coconut milk • curry powder • fish • garam masala • garlic • oil • onion • salt • sweet green pepper (bell pepper) • tamarind paste or tamarind powder • tomato • Eastern Africa • Tanzania
Mchuzi wa Samaki (Fish Curry)
One of many traditional Swahili fish dishes from Zanzibar island. Samaki is the Swahili word for fish and mchuzi means curry (or gravy, sauce, soup). A fish curry from Zanzibar shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Zanzibar is an African island in the Indian Ocean. See the note about coconut milk on the Wali wa Nazi
Mchuzi wa Samaki (Fish Curry) Recipe
Traditional fish dish from Zanzibar. Samaki is the Swahili word for fish and mchuzi means curry.
Ingredients
3 lbs firm-fleshed fish (a cleaned whole fish or serving-size fish fillets)
oil for pan frying
2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste or powder (this is essential)
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 sweet green peppers (or bell peppers), chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
salt (to taste)
Instructions
1
Briefly fry fish in hot oil (or cook on an outdoor grill or broil in an oven) so that the outside is seared, but the fish is not done inside. Place fish in saucepan, cover in coconut milk and add tamarind. Set aside.
2
Vigorously stir together the onion, tomatoes, green pepper, garlic, and spices. Add to the fish and coconut milk.
3
Simmer slowly on low heat until fish is fully cooked and sauce is thickened.
Ingredients
3 lbs firm-fleshed fish (a cleaned whole fish or serving-size fish fillets)
oil for pan frying
2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste or powder (this is essential)
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 sweet green peppers (or bell peppers), chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
salt (to taste)
Directions
1
Briefly fry fish in hot oil (or cook on an outdoor grill or broil in an oven) so that the outside is seared, but the fish is not done inside. Place fish in saucepan, cover in coconut milk and add tamarind. Set aside.
2
Vigorously stir together the onion, tomatoes, green pepper, garlic, and spices. Add to the fish and coconut milk.
3
Simmer slowly on low heat until fish is fully cooked and sauce is thickened.
Serve with Chapati or Rice. Drink Cardamom Tea or Chai with the meal, or afterwards.
You can also make Mchuzi wa Kamba, (Shrimp Curry), by substituting an equal weight of shrimp, however the shrimp do not need to be cooked first.
The Arabs ... use it extensively in cooking
Richard Francis Burton
Between 1856 and 1859 Richard Francis Burton traveled from Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika and back, and then wrote The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860; reprinted by Dover Publications, and by Scholarly Press). He observed the tamarind tree, native to Africa, and commented on it: (You’ve tasted tamarind if you’ve had Worcestershire sauce. Interesting reading, the ingredients on a bottle of Worcestershire sauce.)
… there was a sprinkling of the fine tamarinds which have lent their name to the district. The tamarind, called by the Arabs of Zanzibar “subar,” extends from the coast to the lake regions: with its lofty stem, its feathery leaflets, and its branches spreading dark cook shade, it is a beautiful feature in African landscape. The acidulated fruit is doubtless a palliative and a corrective to bilious affections. The people of the country merely peel and press it into bark baskets; consequently it soon becomes viscid, and is spoiled by mildew; they ignore the art of extracting from it an intoxicating liquor. The Arabs, who use it extensively in cooking, steam, sun-dry, and knead it, with a little salt and oil to prevent the effects of damp, into balls: thus prepared and preserved from the air, it will keep for years.
(Chapter VI — We Cross the East African Ghauts [Mountains])