Jamaican Curry fish and bammy

"Something Smells Fishy"

I really enjoy cooking and eating fish. It’s no secret that escovitch fish is my all-time favorite. Brown stew and steam fish are not too far behind. But what about curry? We tend to curry lobster and shrimp more often than we do fish. And curry fish is just as delicious, if not more than. Because the fish meat can actually absorb all the juices better than the meat of the shrimp or lobster. So today its a delicious Jamaican pot of curry fish and bammy.

Firstly, what’s bammy? It is a Jamaican side dish and carb. Usually, it accompanies fish or is eaten at breakfast with ackee and saltfish. It’s a cassava product. Really a type of Jamaican cassava flatbread. The cassava is shredded, all the liquid is expelled, and the remaining product looks similar to flour or fine ground coconut flakes. This powdery substance is then packed into molds and baked. After its baked, it hardens, cools and is packaged. We then fry it or steam it before we eat it. I think I will do a video post next time I buy some cassava showing how to make homemade bammy, or as my mother calls it “freh-freh”

Like I said, Fish and bammy go together like black pepper and salt. Most seafood restaurants when you order stew or steam fish with bammy, the bammy is cooked into the fish broth. I made sure to do that for this recipe. It yields the most delicious results. The bammy gets soft and saturated while still keeping this gummy texture. Then accompanied by the fish all in a thick flavorful sauce. If you are tired of brown stew and steam fish, this might be the next fish dish for you to try.

Ingredients (printable recipe)

To season fish

6 slices of Fish (steaks)

3 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Black pepper

For the stew

5-6 tablespoon Coconut oil

2 tablespoon Curry powder

1 cup chopped Tomato

1 large chopped Onion

½ cup chopped Scallion

1 Hot pepper

½  teaspoon Pimento/allspice

4 shredded Garlic cloves

1 tablespoon shredded Ginger

4-5 sprigs of Thyme

1-1.5 tablespoon Salt

2 teaspoon Sugar

2-3 cups Water

2 whole bammy cut in half (4 pcs)

Instruction

• Season the fish with salt and black pepper
• In a very hot pot add the coconut oil and sear the fish until golden brown on each side then remove from the pot
• Add curry powder to the remaining oil and cook for 2 minutes
• Add tomatoes, onion, scallion, allspice, garlic, ginger, hot pepper, and cook until fragrant
• Add the water to deglaze the pan and bring to a boil,
• Add thyme, sugar then add the salt to your liking. I used about 1.5 tablespoons for my broth, but you can add more or less salt to your taste.
• Add the bammy and fish back to the pot of boiling curry broth and let it reduce until thick
• The bammy would have soaked up all the juices and become soft and the fish would have also been saturated in the flavorful curry sauce
• Serve hot.

Greedy tips

• You can use filet for this recipe however you would add the bammy to the curry broth and allow it to get thick and reduced before adding the fish. If the fish filets are added early, then they will just break apart because they will most likely be complete fully cooked after searing on each side.

Xoxo Greedygirl