Basa Fillets in Red Coconut Curry

One of my easiest and favorite meals is coconut curry with rice. I know there are a gazillion versions of coconut curry out there so I'll share the version I make when I'm in a rush for a quick meal. Incidentally, this version is also one of my favorites as well :)

Lately, I have been super busy with work. For those who don't know what my day job is, I am a User Experience Designer and Project Manager for a math editor site called Mathicando.com. Out of all the geeks on the team, I am also the most qualified to take on all the social media responsibilities. We just launched our Indiegogo campaign this morning so I pretty much spent all day on promotional work. Look at me! I'm still promoting right now! Lol. I needed a break and decided it was a good time to cook something and blog :)

Because I was so busy today, I ended up working later than usual so I only had around 30 minutes to make dinner. Luckily, I wasn't worried. I already planned on making my coconut curry and after having made it many times before I knew it would be nice and quick :)

I love this curry not only because it's very little work to make, but also because it's incredibly tasty, healthy, and I love COCONUT! Remember my haupia recipe? I already went all gaga over coconut on that post so I won't do it again here :) I mean you really can't go wrong with coconut. Or fish.

The curry dish I'm about to share tastes great with steamed rice or pasta. I personally prefer rice with my curries but when I served this with pasta for my parents one time, they raved about it! My parents don't eat pasta often and probably have only ever had pasta with a tomato based sauce. They were just surprised and delighted to have pasta with an Asian type sauce. What? You can do that?! Sure! Tonight, I actually served my coconut curry with a mix of rice, quinoa, and millet. Honestly, it will go well with any kind of grain or seed, in the case of quinoa.

Hey Food Stylers, how am I doing?

Basa Fillets in Red Coconut Curry
Serves 6-8

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 fennel, chopped
3 stalks (aka ribs) of celery, chopped
4 carrots, peeled & chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
2-3 lbs boneless basa fillets, sliced in big pieces

1 1/2 tbsp curry paste (more if you like it SPICY!)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 can (400 ml) coconut cream (or coconut milk)

Melt coconut oil in a big pot. Add fennel, celery, and carrots. Fry for a few minutes. Add curry paste and stir for another minute. Add coconut cream, sugar and fish sauce. Notice that the coconut cream is thicker and creamier than coconut milk. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Finally add the basa fillets. Stir and cover at low heat for about 5 minutes.

The idea is to cook things that take longer to cook first and then throw in what cooks quickly near the end. If you overcook the sweet potatoes, they will mash and break apart. I wanted them to be cooked but still be firm. Same thing with the fish.

Serve the curry with a side of rice or pasta. The rice, quinoa, and millet combination you see here was drizzled with fried garlic oil.

Do you have a favorite curry you make often? What sorts of vegetables do you like to see in your curries? Do you like to serve curry with rice, pasta, or bread?