Easy Creamy Salmon Curry
Pieces of juicy salmon cooked in a creamy, aromatic curry sauce makes this easy salmon curry the perfect weeknight dinner recipe served with rice, naan bread or roti to mop up that delicious sauce.
Ingredients
Full salmon curry recipe with instructions can be found in the recipe card.
- Fresh salmon. Trout or any firm fish can be substituted. Pollock, Haddock, Monkfish, Sea bass, Grouper or Kingklip are all good options.
- Oil and butter. I used olive oil but coconut oil can also be used.
- Onion.
- Fresh garlic.
- Fresh ginger.
- Garam Masala. A good Garam Masala containing cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom and peppercorns can be used on its own if that’s all you have (just add another tbsp) but I like adding additional Indian spices for even more flavor.
- Cardamom. I used ground cardamom but cardamom pods can also be used.
- Turmeric.
- Coriander.
- Paprika.
- Salt and black pepper.
- Tomato paste.
- Coconut milk. I prefer using full fat coconut milk. Heavy or whipping cream can also be used.
- Stock or broth. I used chicken stock but fish stock can be substituted.
- Lemon or lime juice.
How to make salmon curry
- Make the curry sauce: In a large, deep pan or pot set over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add all the spices and cook for a minute until the pan looks dry and smells aromatic. Toasting the spices will allow the most flavor to be released. Stir the tomato paste in and cook for another minute then pour in the coconut milk and stock. Season the sauce with salt and pepper then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced.
- Roast the salmon: Slice the salmon fillet into the bite-size chunks and pat dry with paper towel. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle over the oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place in a hot oven and allow to roast for 5-7 minutes until the salmon is firm but not fully cooked. Remove from the oven and set aside. You could also sear the salmon over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan until golden brown on all sides.
- Combine and cook: Once the sauce has reduced slightly, add the salmon to the sauce and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes until the salmon is just cooked but still juicy. Adjust seasoning and add lemon or lime juice then garnish with fresh cilantro/coriander and serve with carbohydrates like rice, naan bread or roti. This is also delicious with cauliflower rice for a healthy, gluten free dinner.
What to serve with salmon curry
Easy Creamy Salmon Curry
Pieces of juicy salmon cooked in a creamy, aromatic curry sauce makes this easy salmon curry the perfect weeknight dinner recipe.
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Calories: 435kcal
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tsp fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can (400g/14oz) coconut milk
- 1 cup stock
- 500 g (1lb) salmon fillets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F
- In a large, deep pan or pot set over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onion.
- Cook for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add all the spices and cook for a minute until the pan looks dry and smells aromatic.
- Stir the tomato paste in and cook for another minute then pour in the coconut milk and stock.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced.
- Slice the salmon fillet into the bite-size chunks and pat dry with paper towel. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Drizzle over the oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place in a hot oven and allow to roast for 5-7 minutes until the salmon is firm but not fully cooked.
- Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Once the sauce has reduced slightly, add the salmon to the sauce and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes until the salmon is just cooked but still juicy.
- Adjust seasoning and add lemon or lime juice then garnish with fresh cilantro/coriander.
- Serve with rice, naan bread or roti.
Nutrition
Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 1499mg | Potassium: 944mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 260IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 5mg
Hi Alida, Sorry, I meant to add that I’d just make the sauce to freeze and leave the cooking of the salmon when I’m ready for dinner that night. Making it this way would that work? Thank you.
Yes, you can make the sauce ahead but I wouldn’t add the cream before freezing as it can separate in the sauce once thawed. Add the cream and allow to simmer for a few minutes then add the salmon.
Hi Alida, This caught my eye as we love salmon dishes and curry dishes (so as they’re not too hot) so wanting to try this out. Just wondering if I could make the sauce prior and freeze in readiness for later. Also, only being the two of us we’d have half one night and hopefully to freeze the remaining half for later, would this be alright. Thank you.
I made this recipe exactly as written (thought I’d mention this since everyone else seems to have made pretty big changes, haha) and it was delicious! It is so flavorful and has just the perfect amount of heat. Adding it to my dinner rotation.
Made this with what i have in my kitchen, used 2 medium sized blended fresh tomatoes instead of paste. i skipped cardamom powder. i used 1 tsp of beef bouillon instead of stock. added 2 chopped potatoes to thicken the curry. garnished with chopped coriander leaves. it was perfect. so i wrote down in my recipe the way i made it as it turned out to be very tasty !
I just made it last night, no cardamom and paprika in hand and no tomato paste too. So I chopped up a medium-sized tomato and threw in two green chillies. Even with the not so precise recipe, it still works very well. Easy to cook too. Normally Indian recipes stresses me our. Thank you!
Delicious. But too much liquid. I reduced the stock to half a cup but it was still too sloppy. Would need to use a whole bunch of naan.
I just made this today: overall the taste was good, however: I think the addition of stock could be omitted, not sure it’s adding much overall and it takes a while to reduce down. Also think it needs something to sweeten it! We added mango chutney at the end and it was great!
An aside: it mentions butter in directions, but not in ingredients list, I used gee! Thanks for the recipe! 😉
I also noticed there is no butter in the ingredients list. I guess I’ll try out about a tablespoon and add more if needed to cook the potatoes onion.
I’ve amended the recipe, thanks!
This recipe looks delicious, but the calories are way off. When I do the math in My Fitness Pal it comes to 418. The salmon, with no sauce, is easily 200 calories per 4 ounce portion.
You are completely right! I didn’t realise when I inserted all the ingredients into the recipe card’s nutrition calculator that it didn’t pick up the coconut milk for some reason. I’ve fixed it. Thanks so much for notifying me!
As the other reviewer mentioned, you did not specify how much butter to use. I used 1 tbsp. It seemed to be enough.