[food] fish korma

I just found this recipe. I apparently made some notes without ever posting it, but it was tasty enough that I still remember liking it, so here it is. (It was, in fact, the first homemade Indian food I've had that tasted like restaurant food, whether or not that's a good standard to use.)

750 g fish fillets [we used a tiny bit more - 1.75 lbs]
lemon juice
1 ts salt
1 ts black pepper
1 ts ground turmeric
oil for frying
1 lg onion, finely sliced
1 md onion, roughly chopped
1 ts chopped garlic
1 tb chopped fresh ginger
3 fresh red chilies [we used 1/4 of a Thai chili pepper]
2 tb blanched almonds [we used cashews]
1 tb white poppy seeds (optional) [we left this out]
2 ts ground cumin
2 ts ground coriander
1/4 ts ground cardamom
1/4 ts ground cinnamon
small pinch ground cloves
1/4 ts saffron strands [we left this out]
2 tb boiling water
1/2 c natural yogurt
salt to taste
2 tb chopped fresh coriander [we left this out]

Wash and dry fish, cut into large serving pieces [we used smaller pieces] and rub with lemon juice, salt, pepper and turmeric [we combined those things first]. Heat oil in a frying pan for shallow frying and on high heat, brown the fish quickly on both sides. Lift out on to a plate. In the same oil fry the sliced onion until golden brown, remove and set aside. [As printed, the recipe never puts the onion back in! I think they must have meant "remove pan from heat" here, not "remove onion from pan".]

Put chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chilies, almonds, poppy seeds into a blender jar and puree. If necessary add a little water. Add ground spices and blend once more, briefly.

Pour off all but about 2 Tbl oil from pan and fry the blended mixture until colour changes and it gives out a pleasant aroma. [There was no excess oil in the first place, so we used 2 Tbsp of new oil. They're not kidding about the aroma, though; it suddenly smelled good after a few minutes' frying.] The mixture should be stirred constantly while frying and care taken that it does not stick to the pan and burn. Add 1/2 cup water to blender container and swirl out any remaining spice mixture. Add to pan.

Pound saffron strands in mortar and pestle, add boiling water and stir, add to mixture in pan. Add yoghurt, stir and simmer gently for a few minutes, then add fish pieces, turning them carefully in the sauce. Add salt to taste. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, then sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve hot with rice.

(Posted to TNT - Prodigy's Recipe Exchange Newsletter by "I. Chaudhary" on Apr 27, 1997.)