Indian Salmon Curry

This simple Indian Salmon curry has an abundance of colour, fragrance and flavour. Silky salmon is paired with the most intensely flavourful spiced coconut sauce. Nutty, sweet, sour and spicy – perfection blended.

One of my all-time-favourite Indian curries is this simple and intensely flavourful salmon curry. It's one of the curries I've been cooking for many years in many different variations. The recipe changes depending on what's available in my spice cupboard, but it's always delicious.

The coconut sauce in the curry doesn't feature onion, garlic or ginger - instead it's composed of whole and ground spices only with fragrant curry leaves and a little tangy tomato thrown in for good measure. The results are so flavourful - earthy, tangy and sour, a perfect match to the silky, lightly nutty and sweet salmon.

I've made this curry with every conceivable combination of seafood and salmon is my absolute favourite. So, I've conceded that this curry IS only for salmon. Try it yourself to see why!

What's Ahead?

Why it works?

It's easy - to look at the recipe, you might think there are a lot of ingredients, and you'd be kinda right, but once you're stocked in Indian spices you can whip up the most amazing dishes like this very quickly. All this dish takes is making two combinations of spices - one with whole and the other with ground spices. It takes 5 minutes and it's ALL the flavour you need. There's no onion, garlic or ginger so all that prep work is dispensed with.

It's so tasty! - Honestly, this is one of the tastiest curries I make, so rich and complex and all without feeling heavy.

Stuff You'll Need

There are quite a few ingredients in terms of spices, but I interchange my ingredients often depending on what I have in my spice cupboard. This is my favourite combination but there are some alternative suggestions outlined later (see below).

• Salmon - use whatever cuts of salmon you prefer. You can use whole fillets or steaks (skin off). I like to cut mine into large chunks.
• Coconut oil - brings a unique fragrance to the dish from the start.
• Whole spices - to temper and flavour the oil I use a selection of whole spices. Mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cardamom pods, a small cinnamon stick, fenugreek seeds and a couple of dried chillies.
• Ground spices - To flavour the sauce I use ground cumin, coriander, Kashmiri chilli, paprika, turmeric and a little garam masala.
• Fresh curry leaves - they bring a welcome fragrance that is just SO APPEALING. Find them fresh at any Indian store or online. Dried curry leaves do not offer the same fragrance so avoid at all costs!
• Coconut milk - brings all the rich, decadent creaminess to the sauce.
• Tomato - I use passata which is essentially a whizzed up tomato to add a little tang.
• Sugar, Tamarind and Lime - bring a sweetness and sourness at the end which works perfectly with fish.

Step by Step

Making my Indian salmon curry is a simple affair. Just follow the simple steps and you'll have your curry ready in no time.

1. Step 1 - Heat the oil in a large pan or wok and the drop in the curry leaves. Let them sizzle briefly.
2. Step 2 - Add all the whole spices and let them sizzle in the oil for a minute
3. Step 3 - Add the ground spices and a drizzle of coconut milk (the coconut milk ensures the spices don't burn and become bitter.
4. Step 4 - After a short simmer, add the tomato and stir well
5. Step 5 - Pour in 90% of the coconut milk and stir well.
6. Step 6 - Add a little water. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to bubble gently for a few minutes.
7. Step 7 - Add the salmon then shake the pan until it's in one layer. Simmer for 5 minutes until the salmon is cooked through. Try not to stir a lot as the fish may break up.
8. Step 8 - Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, tamarind and a generous squeeze of lime juice. That's it.
9. Step 9 - Decant to bowls and garnish with more fresh curry leaves, some finely chopped tomatoes and a little drizzle of the remaining coconut milk. I like mine with copious amounts of fluffy basmati rice.

Pro Tips

For a change of flavours I'll often just grab whatever I feel like on the day. I usually make use a combination of around 6-8 spices using the following. * denotes spices universally used.

• Whole spices: Cumin seeds*, fennel seeds, peppercorns*, cardamom*, black cardamom, mace, cinnamon, mustard seeds (black or yellow), fenugreek seeds*, cinnamon stick, cloves, nigella seeds, whole dried chillies, cassia bark, coriander seeds, anise, star anise, curry leaves*.
• Ground spices: Cumin*, coriander*, turmeric*, paprika*, cayenne pepper, chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, nutmeg, garam masala.

Additional ingredients: Other than those listed I might also add some additional flavours towards the end of cooking. Namely some fresh or frozen peas to the sauce. Cooked french beans and sometimes, cooked spinach leaves. I'll often garnish the curry with fresh cilantro or mint too.

Make the sauce in advance: You can make the sauce up to stage 6, just before adding the fish. Keep it in the fridge or freezer until you need it, then simply bring it to a simmer and drop in the fish to cook.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

Being a fish curry, my Indian salmon curry is best enjoyed as soon as it's cooked. The fish is delicate and reheating can overcook it easily. That said, a day or two in the fridge won't completely destroy it - just reheat without too much stirring. 

I don't recommend freezing this curry as the fish won't be at its best when defrosted and reheated. On this occasion, fresh is best.

Ready to get cooking?

If you're into a curry in a hurry, there's not a lot of waiting around for this one to cook. Once you have the ingredients on hand, you'll pull this curry together in no time at all. The flavour is intensely delicious and all without taking over the delicate flavour of salmon.

It's light, bright and super flavourful - a perfect treat of a curry any day of the week. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do...

More recipes

If you liked this Indian fish curry recipe, I'm sure you'll love some more of my other favourite Indian recipes.

• Chicken Madras Curry
• Madras Curry Powder
• Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)
• Methi Chicken Curry
• Bengali Fish Curry (Macher Jhol)
• Methi Mushroom Masala
• Malai Prawn Curry (Chingri Malai Curry)
• Jheenga Palak – Shrimp & Spinach Curry
• Mughlai Chicken
• Beef Balti
• Chicken Ceylon (Sri Lankan Chicken Curry)
• Chicken Saag
• Akuri (Parsi Eggs)

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