Bengali coconut fish pie with mustard-seed mash
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Dan Jones
Bengali coconut fish pie with mustard-seed mash
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
610Kcal
Fat
27gr
Saturates
16gr
Carbs
56gr
Sugars
4gr
Fibre
6gr
Protein
33gr
Salt
0.7gr
Felicity Cloake
Felicity Cloake is a freelance food writer and is the author of The A - Z of Eating.
See more of Felicity Cloake’s recipes
Felicity Cloake
Felicity Cloake is a freelance food writer and is the author of The A - Z of Eating.
See more of Felicity Cloake’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 500g boneless firm white fish (we used basa), cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 x 180g pack raw king prawns
- 1 x 200g pack calamari rings
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tbsp finely grated root ginger
- 2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 150ml fish stock
- 2 x 250ml cartons coconut cream
- 1 x 31g pack coriander, finely chopped
- 1.5kg floury potatoes (eg King Edward or Maris Piper), peeled
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 25g butter
Step by step
Get ahead
Make up to the end of step 5, leaving the sauce to cool completely before adding the fish and seafood. Allow the mash to cool before spreading on top, then cover with lightly greased foil (wrapping well if freezing) and chill for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 2 months. To cook from chilled, allow an extra 10 minutes' cooking time. To cook from frozen, bake covered in a preheated oven (160°C, fan 140°C, gas 3), for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and turn up the heat to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes more until golden and piping hot.
- Mix together the turmeric and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt then sprinkle over the fish and seafood. Cover and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the filling.
- Put the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies into a food processor and whiz to a purée. Heat half the oil in a wide pan and fry the purée, stirring regularly, until beginning to brown, then stir in the bay leaf and dry spices and fry for another minute or so.
- Whisk the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of the fish stock to make a paste, then add the remaining stock and stir this into the pan along with the coconut cream. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Season to taste.
- Add the fish and seafood then stir in the coriander. Spoon into a greased 2.5-litre pie dish and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into equal- sized chunks and boil in plenty of salted water until tender, then drain well. Heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan over a high heat and fry the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. Take off the heat and add the butter to the pan to melt. Mash the potato and stir in the mustard seed butter. Spread out on top of the fish curry mixture.
- To bake straight away, preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Bake the pie on a baking tray for 45-50 minutes until the filling is piping hot right through.
Chef quote
Fish pie and curry? A match made in heaven
