Summer Tomato Salmon Coconut Curry

Ingredients

• 2/3 - 1 lb salmon, cubed

• 3-4 cups fresh tomatoes: if making in the summer, I highly recommend using fresh, sweet tomatoes like heirloom or cherry tomatoes (or a combination of many)

  • Substitute: if you can’t find ripe/high quality fresh tomatoes, you can use one 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes or two smaller cans of whole or diced tomatoes

• 1 onion (red or yellow) or 2 shallots

• 4-5 cloves of garlic

• 2 inch knob of fresh ginger, minced

• ~3 tbsp coconut oil (if you don’t have coconut oil, use whatever oil you have on hand)

• 1 can of full-fat coconut milk

• Spices:

  • 1 tsp curry powder

  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

  • 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds (optional)

  • 1/2 tsp turmeric

  • 1/2 tsp cayenne (this is for a medium spicy curry—adjust to your liking. if you’re not sure, start with less and add more at the end after tasting)

  • Salt to taste

• Herbs: cilantro and/or basil

• 1 lime

Serves 2-3

Method

• Dice your onion/shallots and finely mince your ginger and garlic

• Add your onion, ginger, and garlic to coconut oil and cook on medium heat until onions are translucent. You don’t want anything to brown (especially your garlic), so turn the heat down if necessary

  • Tip: if you are using cilantro, you can chop the stems up and add them in at the beginning. The stems taste just like cilantro, but they are hearty so they can handle being cooked. Wait to add the leaves until the end

• Add your spices (cumin, coriander & mustard seeds, turmeric, curry powder, and cayenne) to the mixture to bloom them. Cook them for a couple of minutes until they begin to release their aroma

  • Blooming means heating up your spices in oil/fat to release and thier intensify flavor

• Add tomatoes and cover your pot. Cook down until all the tomatoes have softened/broken down and become sauce-like. The cook time will vary depending on what type of tomatoes you are using. Check back in after ~10 minutes and then keep cooking as needed

  • Note: if you are using canned tomatoes, you can leave the pot uncovered as they have a lot more liquid and you want the liquid to cook down/evaporate. If you are using whole tomatoes, break them down roughly with your spoon

• Once the tomatoes have cooked, add you coconut milk and a generous pinch of salt. Cook for 5ish minutes so everything melds together and the liquid cooks down slightly

  • Tip: if you are making this recipe for one and cutting everything in half, I recommend pouring the coconut milk into a separate bowl first and whisking until smooth and then pour half in. The other half you can save for other recipes (it’s also amazing as a milk substitute for coffee)

• Add you cubed salmon to the curry and cook for another 5-10 minutes until salmon is cooked through

• Turn the heat off and stir in juice from one lime and cilantro and/or basil (I personally like a lot of herbs, but this is completely up to personal preference)

• Serve with additional lime wedge and herbs as garnish. You can eat this curry alone or serve with rice (coconut rice perhaps?) or naan