Curried baked Hake

This is the ultimate, simple but darn delicious weeknight dinner. During weeks like this one, the last thing I feel like doing is slaving over the stove. My time is limited but the family still want something delicious for dinner (and so do I). This is where fish fits in quite perfectly. It cooks in minutes plus it’s healthy and tasty.

Instead of my normal pan-fried hake, I wanted to do something a little different so I made a creamy, spiced sauce to cover the hake with and baked it all off until the fish was perfectly flaky and the sauce had reduced a little. It was absolutely scrumptious. I served my hake with spiced rice (2 cardamom pods and 1 tablespoon mustard seeds added to my rice as it cooked) but you could, of course, serve it with plain steamed rice or no rice at all. If you’d like to do a carb-free version of this meal (which seems to be all the rage right now), simply serve the hake with blanched sugar snap peas and steamed broccoli.

All in all, a delectable, satisfying dinner which can be served well under 30 minutes (depending on the sides you serve it with).

Curried baked Hake

3 from 7 votes

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Course: Dinner, Fish

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
• 2 cm piece of ginger finely grated
• 2 tablespoon masala spice I use a leaf masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 x 400ml can coconut milk
• 100 ml cream
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt to taste
• 800 g hake sliced into 4 fillets, bones removed

to serve

• steamed rice
• blanched sugar snap peas
• steamed broccoli

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
• In a large frying pan (suitable for oven use), heat a generous splash of oil.
• Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent (approximately 5-7 mins).
• Add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds.
• Add all the spices and fry for a minute, until fragrant.
• Pour in the coconut milk and cream and bring to a simmer.
• Allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes then add the lemon juice and season generously.
• Add the hake fillets and place in the oven.
• Allow to bake for 15 minutes or until the hake is cooked through and the sauce has reduced slightly.
• Serve the curried hake with steamed rice and veg of your choice.