This curry can be made with whatever seafood you find locally! Here, we’ve used wild caught sustainable New England fish and shellfish from the cold northern waters of the Gulf of Maine.
When I make a seafood curry, you know company is coming.
Let’s get together! We’ll cook.
Recently, we were delighted to have a visit from one of my favorite bloggers, and friend, Terrie Gura from Comfort Du Jour, a fabulous website I know many of you follow. She arrived in the aftermath of the recent flooding in Vermont, at a time when we were still ducking between the thunderstorms to do our hunter/gathering for our cooking adventures. She certainly was a trooper, weather forecasts in hand, making her way through unfamiliar territory to our door, in the midst of road closings and washouts. But once she was here, we had a great weekend of talking, exploring, and, of course, cooking up a storm.
Bread, lots of bread!
Terrie brought with her a lot of bread and baked goods from a four-day course she took at King Arthur Baking here in Vermont. When I say a lot of bread, that is an understatement, and there remains some in my freezer, and breadcrumb and crouton containers. These delights accented every meal, and long after she went home! Read the story of her Terrie’s Exciting Vermont Adventure here.
I know, let’s have a dinner party!
While our first night was casual, we invited my daughter and her family to join us on the second night for a little diner party. Curry was on the menu, something everyone in the family loves and it can easily be made working around dietary restrictions – there’s no nuts, dairy, eggplant, mangoes, or gluten to be found, so I can make this even for my extended family. Because of the way I make this dish adding the seafood at the end, I can even accommodate the vegans in the family by reserving a portion of the base to add to some tofu. Everyone is happy.
What’s good today, Sean?
I love to visit my favorite fish markets and find the day’s treasures. Get to know your fish monger, introduce yourself and get her/his name and remember it. It’s a great food relationship to have, and there’s lots to learn about what is available and when. I’m always learning something new, and often I’ll find an extra oyster or two in my bundle. Cook’s treat!
Know what to expect
I know I can usually find haddock or cod for the main fish here. There might be halibut, sole, flounder, skate, or other seasonal offerings on any given day, so I purchase what looks best. While I can usually find the Maine peekytoe crab, or spider crab from Massachusetts, sometimes when I’m lucky there will be Maine Jona Crab claws or even Massachusetts blue crabs. The Jona Crab claws make beautiful presentation, and have delicious sweet meat. But, they are a little hard to crack through, so it is every bit the challenge of a lobster! The Gulf of Maine shrimp are tiny, but sweet and delicious, and I can usually find them frozen, peeled and deveined. Thank goodness. The sea scallops were too pricy to even consider. I love mussels in this dish, but they were not to be found that day, so I kept it simple. Please include them if you can.
Favorite spices
I like to mix up my own spices for a curry, but if you have a favorite curry blend you love, by all means use that instead. I don’t bloom the cayenne pepper with the other spices. If you’ve ever created pepper gas in your kitchen by doing this, you will be very careful with this spice and a hot pan!
I made a quick stock with the trimmings from the vegetables and mushrooms, it only takes a few minutes and is worth the little effort – free stock!
Serving suggestions
We served this with a salad of bitter greens and farm stand delights, and finished it off with a stunning bread pudding, Terrie’s grandmother’s recipe, which I will now treasure! We used blueberries we bought at the berry farm earlier in the day, and while I’ve never tucked blueberries in a bread pudding before, I’m happy to report it was delicious and I will do it again!
This feast will serve six, with another four portions (minus the claws) left over for lunch the next day. We mixed the leftovers with the rice and served it all together, of course with a lovely slice of Terrie’s homemade bread.
New England Seafood Curry over Brown Jasmine Rice
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion or two leeks, chopped
- 1 large fennel bulb and stalks, chopped, reserve some fronds
- 1 luscious carrot, cut into half coins
- ½ lb. local mushrooms of choice (which I forgot to put in!)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1” chunk fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. garam masala
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. cumin
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ tsp. cayenne powder
- 1 cup mushroom or vegetable stock
- ½ cup baby turnips, whole, or larger turnip, chopped
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 ½ lb. New England haddock, or local white fish, cut into large chunks
- 6 Gulf of Maine Jona Crab claws, or local crab claws
- 1 lb. Maine shrimp, peeled and deveined, or your local
- Garlic chives or regular chives to garnish
In a large brasier or shallow pot, heat olive oil over medium high. Add the onion, mushrooms, fennel bulb, and carrot, and cook until the onions are translucent. You are not looking for color here.
Clear a spot in the center of the pan and add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, and the spices. Cook for a couple of minutes so these flavors can bloom, until the paste has darkened and you smell all the spices. Deglaze with the wine, then add the cayenne, stock, and turnips. Bring to a boil, cover, and gently simmer until everything is cooked. You can make this dish to this point and reheat when it is time to finish the curry by adding the seafood, which only takes a few minutes to cook.
Add the coconut milk, stirring until heated and steaming, then nestle in the fish and the crab claws (the claws already cooked and flash frozen, so they only need to heat through). Add the shrimp, cover, and remove from heat. Maine shrimp are really small, so they cook quickly off the heat. If you are using larger shrimp, they will take a minute or two longer, but not much.
Check to see if the fish flakes easily, then garnish with the chives and a few fennel fronds and serve. This is delicious over brown Jasmin rice, but you can ladle it over pasta or another grain as well, it’s all good.
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I may not be able to buy my seafood in New England but can access similar fare here in eastern Australia and absolutely love yur ingredients! Most of all that you make your own spice mixes !!! So – am learning about New England fare and making a few small alterations to put you on my plate!!!
That’s the beauty of it! Wherever you are, you can use what you find locally that is fresh and good, and I know you have some amazing fish choices there! Happy hunting!
So lovely to read about you meeting up with Terrie and a fabulous fish curry. I’m sure I would love that!
It was an amazing time! We both cook much alike, so being in the kitchen together felt completely natural, like we’d been cooking together always!
There is nothing like a fabulous fish curry this looks and sounds delicious, Dorothy :)x
Thank you Carol! Wherever you are, there is always a great option for a curry like this.
Fish curry is very popular here particularly using crab..I love it its just so messy you definitely need a bib-smile-
Oh yes, the crab is messy! But that’s the fun of it all, like lobsters! Very primal.
Yes thats the word very primal..but very tasty -smile
Fabulous
Thanks my friend!
Pleasure
Looks like you had a marvelous cooking adventure.
It was so much fun Judy! Now, I need to get YOU over here!
What a delightful visit. Yay to Terrie for braving washed out roads. That curry sounds delicious, and I appreciated the versatility of the recipe. I will be checking out Terrie’s blog
She was a trooper indeed!
What fun to spend the weekend cooking with a special friend! I’m sure everything was incredibly delicious!
Thanks Jenna! We had a blast, and loved every bite we conjured up!
What a treat to cook with a fellow blogger and exchange ideas. You two look like you had a blast and cooked up some delightful dishes.
It was so much fun, Jan! I’d love to have all my blog friends come cook with me, and that includes you!
Beautiful seafood dish with so much flavor.
Thank you Jovina! I was really pleased with this one, all empty plates!
Dorothy, I’ve seen many of your beautiful curries on your blog, but enjoying this one at your table was a true experience of foodie nirvana! So much flavor in every bite, and the fish was perfectly tender. Thank you again for having me in your amazing home and kitchen. I had the most WONDERFUL time! 🥰
It was definitely an amazing time for us all, and I loved every minute of our kitchen creations! PS, I tossed together a soup for lunch and sprinked on some of our anchovy croutons!
Those croutons were the best I’ve ever tasted!!!
One of my daughter’s favorite, just to snack on!
This was a double treat this morning! I really enjoyed reading Terrie’s story of the weekend and seeing all the fabulous food you made. The curry and the bread pudding look wonderful.
Thanks Suz! We had such a fun time, and enjoyed every minute of the exploring, cooking, and of course the eating as well!
With such wonderful combination of ingredients and spices, no wonder this curry looks amazing. 🙂
Thank you Ronit! Good ingredients is what it is all about, as you know!
This is fabulous. So jealous you have your own fish market! What a fun experience that must have been for you two.
Thank you Mimi! It was a wonderful time, it had to be – two food bloggers getting together to cook up a storm!
What a flavorful fish stew. The addition of curry is perfect!
Thank you Elaine! They work together beautifully!
My hubby would love this one! Every spoonful is a bit different and it’s yummy!
That’s what I love about mixing it all up, you can create special bites!
this sounds so delicious Dorothy. I made a salmon curry recently (on the blog). I like your idea of making the base then adding the protein after. It’s so good to make your own paste too. I use light coconut milk for my curries too. Just that wee bit more healthy than coconut cream I tell myself 🙂
I love a salmon curry, I’m sure it was delicious Sherry! I love using the lite coconut milk for the same reason, and it doesn’t scream coconut!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea and it is really amazing. Thank you so much. Looking forward for more such creative stuff.
Food looks delish and nice to be together in the kitchen!
Thank you Marilyn, it was so much fun cooking with Terrie!
JUST LOVED IT
THANKS! It is definitely a favorite around here.
Oh this looks amazing! I’m going to have to try this one!
Thank you Julie, I think you will be quite pleased!
Dorothy, there is a double delight in your post-Getting to meet up with one of your favorite bloggers and sharing a wonderful meal together. I am a huge fan of curry and this dish is perfect.
Velva
It really was marvelous Velva! I wish I could meet and cook with every one of you!
Wonderful ingredients – seafood, curry, jasmine rice, indeed, yummy!
Thank you! Not much better!
Are you sure you don’t want to adopt me? That looks SO GOOD!
Thank you! You can come stay any time!
WOW, that looks great. We’ll try it out.
Wishing you an easy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
That you so much! This dish is full of flavor and very flexible so you can use what is best on shopping day. Enjoy!
That sounds great!
After the weather we’ve had this month, those wishes are greatly appreciated!
What a treat cooking with a blogging friend and the end result sounds scrumptious.
Thank you Karen! We had such a memorable time!
What a lovely recipe. Thank you for sharing. I have a shellfish allergy but would try it with wild sea trout, which has a similar taste to salmon but is cheaper and where I live (in Thanet, on the Kent Coast) is not endangered and is usually in good supply. Otherwise I’d try it with a meaty fish, such as hake, or perhaps cod.
Yum! All great ingredients!!!
There’s nothing better than cooking with friends ☺️ But now though you made me hungry 😋☺️
Thinking about curry does that to me too! I can taste the flavors even before I start cooking!
So good. I rally like your spices in this recipe! SO GOOD! ❤️