Curry Fish Head

Brother in law is coming over for dinner tonight(as on the day I made this) and he always brings back some rice for FIL as well. And Mike reminded me to cook something that FIL will eat.

Hah! What my FIL eats is not always something MIL will approve of. She may be in the States, but she's always reading my blog, kekekeke.

But anyway, I cooked his favourite this time, fish head curry, as I have a fish head and a fish tail in the freezer, an aubergine, some leftover beans from the Nasi Goreng Kampung and some big juicy organic tomatoes 

But,I forgot to weigh my fish!!!!
Anyway, I  just made an estimation of size using the palms of your hands.

1 fish head plus some of the belly about the size of my palm, separate the belly from the head into serving sizes
1 fish tail about the length of my palm (and that does not include the tail fin), cut into 1 inch thick pieces
1 aubergine (big if you like more, small if you like it less), cut into 2 inch lengths and quatered
5 pcs of long beans (cut into 3 inch lengths)
1 large red onion (cut into 8)
5 okra, cut into 2 or 3 pieces each
1 large tomato, cut into 8
2 lemon grass (4 inches from the base, smashed)
25gm fish curry powder (I used 1 small pack of Adabi fish curry powder)
200ml thick coconut milk
½ Tbsp salt to taste
3 pieces of turmeric leaves, sliced thinly for sprinkling (I added this for fun as I have them in the fridge)

To be ground into a paste
50gm shallots (3 if large, 5 if small)
2 cloves garlic
6 dried chillies, deseeded, soaked til soft
Thumbsized peeled ginger

1. Heat a wok on high heat. Put in 3 Tbsp oil. Put in aubergines and toss it few times, spread it around on the wok and let it fry for a while, tossing it every 20 seconds. Cook the aubergine for about 1 minute. Next put in the onions(the aubergines are still in there, just mix them together). Toss and spread around the wok again, tossing it every 20 seconds for 1 minute. Finally the long beans. Toss and spread around the wok again, tossing it every 20 seconds for 1 minute. Your aubergines, onions and long beans will be very fragrant this way. Dish up and set aside.
2. Heat wok on medium heat, put in 3 Tbsp oil. Put in the ground paste and fry until fragrant and slightly dry. Then put in curry powder. Fry for a while until fragrant. Turn to low heat.
3. Put in 2 Tbsp of coconut cream (skimmed from the top of the coconut milk). Cook until the whiteness disappears. Then put in the lemon grass and fry for a while. Turn back to high heat.
4. Put in 3 cups of water, dissolve the fragrant paste. Put in fish pieces and tomato.
5. Bring to a boil and then put in the precooked vege. Simmer for 10 minutes. (try not to stir the curry too much, else you will break up the fish)
6. Put in coconut milk and salt to taste. Put in okra. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Dish up, sprinkle with shredded turmeric leaves and serve.

So, do you like it head or tails???

Flip a coin and see which part you 'll get on you plate of rice.

In the end, FIL got the tail, BIL got the most fleshy part, Mike got the fish bellies, and I took the another fleshy part and 2 heads!!!!

The whole dish was difficult to finish up!!!! There was so much to eat!!!!!