rice, or Pilau Rice and Homemade Chapattis!
The Easy From Scratch Thai Yellow Curry With Fish Recipe:
Easy From Scratch Thai Yellow Curry With Fish
Ingredients
Thai Curry Paste:
- 1 regular onion - peeled and chopped
- 1-2 medium red chillies - chopped (or more if you like it really hot)
- 2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger - (or 1 tsp minced ginger)
- 2 cloves of garlic - peeled and chopped
- 1 lemongrass stalk - outer leaves disgarded, inner part chopped finely (you can replace this with a tsp of lemongrass paste)
- 1 heaped tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) stalks - you can use the leaves for garnish later
- 1 ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp tamarind paste - usually gluten free, but best to check
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Curry:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 haddock or cod fillets (weighing approx 150g/5oz each) - sliced in half
- 100 g kale - chopped
- 400 ml can full-fat coconut milk
- 240 ml fish stock or chicken stock - Use a gluten free brand - Knorr to a GF version
- 2 tsp fish sauce - usually gluten free, but best to check
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) - mixed with 3 tbsp cold water (optional)
To Serve:
- Boiled rice
- 1 red chilli - finely sliced
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all the curry paste ingredients to a bowl and blend together using a hand blender until no lumps remain (or use a mini chopper).
- Spread half of the curry paste on the haddock fillets (both sides, or just the fleshy side if the fish still has skin on).
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (skillet) on a high heat and place the haddock fillets in there. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until the coating starts to brown. Add the rest of the curry paste to the pan and cook for a further minute until fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk and stock, then stir (you can remove the skin from the fish at this point if necessary), breaking up the fish a little. Once the coconut milk is bubbling, add fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and stir again. Test for seasoning and add a little more salt/pepper/lime/sugar if needed.
- Add the kale and stir through for 1-2 minutes until wilted.
- If you'd like the sauce to be a little thicker, stir in the cornstarch and water mixture a little at a time until the sauce is thickened to your liking.
- Serve topped with sliced chillies and some boiled rice if you like. We also like to serve ours with toasted pita (make sure it's gluten free pita if needed).
✎ Notes
Can I make it ahead?
You can make the paste ahead or you can make the whole thing ahead. Cool quickly, then cover and refrigerate for up to two days. The fish won't be quite as tender when reheated, and may break apart more, but it's still delicious. Reheat in a pan over a medium heat until piping hot throughout. Don't let it boil rapidly, as the coconut milk in the sauce may split. .Will it freeze?
I prefer this dish freshly cooked, but it can be frozen. Cool quickly the dish, then cover and freeze for up to a month. Defrost thoroughly in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan over a medium heat until piping hot throughout. Don't let it boil rapidly, as the coconut milk in the sauce may split. You may find the sauce is thinner after defrosting. Stir in a little cornflour/cornstarch and cold water slurry (1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp cold water) to the hot sauce until thickened to your liking. .Can I make a vegetarian version?
Yes, replace the fish with cooked sweet potato and chickpeas (or you could use tofu or another meat replacement) for a veggie version (you'll need to replace the stock and fish sauce for veggie versions too) . Nutritional Information is per serving, WITHOUT the serving suggestion of boiled rice.Nutrition
This recipe was first published in May 2016. Updated in July 2018 with new photos, additional tips and a few minor upgrades to the recipe.
Here's one of the old pic in case you're interested!
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Shelly says
Loved this! In fact the whole family did!
We’ll try it with prawns next… thank you for sharing 🙏
Allison says
I made this thinking I’d have enough for lunch tomorrow. But no, the whole family devoured this! So delicious! Thank you for sharing!