Belizean Monkfish Curry or ‘Poor Man’s Lobster’ Curry

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Sweet, tender, melt in the mouth slices of monkfish, soft cubes of potato, coconut milk and an array of peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic, come together beautifully in this delicious curry. The thick sauce is actually light and fresh and balances wonderfully with the mild and meaty monkfish and flavour infused potatoes.

When my daughters were travelling around Belize a few years ago, they happened to be there in lobster season and raved about the lobster curry they ate on a number of occasions. In recreating the recipe, I chose to use monkfish rather than lobster. It has a similar meaty texture and mild flavour and, in fact, it is often referred to as ‘poor man’s lobster’. The price is certainly more favourable than lobster in the UK and monkfish works really well in curries. It holds its shape well and the flavours complement each other perfectly.

I have never eaten the original curry but my daughters confirmed that this recipe resembles it wonderfully. Unfortunately I couldn’t get hold of curry powder from Belize, but after a google search, discovered that Jamaican curry powder has a very similar flavour profile, so used this instead. Whilst, I cannot vouch personally for its authenticity, I can 100% guarantee that this curry is wonderfully delicious, quick and easy to make and very nutritious. Serve it simply with steamed rice, chopped coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is based on the classic Belizean dish for coconut curried lobster which I found on a website called Hot Mama’s Belize. See here for the original Coconut Curried Lobster recipe.

How to make Belizean Monkfish Curry or ‘Poor Man’s Lobster’ Curry

Collect all the ingredients together:

• waxy potatoes, such as baby new or Charlotte
• fine salt – for cooking the potatoes
• olive oil, divided
• prepared monkfish fillets
• red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• red pepper/capsicum, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped
• orange pepper/capsicum, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped
• yellow pepper/capsicum, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped
• garlic cloves, peeled
• sweet tomatoes, roughly chopped if necessary
• Belizean curry powder – I use Jamaican curry powder
• chilli flakes
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• coconut milk

To serve:

• steamed rice
• squeeze of lime
• chopped coriander

How to make this amazing and simple curry:

1. Chop the potatoes into bite size pieces and place in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with cold water, bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are just soft. Drain well
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan over a moderately hot temperature and quickly fry the monkish on all sides. You do not need to cook it through – you are simply sealing it. Take out of the pan and set aside.
3. Throw the onion, peppers, garlic and tomatoes in a food processor and blitz until very, very finely chopped.
4. Tip into the pan in which you seared the monkfish. Cook on high until any extra liquid has evaporated. Add another tablespoon of oil and cook for 5 minutes until very soft, reduced and slightly caramelised.
5. Add the curry powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and cook for 1 – 2 minutes, or until aromatic.
6. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
7. Slice the monkfish and stir into the curry sauce with the cooked potatoes. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and everything is piping hot.
8. Serve over rice and sprinkle with some chopped parsley or coriander.

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Made this recipe?

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