Rick Stein's Classic Malaysian Fish Curry With A Twist

Ingredients

4 300 gm prepared mackerel
3 tbsp vegetable oil
350 gm onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 packet of fish curry paste
24 curry leaves (approx. 2 sprigs)
250 gm aubergine
400 ml coconut milk
2 red and 2 green medium-hot chillies, cut on the diagonal into 1 cm thick slices
275 gm okra
3 tomatoes, medium-sized and cut into 6 wedges
1 quantity of tamarind water
Coriander leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 C/Gas Mark 6.
Sprinkle the fish with salt, inside and out, and set aside for 20 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, sprinkle with salt and fry until it begins to brown.
Lower the heat, add the curry paste and curry leaves and continue to fry gently for another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Slice the aubergine lengthways into 4 wedges, then each wedge across into 1cm thick.
Add coconut milk, 500ml water, chillies, okra, aubergine, tomatoes, tamarind water and 2 teaspoons of salt then simmer for 15 minutes.
Put the mackerel side by side in a deep roasting tin in which they fit quite snugly.
Poor over curry sauce (it should almost cover the fish), cover tightly with foil and transfer to the oven.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
Remove and season to taste, with more salt if necessary, then garnish with a sprinkling of coriander leaves.

Taken from Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey published by BBC Books, price £20, photography copyright James Murphy.