Dahi Wali Machli - Dory Fish Yogurt Curry

Northern India cusine is not known for its fish dishes due to it geographical location. However, fresh water or river fishes are still available in Northern India. Dahi Wali Machli is North India fish curry dish that is not widely known until I found the recipe off a curry cookbook. I made some amendment to the original recipe so that it is more suitable for those health conscious without sacrificing the actual taste. For those who never tried before Dahi Wali Machli, it is a light, fresh curry with a tinge of yogurt taste that doesn't overpower your palate.

Dahi Wali Machli - Dory Fish Yogurt Curry

• 6 Pieces of dory fish fillet or sutchi fillet, cut into 4cm chunks.
• 1 Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Quarter slice of Lime
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon of ground turmeric powder
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon of chili powder

Curry Sauce

• 3 Tablespoon oil
• 1 Onion finely chopped
• 1 Teaspoon cumin powder
  
• 1 Teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 Teaspoon chili powder
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Teaspoon of ginger puree
• 2 Green chilies slit
• 100ml of plain yogurt
• 250ml of fish stock
• 1/2 Teaspoon of dried fenugreek leaves (can be found in Mustafa Centre)
• 1/2 Teaspoon of garam masala
  

Marinate the dory fish fillet with salt, chili powder and turmeric powder. Squeeze the lime on the fish and made sure the dory fish is evenly coated with chili and turmeric powder and set it aside to marinate for 30 minutes. Heat a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil and add in the marinated dory fish and pan fried it for 2 to 3 minutes transfer it to paper towel dish to remove the excess oil. The reason to pan fried the fish is to firm up the fish and prevent it from breaking up when you add it into the yogurt curry.

Heat up the saucepan with 3 tablespoon of oil, add in the chopped onion and saute it until golden brown. Add in the cumin, turmeric, chili powder and saute until you can smell the spices begin to release their flavour. Adjust your heat to low so that you do not burn the spices and stir in the ginger and chili and fry it for another 1 to 2 minutes. Next, stir in the plain yogurt and made sure the masala is fully incorporate into the yogurt, stirring constantly to prevent the yogurt from splitting. Increase, the heat until the mixture boil.

Pour in the fish stock and stir it consistently to let the yogurt blend with the fish stock then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes to reduce it to consistency of your liking. Now, add in the salt so that you can fine tune the curry in it final stage. Add in the pan fried dory fish and continue to cook over a low flame for another few minutes. Then stir in the fenugreek leaves and garam masala and cover and turn off the heat. After that you can serve with rice.