Halibut in Coconut Curry

Josh's first day of school is today, so last night I was on dinner duty while he prepped. I've long been meaning to cook more fish - or really, just to cook ANY fish. Flipping through trusty Jamie Oliver, I came up with nothing great (all those roasting recipes might look better in the fall), but then I took out the Vij's cookbook my folks gave Josh for Christmas. There was an easy-looking halibut curry recipe. Sold.

I got the halibut at Whole Foods and Josh brought 19 million spices from Philadelphia, so we were all set, except for the curry leaves. Hm. Curry leaves. Supposedly one has to have a series of connections in Indian grocery stores in order to locate these curry leaves, when they are fresh, and go pick them up under cover of night, or first thing at 10am when the delivery truck shows up. Not an option at 7pm. So I fried some dry bay leaves instead and proceeded with the garlic, pureed onion, tomatoes and spices, simmering all the water out, and then added the coconut milk and water.

The halibut got panko'd and gently fried in a pan, which meant that then you get to do that thing they do in fancy restaurants, where they serve you the nice fish, and then pour the sauce over it in front of you.

Whole Foods also supplied some decent garlic naan and we used the rice cooker (definitely the appliance I was most skeptical about putting on the registry...and now use most often! Thanks Cristina!) and MAN O MAN was this dish delicious. The cayenne gave it a subtle heat and yes it was too salty, but perhaps only restaurant salty, and the coconut was not overpowering in any way but just there, unctuous, with the bright tomatoes and the tender flaky halibut, with some panko crunch to keep things interesting.

It was actually really delightful to cook for Josh. Whether this is tapping into some inner wifely self or just easier (sans kitchen tension when we are cooking together) remains to be seen.