(Kinda) Bengali Fish Curry

Loosely based on this

Coarsely pound 2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 cloves

1 dried red chilli

2 cardamom pods (green, not black!)

1" cinammon

1 bay leaf

1 tsp tumeric

This is your spice mix

Cut 1.5lbs of Tilapia into large (1.5") cubes, and sprinkle with 1tsp salt and 1tsp tumeric. Mix it all up till well coated. (If you use your hands, you'll end up with yellow stains from the tumeric!)

Let this sit in the fridge while you get the gravy done.

Grind 2 large onions.

Heat 1/4 cup canola oil in a pan, and fry the ground onions till most of the liquid is gone, ant it is kinda firm - at around med-high, it'll take roughly 15 minutes (be sure to keep stirring if you don't want it to end up burnt).

Make long vertical slits in 4 green chillies, and add them to the  mix.  If the oil hasn't separated out ('cos you stinted), you might need to add a wee bit more oil. (For a pop of flavor, add Mustard Oil at this stage)

Once the chillies are somewhat blistered (roughly a minute) add the Spice Mix from above and stir for around 20 seconds

Add 1 - 2 cups of hot water slowly (!) and keep stirring - watch out for splattering.  This is the base gravy for the dish, so dont' overdo the water. Instead, adjust based upon how thick (or thin) you want it to be.

Add the tilapia, stir (gently!), reduce the heat to a bare simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

Check the fish - and if necessary, cook longer till it is done (It should just start flaking apart. - shouldn't be more than about 15 minutes in total)

Squeeze in the juice of one fresh lime, and stir (gently).

Garnish with a chilli powder and cilantro and serve. If at all possible, allow others to have some before you devour the whole thing