How to Cook a Catfish Curry with Coconut Milk
(the Short Version)
Heat a pan with oil. Cook the chopped onions and chopped garlic cloves until brown, and then add red curry paste with sliced catfish fillets. Once the fish is cooked, add chopped vegetables (carrots, potatoes, peppers), coconut milk and spices. Cook with close lid until vegetables are done. Enjoy!
5 Reasons to Try to this Easy Catfish Curry
1) Catfish is healthy – High in Proteins and Vitamin D and B12
2) Catfish has LOW CALORIES – Less calories than chicken and Salmon!
3) The delicious flavors of the Curry Sauce
4) Tastes just like Thai curry takeout – Skip Uber eats for tonight!
5) Minimize food waste – Add any leftover veggies in the fridge to this coconut curry!
What Ingredients do you need to cook this Catfish Curry with delicious Thai flavors?
To cook this white fish fillet curry, you need the following ingredients (including curry spices) :
- Catfish fillet – I used the frozen ones, but you can use fresh fish fillet here as well!
- Onions
- Garlic cloves
- Green Chilies
- Coconut milk
- Red Curry Paste – using the Thai kitchen brand
- Turmeric
- Red Chilli powder (optional)
- Salt & Sugar
- Lime juice
Substitutes for Catfish
Any white fish fillet can be substituted in place of catfish, such as cod, bass, flounder or haddock. Swai fish is also a cheaper, and similar tasting alternative to catfish.
Swai vs catfish, what is better? Catfish is the healthier option since Swai fishes contained high amounts of pesticides and other chemicals like Mercury.
Tips and Tricks to Cook this Perfect Catfish Curry
with Thai flavors
- The KEY INGREDIENT to get the perfect curry sauce is the Red Curry Paste. This red curry paste is a smooth paste that is vegan and gluten free, consisting of red chili pepper, garlic, lemon grass, shallot, coriander root and kaffir lime peel. I use the Thai Kitchen brand in this recipe, but feel free to use other brands or your homemade curry paste.
- I use coconut cream in this recipe to get a thicker curry sauce, but you can use either coconut cream or coconut milk. . Coconut milk is usually diluted, so never add water to the curry if you use coconut milk
- The total cook time will vary depending on the vegetables used, and the size of chopped vegetables. To cook faster, slice the potatoes and carrots into thin slices.
- The delicious flavors in this recipe are a balance of the red curry paste with salt ,sugar and lemon/lime juice.
- Adding lime juice (or lemon juice) to the curry sauce with eliminate any fishy smell from the catfish. Always add some lime juice to fish or shrimp curries.
- Vegetables – The vegetables used in this recipe are carrots, potatoes and poblano peppers. Feel free to add other fresh veggies such as Kale, Spinach, Bell peppers (or other types of peppers such as Anaheim or Sweet peppers)
- Vegetarian / Vegan alternatives – Substitute catfish with firm tofu. I prefer to use tofu as is (not fried), since it will absorb all the delicious flavors in this coconut curry. You can also add garbanzo beans as a protein source for a delicious vegan thai coconut curry!
Side dishes to Serve with this delicious Thai flavored Catfish Curry
The only side dish you need for this delicious protein and veggie packed curry is HOT RICE or Bread! If you really want to add a side dish and make this meal fancy, then cucumber pickles will pair well with this curry.
Catfish Curry Recipe with Coconut Milk (Thai Style)
Ingredients
- 2 Catfish fillet
- 1 Potato
- 1 Carrot
- 1/2 Poblano pepper
- 1/2 Red Onion
- 5 Garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup Coconut Cream Savoy
- 1 cup Water
Seasonings
- 3 tsp Red Curry Paste Thai Kitchen
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Chilli powder optional
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric optional
Instructions
- Add one tablespoon of olive oil (or coconut or vegetable oil) to a pan on medium heat.
- Add the chopped onions and chopped garlic cloves to the pan, and cook until onions are golden brown
- Add two teaspoons of red curry paste to the pan, along with the fish fillet slices
- Close lid and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until fish is halfway cooked
- Add the chopped vegetables, coconut cream (half cup), a cup of water (or water up to level of vegetables in the pan)
- Add one more teaspoon of red curry paste, salt and sugar. Adjust the salt to your taste. Close lid and cook on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes until carrots and potatoes are fully cooked.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat and then add one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice. Enjoy!
Steps to making this Easy and Delicious Catfish Curry
(with pictures)
Gather all vegetables to use in the curry. Here we have half of a poblano pepper, one whole carrot cut into half, half of a red onion, one potato and five garlic cloves. Also cut each fish fillet into 3-4 pieces.
Add one tablespoon of olive oil (or coconut or vegetable oil) to a pan on medium heat. Chop the onions and garlic, add the chopped vegetables to the pan, and cook until onions are golden brown
Add two teaspoons of red curry paste to the pan, along with the fish fillet slices. Close lid and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until fish is halfway cooked
LChop the peppers, potato and carrots into bite sized pieces. Note: Size of potatoes and carrots will affect the cooking time. Bigger pieces — more cooking time!
Add the chopped vegetables, coconut cream (half cup), and a cup of water (or water up to level of vegetables in the pan). Add chillie powder and turmeric to curry.
Add one more teaspoon of red curry paste, salt and sugar. Mix the curry well, and adjust the salt to your taste. Close lid and cook on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes until carrots and potatoes are fully cooked.
Once the vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat and then add one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice. Enjoy!
I found this recipe looking for a way 2 use up my red curry. I’m disappointed no one commented bcz this is great! Only things I did differently was used sweet potatoes and collard greens as I forgot a pepper.
I did use a full can of coconut milk. I added full teaspoon of salt so I will cut that in half next time as I could detect salt.
Thanks 4 sharing this!
I cooked it twice already cos it’s really good. I didn’t know what to do with my frozen catfish and this recipe is perfect ! Soo good! I only used the ingredients I have like Thai Coconut curry and added cream of coconut and chili powder cos I really liked it spicy.