Blue Collar Sea Belle Seafood Curry

There are a few curry dishes that stick out in my life and on top of the list has always been the prawn curry from the Sea Belle Restaurant in La Mercy, just North of Umhlanga. It is safe to say that my mom never came home from holiday at the coast without a cooler box full of take away containers filled with this beaut of a dish! While I truly wish that I could put it all together myself the way Mrs Govender did, I am nowhere near that level. With this dish and some tinned magic, I did manage to make something quite delicious that made memories of the “World Famous Sea Belle Prawn Curry” come flooding back so here it is.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4):

2 Medium Onions

3 Bay leaves

1 Thumb Nail sized Ginger block chopped up

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Tbsp. Crushed Dried Chilli

I Tbsp. Mustard Seed

3 Tbsp. Special Fish Masala Powder

1 Tbsp. Turmeric

2 Tbsp. Rajah Hot Curry Powder

2 Tsp. Salt

2 Tsp. Pepper

1 Tin Coconut Milk

1 Tin Whole Peeled Tomatoes

1 Tin Diced Tomatoes

1 Tin All Gold Indian Style Diced Tomatoes

1 Box Frozen Skinless Hake Portions (450g)

1 Pkt Cooked Frozen Med Prawns (400g)

METHOD:

NO secret to this one, peel and finely chop the onions, garlic and ginger. Throw the mustard seeds and a pinch of onions and garlic in the pot with a touch of oil. The seeds will start popping so move them around, don’t let them stick and burn. Then throw the rest of the chopped stuff and bay leaves into the pot with a splash of oil and fry till onions are translucent. Next add all the powders and salt and pepper and mix well, ensure it does not burn or stick, I add some boiling water if need be. The consistency should be more paste-like than sticky powder. Next up are the 3 tins, mix them in, bring to the boil and allow to cook. Keep stirring so the aroma gets everyone excited and once the whole tomatoes have disintegrated then add the coconut milk. Stir again and bring to the boil. In the meantime the hake can be removed from the freezer and cut into cubes, I reckon about the size of a lollipop. Let the prawns defrost in cold water. Once the pot is boiling toss the fish in and stir gently till all the pieced are covered in sauce. Allow to cook for 10 min and then check. When the fish is cooked toss the prawns in and mix gently. Take care not to break the fish portions up. Once prawns are warm, roughly 5 min then the Blue Collar Sea Belle Seafood Curry is ready to tackle, serve with rice, sliced banana and desiccated coconut. Enjoy! Wish You Were Here!