Cheesy Baked Seafood Curry

On Tuesday evening I went for dinner with some of my girlfriends at an Italian restaurant. One of the girls told me that I "have to try the baked calamari." The menu read as follows: "Oven Baked Calamari (Cheese Optional)". In my mind I envisioned this scrumptious lasagne style dish filled with saucy calamari covered in deliciously-melted oozy cheese, what arrived was a white dinner plate with calamari tubes in sauce. Eventhough it was very nice and had good flavour I was disappointed because it was nothing like I had imagined. So yesterday I decided to try to conjure up what I had imagined when I read the menu.

I started off with a basic approach to a fish curry, some onion, lemon juice, garlic and spices. I had some half packets of prawn pieces and calamari rings in the freezer so this would have to do (ideally i think calamari tubes on their own would be even more perfect but I'm sure any kind of firm seafood would work). I added some tomato puree instead of chopped tomatoes (I was aiming for a smooth, rich type of sauce). After a bit of simmering, I tasted the sauce but it was lacking something. I added some salt, cream and Garam Masala. One more taste and...... Perfection!

This sauce was divided between two individual-portion sized oven dishes, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan and baked in the oven until the cheese was brown, bubbling and delicious. I served this with veggies but the sauce is so delicious I would rather recommend some nice crusty bread or even some warm homemade Foccacia Bread straight out the oven. The only downfall about making something so delicious is there are no leftovers for work today (hee hee).

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tbsp. Butter.

1 tsp. Garlic Paste.

1 tsp. Ginger.

1 Onion, Finely Chopped.

2 tbsp. Curry Powder / Mild Masala.

1 tbsp. Brinjani Mix (try use the smaller seeds only).

80ml Lemon Juice.

500g Seafood (I used calamari rings & prawn pieces).

1 tsp. Chilli Powder (optional).

1 tsp. Ground Cumin.

250ml Tomato Puree.

2 tsp. Salt.

125ml Cream.

1 Handful Grated Mozzarella

1 Handful Grated Parmesan Cheese.

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2) Heat the butter in a large wok or high sided frying pan.

3) Add the garlic, ginger and onion and fry until the onion starts to go soft and translucent.

4) Add the curry powder, and briyani mix and fry for another 2 minutes.

5) Add the lemon juice and seafood and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

6) Add  the chilli powder, ground cumin and tomato puree.

7) Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.

8) Add the salt and cream, stir through and turn off the stove.

9) Divide the mixture between individual-sized oven dishes / oven-friendly bowls.

10) Sprinkle over the grated cheese (Mozzarella and Parmesan).

11) Bake in the oven until the cheese is starting to brown (about 15 to 20 minutes).

12) Serve with soft crusty bread or freshly baked Foccacia-Bread.