Balaya Fish Curry

Name: Balaya Fish Curry
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: 1 sprig curry leaves, leaves picked; 1 red onion*, sliced; 185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) coconut cream*; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) tuna steaks; 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) boiled water; 4 pieces of goroka*; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon Manike’s thuna paha (or store-bought roasted curry powder); 1 teaspoon unroasted chilli powder*; 8 cm (3¼ inch) piece rampe (pandanus) leaf*, cut in half; 1 thin green chilli*, halved lengthways; 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) coconut milk*

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka

By Bree Hutchins

Published 2013

About

Watching a tough-looking inmate in a torn, dirty singlet hack at a huge balaya fish (skipjack tuna) with a machete wasn’t exactly appetising, but this is a delicious recipe and I’m glad I tried it. It has a slight tanginess from the goroka, a sour dried fruit, and a decent kick from the chilli.

Ingredients

4 pieces of goroka*
80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ c

Asia
Sri Lanka
Batticaloa
Monaragala
Lunch
Fish course
Pescatarian
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

Soak the goroka in the boiled water for 30 minutes, then strain, reserving the soaking water. Remove the seeds from the goroka and discard them, then roughly chop. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the goroka into a paste, gradually adding a little of the reserved water. Wash the fish and cut into 3 cm (11/4