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fish ka salan or fish masala
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Fish Salan Recipe

A comforting light fish curry that is weeknight friendly
Course Main Course
Cuisine pakistani, indian
Diet Halal
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4
Author Sarah Mir

Equipment

  • 1 braiser or saute pan or wok

Ingredients

Fish Rub

  • 400 g boneless white fish cut into 2.5-3 inch pieces
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ¼-1/2 tsp chili powder kashmiri chili powder is lovely here!
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Fish Salan

  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 2 onions finely diced 75-90g each
  • 1 tomato finely diced 60-80g
  • 1.5 tsp ginger paste
  • 1 tsp garlic paste
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • 3-4 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable) or your preferred cooking oil

Garnishes

  • 4 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 2-3 sliced green chilies
  • lemon juice

Instructions

  • Rub the fish with the marinade ingredients and set aside
    fish marinated in spices
  • Heat your oil in a wide bottomed pan on medium high heat and add the curry leaves
  • Once thee curry leaves get nice and aromatic add in your minced onions and saute until the edges get lightly golden
    fried onions for masala base
  • Saute in your ginger and garlic pastes, cooking for about a minute to get the rawness out
  • Now add in your spices, cook for 30 seconds
    ginger, garlic and spices cooked with diced onions for a fish curry
  • Add in the tomato and turn the heat up to accelerate cooking the moisture out, in about 2-3 minutes you should see oil starting to rise above the surface.
  • Pour in about a cup of hot water. You have two options now.
    1.) bring it to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes to soften the masala and bring it together
    2.) blend it all together (curry leaves are ok to be blended in) using an immersion blender or an actual blender (in which case use cold water)
    breaking down the masala
  • If you took approach (2) then crank up the heat to dry out the masala a little and let it separate (see notes)
  • Gently place your fish pieces in the dish, cook for a few minutes, flip
  • Add your kasuri methi, half your chilies and cilantro, and cover and let the fish cook for 3-4 minutes.
  • Now adjust the curries consistency to your liking with hot water, bring to a boil and turn the stove off (fish breaks easily so we don't want to manhandle it or boil for too long). Taste, adjust seasoning and garnish with remaining garnishes

Notes

  • if you want to learn more about the back and forth of creating a salan then it's in the blog post along with quicker cooking tips, and notes on choosing fish.