Creamy Fish Curry with Spicy Rice

This mild, creamy curry is perfectly complimented by the spicy, flavourful rice, you'll never want plain boiled rice again!

The chickpeas are not essential in this curry, I love them though and think they go very well with the soft fish and the silky spinach.

You can use any chunky fish for this although I normally use frozen pollack (it's actually the 'value' white fish fillets in my local supermarket), it's inexpensive and really good.  The fish goes in the curry right at the end so it just cooks through and doesn't fall apart.

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients

For the Curry

1 Brown Onion, finely chopped

Sunflower Oil

1 teaspoon Mild Curry Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Coriander

Half a teaspoon Ground Cumin

2 large cloves of Garlic, minced

Approx. 3 tablespoons (or a small tin) Tinned Chick Peas 

Salt and Black Pepper

Brown Sugar

250ml Water

3-4 tablespoons Creme Fraiche (Half-fat works really well)

Half a bag of Baby Spinach Leaves

450-500g Pollack (or any chunky fish), cut into large pieces

For the Spicy Rice

1 Brown Onion, finely chopped

Sunflower Oil

1 teaspoon Turmeric

1 teaspoon Ground Coriander

Half a teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 Red Chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or a large pinch of dried chilli flakes)

Salt and Black Pepper

150g Basmati Rice

Chopped Fresh Coriander, Basil or Flat-leaved Parsley

• To start the curry, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a wide pan or frying pan then tip in the chopped onion.  As it's sizzling on a low to medium heat, add the curry powder, spices and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper, cook while stirring until the onion is soft.  Add the garlic, a pinch of brown sugar and the chickpeas, cook for a minute or two then pour in the water.
• Bring it up to the boil then let it reduce for 5 to 10 minutes, it can then be removed from the heat and left until you are ready to finish the curry.
• To make the spicy rice, put your kettle on then pour a good glug of oil into a saucepan and heat.  Tip in the chopped onion, add the spices, the chilli and a good seasoning of salt and pepper then cook on a medium heat until the onions are softening.  Tip in the rice, stir then pour in enough boiling water from the kettle to cover the rice with about about 2cm of water at the top.  Cover and cook on your lowest heat for 10-15 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked, try not to stir the rice while it is cooking as it will go mushy.  When it is done sprinkle with the chopped fresh herb of your choice then fluff it gently with a fork to separate the grains.
• To finish the curry, bring it back to the boil then spoon in the creme fraiche, bubble for a few minutes to thicken then taste to check for seasoning, add more salt and pepper if needed.  Add the spinach leaves to the pan, moving them around until they wilt.  When the spinach is totally wilted and the curry is bubbling softly, gently add the pieces of fish, nestling each one into the curry and cook for another 5 (ish) minutes until the fish is cooked through (you can gently shake the pan to cover the fish but don't stir).
• Serve maybe with some natural yoghurt and mango chutney on the side.