Outdoor Cooking: Barramundi Kiri Malu
We love curry and a while ago we came across Kiri Malu, which is a Sri Lankan fish curry. It's fragrant, delicate and utterly delicious. Needless to say we haven't looked back and it's a simple yet beautiful dish we make on high rotation. You can use any firm fish for this recipe, and we personally love barramundi.
This week we had a rare day without the kids (a rare treat), so we decided to get in the car and cook our Barramundi Kiri Malu in the beautiful outdoors. It was absolute heaven. Pro tip: when you cook outdoors, have all of your ingredients measured out, where possible. It makes it a lot easier to cook and it means you aren't lugging too much gear and equipment from home. Read on for the recipe. And make sure you visit our IGTV to see how the day came together. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 Red onion, finely chopped
1/3 Cup grated ginger
2 Stalks of lemongrass, bruise with the back of a knife or a rolling pin
2 Birdseye chillies, bruise with the back of a knife or a rolling pin
Large handful of fresh or dried curry leaves
2 Tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp ground turmeric
2 Tins (400ml per tin) of coconut cream
1 Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
2 fillets of skinless barramundi fillets, seasoned with a pinch of salt and either chopped into big chunks or left as fillets. We couldn't get skinless when we cooked this recipe outdoors, so it's ok if the skin is left on.
Salt and sugar to season
Handful of fresh coriander leaves, to serve
A wedge of lime, to serve
Steamed rice, to serve if you'd like (we usually eat it without any carbs)
Equipment
Portable gas stove, ours is from Primus
Portable gas bottle
Matches or fire lighter
Wok, saucepan or pot
Wooden spoon
Knife
Chopping board
Bowls and cutlery for serving
Table and cushions for seating, if needed
Garbage bag
Tea towel
Method
Turn on your portable gas stove to medium and wait for your pot to warm. All portable gas stoves are not created equally, so check the heat.
Add vegetable oil to pot then fry the onion until soft.
Add the ginger, lemongrass, chillies and curry leaves for 5 minutes until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Add both tins of coconut cream and turmeric. Bring to the boil. When your curry is bubbling, reduce the heat to low.
Add sugar and salt, and check the seasoning. Season a bit more to suit your taste.
Add the barramundi and poach for about 5 minutes or until it's cooked through. To test the fish, simply insert a small knife into the fish - if it cuts through easily, it's ready. If it (the fish) feels resistant against the tip of the knife, it needs a bit more time. Careful not to stir too much once the fish is poaching as it may break the fish pieces up; which is ok, but you want to make sure you are eating big chunks of fish when the curry is done, not lots of small flaked bits of fish.
Serve with rice, coriander and a wedge or two of fresh lime. The acid from the lime totally elevates this dish.
Enjoy!
