Creamy Cod Curry with Sweet Potato and Coconut

This is the Trojan horse of curries!  The comforting and familiar cod and sweet potato, acting as a stealthy conduit for the introduction to Indian inspired flavours.  Lots of children, toddlers and babies feel pretty confident with white fish and sweet root vegetables, and so form a great basis for breaking new ground with new flavours and textures.  That said, this is an awesome curry for everyone with delicate but sophisticated flavours, and topped with fresh coriander and toasted cashews, makes a stunning centrepiece at a dinner party.

The curry itself is chock full of anti-inflammatory turmeric, onion and garlic, anti microbial coconut oil, and tummy friendly cardamom.  It’s creamy without adding dairy (I’m thankful for coconuts), and is not overly heavy.  It’s comforting, and super clean, can be puréed for babies or made vegetarian by replacing the fish with cooked chickpeas, what’s not to like?

Ingredients

1 large white onion, diced finely

3 fat cloves of garlic, sliced finely

1 thumb sized pice of ginger, finely grated

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

8 cardamom pods, squashed to open a little

1 level tspn ground turmeric

1/2 tspn mild chilli podwer

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed (approx 1cm cubes)

100g block of creamed coconut

600ml boiling water

400g frozen white fish. I use responsibly sourced cod.  Make sure it can be cooked from frozen.

Optional garnishes: cashews dry toasted in a pan, fresh coriander leaves.

Method

Add the coconut oil, onion, garlic, ginger and all dry spices (inc bay leaf) to a large saucepan.  Over a low heat, sweat the ingredients together very gently to draw the sweetness out of the onions, don’t let the mixture brown at all.  Keep stirring, for 10 minutes or so, until the onions and garlic are soft and translucent

Add the water and sweet potato, then break the coconut cream into chunks and add that too.  Bring the mixture to the boil, then stir, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and leave for 15 minutes or so, until the sweet potato is beginning to soften.

Lie the fish fillets on top of the curry, and leave to simmer uncovered so that the sauce reduces slightly, for 20-25 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.  Hook out the cinnamon stick, and any cardamom pods you can see.

Serve with rice, garnishes, flatbreads, a simple cucumber salad, and encouragement for anyone who tries something new!

N.B. While this is great for babies as finger food, chunks of sweet potato and cod are easy and soft, and will purée well this isn’t one that will survive the freezer.  If you intend to freeze it, do so before you add the cod, then add the cod to the defrosted sauce while reheating.