Creamy coconut, tangy lemongrass and tender white fish in a vibrant yellow curry. Indonesian Fish Curry (Kari Ikan) is delicately spiced and gorgeously aromatic, ready in just 30 minutes.
Why We Love This
A quick curry perfect for a weeknight treat. Blend the spice paste, fry it then add your fish and let it simmer to deliciousness – all within 30 minutes!
The vibrant colours of Kari Ikan’s yellow curry base are perfect to impress guests. If you’re serving a three course meal, whip up an entrée of Indonesian corn fritters, then finish it off with bright green dadar gulung for dessert.
Related: Vietnamese Ginger Chicken / Aussie Curried Sausages
What is Indonesian Fish Curry (Kari Ikan)?
A fragrant Indonesian yellow curry known as kari ikan which literally translates to fish curry. With a creamy coconut and turmeric base, this curry is filled with melt-in-your-mouth fish pieces simmered with kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. It’s a quicker curry than some other types, even with cooking the spice paste from scratch. This is because fish doesn’t need as long to cook as other proteins.
Variations of this curry also use fish heads, especially popular in Malaysia and Singapore.
What You’ll Need
All you need is a few fresh herbs and spices, some coconut cream, your favourite white fish and a little time to set it all to a simmer.
Please don’t be overwhelmed by the following list of ingredients, it’s mostly for the spice paste which is blended together in a food processor or blender in one swift step.
- White Fish – Basa or snapper fillets work best here. If these are unavailable, any mild flavoured white flesh fish goes well. Don’t like fish? Swap for chicken or extra firm tofu instead!
- Kaffir Lime Leaves – Best fresh for this recipe. You can also find them dried, frozen or in a jar at Asian and local supermarkets. Sub with zest of one lime.
- Lemongrass – You can find whole and chopped lemongrass at most Asian and local supermarkets. Sub with the zest of one lemon.
- Chilli – Large chillies have less heat, but full flavour and go perfect in the spice paste. If you don’t like heat, only use 1 or 2 large chillies and omit the small red chillies – these pack the most heat!
- Lime Juice – You can’t beat a squeeze of fresh lime juice! Feel free to substitute with tamarind paste if you can find it at your local Asian supermarket.
- Coconut Cream – This is thicker and creamier than coconut, with a higher fat content. If you can’t track it in your area, sub with coconut milk.
How to make creamy coconut fish curry:
- For the spice paste: Note: It’s a big list but it’s super easy to blend everything within a minute! Pop everything on the spice paste list (garlic, large red chillies, small shallots, tomato, fish sauce, tumeric powder, ginger, chopped lemongrass, palm sugar, ground coriander, tamarind paste, black pepper, nutmeg and optional: small red chillies) into a food processor or blender.
- Pulse for 30 seconds to 1 minute to blend into a fragrant paste.
- For the curry: Heat the vegetable oil in a large work over a medium heat. Throw in the lemongrass stalk and kaffir lime leaves and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Then add the spice paste and give it a good stir, frying until fragrant (1-2 minutes).
- Add your white fish pieces, coating in the paste and frying for a further minute.
- Next, pour in your water and bring to a boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and changes from translucent to white. Finally, turn down the heat to simmer on a medium heat and add in the coconut cream. Continue simmering for another 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.
- Serve with your favourite fluffy white rice for the best curry experience and garnish with fried shallots.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Spice Paste Sticking? – If your spice paste is getting stuck in the blender, pour in a small dash of oil or water to help it along. You can also grind the spices with a mortar and pestle if you need.
- Stir Carefully – Fish is fragile once cooked, so take care when stirring the curry so it doesn’t flake and break apart.
- Adjust the Heat – Feel free to adjust how much chilli you use in the spice paste. You can always have extra sliced fresh chilli on hand to garnish for extra heat after serving.
- Coconut Cream – When using canned coconut cream shake or stir the can first – it may have separated from standing.
- Add Vegetables – Greens and vegetables such as spinach, bok choy, broccoli, carrot or pumpkin work well. (Hint: Try this amazing Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry next time!)
FAQs
White fish works best, soaking up the spices and complementing with their mild flavour. We use and recommend snapper or basa fillets in Australia, however you can also use mackerel, whiting, salmon, flake / gummy shark, blue grenadier / hoki, barramundi or rainbow trout.
Yes, fish curry freezes well. Pop it in an airtight container, and reheat when you’re ready. For best results, freeze leftover rice in a separate container so it doesn’t soak up the sauce.
Other seafood works well such as prawns, scallops or lobster, or substitute with chicken, tofu or vegetables if you’re not a fan of fish or seafood.
Need more spice? Try these curries next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 400 g white fish cut into 5 cm / 2 in pieces
- 1 lemongrass stalk cut in half, bruised
- 6 Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves whole
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup coconut cream sub coconut milk
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Spice Paste (don’t worry, it’s super easy)
- 6 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 3 large red chillis deseeded and chopped (for flavour)
- 2-3 small shallots roughly chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp ginger chopped or minced
- 2 tsp lemongrass finely sliced
- 2 tsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp lime juice or tamarind paste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Optional:
- 1 – 3 small red chilli for heat (to taste)
- white rice for serving
- crispy fried shallots for garnish
Instructions
For the Spice Paste
- Note: It's a big list but it’s super easy to blend everything within a minute! Pop everything on the spice paste list (garlic, large red chillies, small shallots, tomato, fish sauce, tumeric powder, ginger, lemongrass, palm sugar, ground coriander, lime juice or tamarind paste, black pepper, nutmeg and optional: small red chillies) into a food processor or blender. Pulse for 30 seconds to 1 minute to blend into a fragrant paste.6 cloves garlic, 3 large red chillis, 2-3 small shallots, 1 tomato, 3 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp ginger, 2 tsp lemongrass, 2 tsp palm sugar, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp lime juice, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 pinch nutmeg, 1 – 3 small red chilli
For the Curry
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok over a medium heat. Throw in the lemongrass stalk and kaffir lime leaves and stir fry for 1 minute. Then add the spice paste and give it a good stir, frying until fragrant (1-2 minutes).1 lemongrass stalk, 3 tbsp vegetable oil, 6 Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves
- Add your white fish pieces, coating in the paste and frying for a further minute.400 g white fish
- Next, pour in your water and bring to a boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and changes from translucent to white.1 cup water
- Finally, turn down the heat to simmer on a medium heat and add in the coconut cream. Continue simmering for another 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.1 cup coconut cream
- Serve with your favourite fluffy white rice for the best curry experience and garnish with fried shallots.white rice, crispy fried shallots
Video
Recipe Notes
- Spice Paste Sticking? – If your spice paste is getting stuck in the blender, pour in a small dash of oil or water to help it along. You can also grind the spices with a mortar and pestle if you need.
- Stir Carefully – Fish is fragile once cooked, so take care when stirring the curry so it doesn’t flake and break apart.
- Adjust the Heat – Feel free to adjust how much chilli you use in the spice paste. You can always have extra sliced fresh chilli on hand to garnish for extra heat after serving.
- Coconut Cream – When using canned coconut cream shake or stir the can first – it may have separated from standing.
- Add Vegetables – Greens and vegetables such as spinach, bok choy, broccoli or carrot work well.
Nutrition
40 Comments
Lynne
12/03/2023 at 5:12 pmAbsolutely delicious curry. I am going to try it with duck next😊
Wandercooks
14/03/2023 at 7:11 pmHey Lynne, that’s great to hear. Let us know how you go with the duck! We’ve tried it with chicken before and it was great too. 🙂
Shelley
17/01/2023 at 7:33 pmSuper easy and delicious!
I’m lucky enough to be able to grow a lot of the fresh ingredients so this was even more economical to make.
It will become a household staple, especially as it is so quick to do. Also perfect for a dinner party.
Thank you!
Wandercooks
18/01/2023 at 5:21 pmThat is so awesome Shelley! We’re currently making our new veggie patch at our new house and can’t wait to be producing our own food again. Is there anything better! So happy you’ve been enjoying the recipe. 🙂
John Stanton
04/08/2022 at 1:14 pmFantastic flavour. I’ve even adopted some of it to use in my spicy beef jerky recipe!
Wandercooks
12/08/2022 at 11:42 amOh amazing, what a cool idea! So glad you enjoyed it.
Anna
09/05/2022 at 8:00 pmThis is so rich in flavour! Might also suggest you try to make another Indonesian food called Rendang, its amazing as well.
Wandercooks
11/05/2022 at 1:31 pmCheers Anna, Rendang is one of our favourites too!
Supriya Kutty
02/10/2021 at 11:43 pmI am so happy to come across this post of yours. I made this curry for my husband and he really loved it he also appreciated me and this made me feel very happy all credit goes to you.
Wandercooks
05/10/2021 at 5:04 pmAh that’s so awesome, thanks for letting us know! 😀 It really is a great dish to make from scratch, with how simple it is, yet the depth of flavour it brings to the table.