Caribbean style curry cod (curried cod)

This curry cod recipe is a combination of Indian flavours with a Caribbean flare. It’s easy to make tasty, gluten and dairy free too!!

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If you are looking for a curry to make that is tasty, delicious with a combination of Caribbean and Indian flavours then this curry cod is right for you. It takes less than a hour to cook the recipe, you can prepare what you need overnight making it the perfect dinner to come home to especially during busy weeknights.

Growing up in my household we didn’t really cook fish fillets (excluding saltfish).

Like many other Islanders we would much rather cook a whole fish with bones or fish steaks i.e snapper, parrot, doctor, barracuda, jackfish, sprats, hake and so fourth. Grilled, steamed or fried was the preferred method.

Although I do enjoy grilling some snapper or oven roasting some mini sprats being a Caribbean food blogger I love to explore my options which is how this curried cod fish came about. It’s simply a case of visiting my local fish monger, purchasing some fillet (firm ones, that don’t fall apart).

The cod fillets are cut into chunks, lightly marinated in my homemade curry powder and fish seasoning, with coconut sugar for sealing when pan frying.

Then making the sauce which imparts with vibrant flavours – black pepper, bell peppers, thyme, parsley, garlic, ginger, tamarind, tomato are cooked until fragrant and left to simmer down in coconut milk until thickened before adding the chunks of fish.

Ingredients you will need

• Cod (or firm fish like haddock or hake works well too!)
• Curry powder
• Fish seasoning
• Coconut milk
• Bell peppers
• Tomato
• Onion
• Scallion
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Tamarind paste
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Black pepper
• Water
• Coconut oil

How to cook curry cod

• Place the fish chunks in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle all of the listed ingredients to marinate the fish. Set aside to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. (picture 1)
•  On medium heat, melt the coconut oil then add the fish chunks and proceed to seal and sear each side. The fish will be opaque when sealed, becareful not to keep turning the fish. We are only sealing, not cooking it. (picture 2)
• Once sealed, remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add some more coconut oil if required, melt, then saute the onion, scallion, garlic and ginger until soft and translucent.
• Add the bell peppers and cook until soft for 5 minutes (picture 3)

• Once the bell peppers are cooked add the herbs and spices – black pepper, thyme, parsley, fish seasoning. (picture 4)
• Stir in the tamarind paste and tomato (picture 5)

• Finally pour in the coconut milk, water, scotch bonnet and pink salt to taste. (picture 7-8)
• Bring the sauce to a boil, cover the pan with a lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
• Around the 20 minute mark, add the fish chunks pushing down so the sauce covers it,  cover the pan again and allow to thoroughly cook for the remaining 10 minutes. (picture 9)
• Serving accordingly.

Notes and tips for making curry cod

• If you can’t get hold of cod use any of the following – haddock, hake, monkfish, tilapia. It’s very important to use a fish that is firm or else you run the risk of the fish fall apart during cooking.
• Don’t forget to discard the thyme stems and scotch bonnet prior to serving
• If you want heat, slice off a small portion of the scotch bonnet to use (remember the heat is in the membrane)
• Use a habanero or fresh chilli if you can’t get hold of scotch bonnet
• Use fresh fish if possible. Frozen fish tends to be water logged which can weaken the texture of the fish.
• To replicate the taste and results, use my homemade seafood seasoning and curry powder recipe.
• Full fat coconut is recommended to enable the sauce to thicken up.
• Tomato paste or sauce can be used 
• Coconut sugar is low GI index sugar that I recommend. If you are not concerned with GI then brown sugar/unrefined cane sugar works too.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I purchase tamarind paste?

You can do two things, either buy the tamarind paste here or alternatively make the paste with some fresh tamarind (de-seeded) 2tbsp mixed with 1 tbsp of water.

Is this recipe freezer friendly

Yes, just make sure it’s stored in a anti freezer burn container and thawed out before heating up.

Serving suggestions

Jamaican cornmeal dumplings

Yucca (cassava) fries

Haitian pikliz

Pumpkin rice

Oven baked spicy plantain and sweet potatoes

Caribbean creamy mashed potato

Boiled plantain and kale

Brown rice

Caribbean style curry cod

Caribbean curry cod – is for easy to make, fresh, delicious flavour coming straight to your dinning table.

• Author: Charla
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 1x
• Category: Main entree
• Cuisine: Caribbean

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 300g of cod (just over 1/2 lb)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp Fish seasoning
• 1 can Coconut milk (400ml)
• 1 large Tomato (or 1/3 cup/80ml of tomato paste)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 scallion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1tbsp of ginger, grated
• 1tbsp of tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp of Parsley
• 6 sprigs of Thyme
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1/2 cup of water (125ml)
• Coconut oil

Instructions

1. Place the fish chunks in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle all of the listed ingredients to marinate the fish. Set aside to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
2.  On medium heat, melt the coconut oil then add the fish chunks and proceed to seal and sear each side. The fish will be opaque when sealed, becareful not to keep turning the fish. We are only sealing, not cooking it.
3. Once sealed, remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Add some more coconut oil if required, melt, then saute the onion, scallion, garlic and ginger until soft and translucent.
5. Add the bell peppers and cook until soft for 5 minutes
6. Once the bell peppers are cooked add the herbs and spices – black pepper, thyme, parsley, fish seasoning.
7. Stir in the tamarind paste and tomato
8. Finally pour in the coconut milk, water, scotch bonnet and pink salt to taste.
9. Bring the sauce to a boil, cover the pan with a lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
10. Around the 20 minute mark, add the fish chunks pushing down so the sauce covers it,  cover the pan again and allow to thoroughly cook for the remaining 10 minutes.
11. Serving accordingly.

Notes

• If you can’t get hold of cod use any of the following – haddock, hake, monkfish, tilapia. It’s very important to use a fish that is firm or else you run the risk of the fish fall apart during cooking.
• Don’t forget to discard the thyme stems and scotch bonnet prior to serving
• If you want heat, slice off a small portion of the scotch bonnet to use (remember the heat is in the membrane)
• Use a habanero or fresh chilli if you can’t get hold of scotch bonnet
• Use fresh fish if possible. Frozen fish tends to be water logged which can weaken the texture of the fish.
• To replicate the taste and results, use my homemade seafood seasoning and curry powder recipe.
• Full fat coconut is recommended to enable the sauce to thicken up.
• Tomato paste or sauce can be used
• Coconut sugar is low GI index sugar that I recommend. If you are not concerned with GI then brown sugar/unrefined cane sugar works too.