Coconut Milk for Keralan Fish Curry

Asked by simply_dj. Answered on 6th March 2015

Full question

Is the coconut milk in Nigella's Keralan Fish Curry recipe sweetened or unsweetened? We can't wait to try it, but don't want to ruin it by using the wrong thing. Thank you.

Our answer

Nigella's Keralan Fish Curry (from Nigella Summer and on the Nigella website) is an easy and quick curry made with a base of tamarind, turmeric and coconut milk. The coconut milk used by Nigella in all of her recipes is the unsweetened type. Coconut milk should not be confused with coconut water, which is now popular as a drink.

In our experience most canned coconut milk is unsweetened, but it is always wise to check the details on the can. Coconut cream (the liquid form, not solid creamed coconut) can come in unsweetened form and sweetened form and again we would usually use the unsweetened form (unless specified otherwise). You could use unsweetened coconut cream in the curry but as it is very rich you should use about half coconut cream and half water.