Non-Spicy Curry Mahi Mahi

[NYCGayTranslator]

I'm 31 and my roommate and friend is 65. He's been to almost every country imaginable, and has eaten everything, but since he had chemo therapy ten years ago, he can't eat anything with a hint of heat. I have some mahi mahi, and a can of coconut milk and a tin of Thai chili paste, but I know I can't make it for him tonight. How can I make a variation of curried mahi mahi that is not spicy so that he can enjoy it as well?

 

[Yakuta]

Here is a recipe you can use and it has no spice whatsoever. I am hoping however that your friend can eat garlic.

Make your own curry paste.

Prepare some onions first by cooking them in a tbsp of oil until they are translucent and lose their raw flavor

Dump them into a blender along with the following:

A big handful of cilantro (fresh)
A few cloves of garlic
2 tsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of soy sauce
juice of a lime

Also make a dry spice mix using some cumin and corrainder seeds and add that to the blender as well

Mix it all to combine. You should have a paste. You can add some turmeric to the paste to give it a yellow color.

In a pan add a little oil (1/2 tbsp is fine) and add the prepared curry mix to it and saute it for a few minutes. Next add the coconut can and a cup of water and let it all cook covered on medium low for 20 minutes or until all the flavors have mingled. Now add the fish and cover and cook for another few minutes until the fish is done.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with white rice.

No spice but a lot of flavor. My kids love flavor but no spice so I make this version for them often. It does imply that you have other spices like corrainder, cumin, turmeric so if you dont have then you need to get them to make a palatable version.

 

[NYCGayTranslator]

Thank you, I'll try a variation. I have at home pretty much every ingredient except the blender.

I guess the mortar and pestle and my arms could use the workout.
Well, I've lived 8 years without a dishwasher, and at least my friend who doesn't cook always does the dishes.

 

[Caine]

I have a Mahi-Mahi in Coconut Caramel sauce recipe I pirated from Ana Mandara in San Francisco, but my work computer recipe file isn't up-to-date, so I'll have to post the recipe when I get home, about 6 hours from now. It will probably be too late for tonight's supper in NYC, but you can use it another time.

 

[NYCGayTranslator]

Thank you anyways. I'm always looking for variations, as we don't have much variation of fish on the corner store.

Anyways, should I coat in sesame seeds or not?
Grill or sautée?

 

[Yakuta]

Actually you can do the following if you don't have a blender.

Chop the onions super fine and saute them in the oil until they are slightly golden (not dark).

Use mortor and pestle to first hand grind your dry spices. After that add cilantro and garlic to make that into a paste. That should be relatively quick. Throw that into the onions and add some water and coconut milk. That should work fine. Then squeeze the lemon in it and add a pinch of turmeric. It will have the same end result. Key is to chop the onions super fine.

 

[kitchenelf]

I have a friend that had chemo and she cannot handle spicy at ALL!

One of my favorite combos is coconut milk, curry (just the plain yellow so there's no heat), a bit of fish sauce, and cilantro. Also some lemongrass, which can be found frozen and comes in very handy for a flavor kick!

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Kitchenelf can you share the brand of yellow curry you are referring to. Curry powder is a mix of spices and that includes chili powder and sweet spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom etc which also have heat in them.

I am not a big fan of readymade curry powder but if there was one that had no chili I would keep it in my pantry to prepare stuff for my kids.

 

[NYCGayTranslator]

I too would like to know about this non-spicy yellow curry. I happen to live two blocks from the biggest Indian supermarket in America, but I have NO idea what to look for when I'm there.

 

[urmaniac13]

Curry powder is a mix of spices and that includes chili powder and sweet spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom etc which also have heat in them.

Hi Yakuta!! (long time no chat!! ) I was just going to suggest a mixture of spice, with toasted and ground coriander seeds, cumin and turmeric, possibly galangal which can be substituted with some ginger, along with those 3 "sweet" spices. I never thought them as heat containing spices, but are they really?

 

[*amy*]

I use Mccormick - not the Madras (as I recall), and I'm not big on heat. Just a little, for me, goes a long way.

McCormick Food Service Product Detail - Curry Powder

Curry Powder is a blend of coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, bay leaves, celery seed, nutmeg, cloves, onion, red pepper, and ginger.

Or, you could make your own blend, to taste. Here's one from AB:
Curry Powder Blend Recipe: Recipes: Food Network

 

[Yakuta]

Hi urmaniac, yes it's been a long time. Hope things are well on your end.

I consider cinnamon, cloves, black pepper as having sweet spices but they definitely are warm spices (with some heat in them).

Ginger to me is also pungent spicy type root. Galangal is a bit milder. I was going by the original request of absolutely no heat and if that is the case I would not use any of the sweet spices nor ginger (so I omitted it from my recipe).

Also as far as curry powders go I have a dislike towards them because they are ground up and have to be used fast. If you don't they lose their pungency. Being Indian I like my spices freshly roasted and ground so I normally go down that path. I also have more control that way in quantity that I mix and the type of spices I use. For example fenugreek does not go well with all dishes and nor does star anise or anise seeds. So I add them if I need to or omit them if I wish to.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Fenugreek is one of the most important flavors in a mild curry along with cumin and tumerick.. I had to cook for a nice bunch of Vegans and curry was high on there list of fav. meals..NEVER, NEVER buy Thai curry paste. it come in 3 different heat ranges and the mildest one nearly sent me to the ER. They are super spicy and oh sooooooo hot

 

[kitchenelf]

Hi guys = This is the curry I use. It is not hot. I have also used McCormicks just plain ol' curry powder. It's not hot either.

If you look at the ingredients for the hot curry it includes red pepper.

 

[urmaniac13]

Hi urmaniac, yes it's been a long time. Hope things are well on your end.

I consider cinnamon, cloves, black pepper as having sweet spices but they definitely are warm spices (with some heat in them).

Ginger to me is also pungent spicy type root. Galangal is a bit milder. I was going by the original request of absolutely no heat and if that is the case I would not use any of the sweet spices nor ginger (so I omitted it from my recipe).

Also as far as curry powders go I have a dislike towards them because they are ground up and have to be used fast. If you don't they lose their pungency. Being Indian I like my spices freshly roasted and ground so I normally go down that path. I also have more control that way in quantity that I mix and the type of spices I use. For example fenugreek does not go well with all dishes and nor does star anise or anise seeds. So I add them if I need to or omit them if I wish to.

Yep we are fine, thanks!! I have been making myself scarce during the spring-summer due to home improvement/moving... we are finally in the new home but the work is still not finished!! Very exhausting, stressful at times, but a nice change, too!!

Thanks for the explanation of the sweet spices, too... yip, you are right ginger has a bit of sting, especially when it is still raw... as for other spices, maybe I don't feel it because I am more tolerant to spiciness than average people Sometimes I use Jamaican pimento for curry, which works out very well and has a flavour sort of mixture of all those sweet spices, but it DOES have a punch. The same goes for berbere (a mixture of spice originating from Africa), when we first tried it, we were totally fooled by the sweet smell, and put a generous amount of it in one of our cake recipes... geez were we in for a surprise...
The contrasting combination makes these spices very interesting for experiments though, to say the least!!

 

[Caine]

MAHI-MAHI WITH COCONUT CARAMEL SAUCE


1 lb mahi-mahi fillets
2 cups demerara or turbinado sugar
1 1/2 cups coconut milk, heated
3 Tbs fish sauce
1 medium shallot, minced
1 Tbs ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 to 3 scallions, sliced thin
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Place sugar in a 10-inch frying pan over medium-high heat, stirring often until sugar is melted and amber colored. Add 1/2 cup hot coconut and stir over medium heat until caramelized sugar is completely dissolved. Add fish sauce, shallots, ginger, and garlic.

Grill mahi-mahi 3 to 4 minutes per side until cooked through and grill marks are evident.

Bring sauce to a boil, stirring constantly until reduced to about 2/3 cup. Pour sauce over fish and garnish with sliced scallions.