It took me a long time to get into currying fish of any kind, other than prawns, but a couple of restaurants here have inspired me, so I feel I should give them a mention.

First off,  the Prahna Indian Grill in Corstorphine is where I first tried both scallops and salmon Indian-style. The latter dish led me to start putting tandoori masala spice on the top of the salmon fillets in an existing recipe which involves roasting them over a dish of sliced lemons and tomatoes. Some garlic, salt and a glug of olive oil; around 190/200 for 25 minutes and you’re done.

Much as I love Prahna, though, it’s right across town and out past the zoo for us, so the discovery of Madras Metro Cafe, at Tollcross, has been a great boon. The first time I was there I had something called a Mangalorian fish curry. Manga- what now? Is it like The Mandalorian? Presumably not.

Whatever, I was inspired to look into the spices which are commonly used in this kind of dish, and came up with the following spice mix:

Mangalorian Spice Mix

1 tsp onion seed

3tsp cumin seed

3 tsp fennel seed

5 tsp coriander seed

1 tsp mustard seed

heaped tsp ground turmeric

2 tsps garam masala

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Toast the whole spices in a dry pan, giving it a shoogle now and again to ensure they get cooked evenly, and when the glorious smell is starting to make you hungry, take it off the gas, add in the ground spices, and then put in a spice grinder (or mortar and pestle if you don’t mind a few bits). This makes a nice, mild spice mix for a number of dishes.

However, here’s a recipe I’ve developed using cubed and skinned salmon (speak nicely to your fishmonger). I also use proprietary tandoori masala spice – I used to use the East End brand, but that seems to have vanished from our local shops that sell spices, so now it’s TRS. Both of these are mild versions – add chilli if you prefer some heat.

Mangalorian Salmon Curry

Skinned cubed salmon

Tin of tomatoes (I use the Mutti brand for this recipe, but it’s pricey – any tin would do, but it’s quite good to have the tomatoes not too chunky)

Juice of 3 limes

Shallots and garlic, diced small

Unsalted peanuts

Olive oil

Herbs for garnishing

1 tsp Mangalorian spice

1 tsp Tandoori Masala

Salt

Method: marinate the salmon cubes for a few hours in the fridge with the olive oil, a little salt and the tandoori masala. Make the sauce by frying up the shallots and garlic, adding in the Mangalorian spice and combining them for 30 seconds or so before adding the lime juice and the tomatoes. Simmer for ten minutes or so – depends how much you want to reduce it.

Fry the salmon cubes in a wok until they’re pretty much done, but before they start to flake, then add to the sauce and simmer for another few minutes, checking the salt level to taste.

Serve garnished with the herbs. I like brown rice cooked with a chicken stock cube, some pulao rice spice, and coriander seeds.

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Happy currying!