Gulai kepala ikan: Malay fish head curry recipe

veryone I know is squeamish about fish heads.

- How can eat it when it is looking at you? - my Black French friend Lionel's voice goes an octave higher than usual.

My landlord raises his eyes from his plateful of fish fingers only to crack something English and witty about my bag full of nice big and fresh salmon heads. I got them at Brixton Market, three for one quid, now beat that!

But the best thing about them is not the cheapness but all the lovely textures you get in a big piscine predator's head - from the meaty cheeks to the crunchy cartilage to the flavoursome brain, and I love the eyes too!

This time, instead of Ghanaian abenkwan, I made it Malay style, gulai kepala ikan. It is so good that is often considered THE national dish of Malaysia and Singapore.

Here's the recipe (for 3 medium-sized salmon heads):
Remove the gills from the heads if your fishmonger hasn't done it for you (it means he's not very good at what he does!), wash them well - the heads, not the gills!Peel two red onions, half a head of garlic and a three-inch piece of ginger. Ground them into homogeneous paste.Warm a deep cast-iron pot and melt some ghee in it. You can also melt butter and skim the white fluff that comes up.
Gently and lightly fry 2 with a teaspoonful of turmeric, until it gives off flavour.Add one crushed and finely chopped stalk of lemon grass, half an inch of finely slice galangal, half a handful of fresh curry leaves (sold frozen in some Asian grocers), a couple of de-seeded chopped chillies, a few tablespoonfuls of Malay fish curry powder (can be made from ground jeera, coriander seeds, fenugreek and red pepper). Fry ever so gently, making sure the flavours go into the ghee, not up with the smoke.Add half a litre of tamarind juice (made by dissolving tamarind paste in warm water) and half a litre of coconut milk (you be better off making it yourself from creamed coconut and warm water!).Bring to simmer and add a dozen or so of okras, two large tomatoes cut into eight pieces, a handful of string beans, and some garden eggs. And of course the fish heads!Simmer until ready. Serve with freshly cooked steamed rice.