Gordon Ramsay’s monkfish curry is a Keralan moilee: monkfish chunks marinated in turmeric and lime, simmered in coconut milk with green chillies and curry leaves. The recipe comes from his Great Escape India book and takes about 40 minutes.
He has cooked monkfish everywhere from Kerala to the F Word kitchen, four dishes across three books and the show. On the show he explains the fish’s one catch: “there’s a lot of water in monkfish”. Every good monkfish recipe he has is built around handling that water.
This one handles it with the 20-minute marinade. The salt and lime firm up the chunks before they meet the sauce, so the fish holds together instead of watering down the coconut milk. The FAQs below cover why that works and what he does differently on TV.
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Gordon Ramsay Monkfish Curry
Course: DinnersCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy4
servings25
minutes15
minutes380
kcal40 minutes
A Keralan fish moilee, sometimes spelled mollee, built on a whole tin of coconut milk. Ramsay calls monkfish tails ideal for it, meaty enough to survive a simmer that would break flakier fish apart.
Ingredients
500g (1.1 lb) skinless, boneless monkfish tails
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp sea salt, or to taste
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
3cm (1¼ inch) piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed
3 green chillies, deseeded and halved lengthways
4 curry leaves
¼ tsp sea salt
400ml (14 fl oz) tin coconut milk
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Handful of coriander leaves, to garnish
Directions
- Marinate the monkfish: Cut the monkfish into bite-sized chunks. In a bowl, stir the turmeric and ½ tsp salt into the lime juice until you have a wet golden paste, then rub it through the chunks. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Build the base: Set a large heavy-based pan over medium-high heat with the oil. Cook the onion, ginger, garlic, chillies, curry leaves and ¼ tsp salt, stirring often, until the onion goes soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
- Simmer the sauce: Tip in the coconut milk and let it come to the gentlest simmer, giving it the odd stir so nothing catches.
- Cook the fish: Slide in the marinated monkfish with the cherry tomatoes. Hold that gentle simmer for 4-5 minutes, just until the chunks turn opaque all the way through.
- Serve: Ladle into a warm bowl, scatter the coriander over the top and bring rice or naan to the table.
Notes
- Curry leaves are in the world foods aisle at Tesco and Sainsbury’s. In the US, any Indian grocer has them. If the fish counter has no monkfish, ask for it by its American nickname, poor man’s lobster. It is the same firm, sweet fish.
FAQs
Is this the curried monkfish from the F Word?
No, that is his other monkfish dish, and it is worth knowing both. On the show he rubs the fish with curry powder and salt, roasts it, then serves it in a curried mussel broth. The mussels steam in white wine while he shakes the covered pan, so they tumble and cook evenly.
The strained mussel juice is the part he calls “gold dust”. It simmers with celery, carrots, leeks, saffron and 100ml of double cream, and the saffron pinch lifts the whole broth. This moilee is his book answer to curried monkfish, that broth is his TV one.
Why does Ramsay salt monkfish before cooking?
Same reason both recipes start the way they do: the water. That curry powder and salt rub on the show, like the dry rub on his spiced monkfish tail, pulls moisture out first, so the fish roasts and colours instead of boiling in its own juices. The turmeric, salt and lime paste in this curry runs the same trick before the coconut milk arrives.
His out-of-print Passion for Seafood book goes further. Peel off the grey membrane or the fillets curl in the pan, and wrapping them in cling film overnight firms the flesh before cooking.
What fish does Ramsay swap for monkfish in this curry?
Sea bass or haddock, named in the headnote, with one change in behaviour: stop stirring. Firmed-up monkfish takes a spoon knocking around the pan, but flaky fillets need leaving alone or they fall apart in the simmer.
That firmness is exactly why he keeps picking monkfish. The same dense chunks get poached in his seafood bisque, holding their shape next to mussels and red mullet in a saffron broth.
How is a moilee different from his other fish curry?
Different coast, different souring agent. His Southern Indian fish curry gets its edge from tamarind and mustard seeds, while a Keralan moilee stays gentle and creamy, nothing sharper than the lime already in the marinade.
The green curry searches point somewhere else again. His Thai green curry is a 10-minute rice dish, so this moilee is the closest he comes to a green-chilli fish curry in a bowl.
What do you serve with monkfish curry?
Plain basmati rice, straight from the book, because the sauce is the star and wants something neutral underneath. American long-grain works the same way if basmati is not in the cupboard.
For scooping instead of spooning, his naan bread comes from the same India book. Teardrop-shaped, baked on preheated trays in 4-5 minutes, built for exactly this sauce.
Why only 20 minutes in the lime marinade?
Because lime juice cooks fish. Twenty minutes firms the surface and seasons the chunks, which is the point. An hour turns the outside mushy and pale, like an accidental ceviche, before the pan gets involved.
It also means the timing takes care of itself. Start the marinade first, and the onion base finishes right as the fish is ready to go in.
