Fishy Business

[Malc.]

I thought i'd make a start on my travels down the road to creating dishes based on fish. So tonight I ended buying some Smoked Cod Loins. Now I didn't want smoked but ASDA simply didn't have anything else (salmon, tuna, etc) meaty enough in stock for me to try!

Anyway, I decided to marinade the cod in a little garlic & ginger paste, lemon juice, yoghurt, mustard oil, black cumin seeds, ground cardamon, salt and garam masala.

Whilst the marinade worked its magic I knocked up an emergency base which was basically half an onion very finely chopped. Gently fried to soften then water was added to cover, lid added and fast boiled to reduce water. This was done three times with asian bay and an inch of cinnamon stick added to the third reduction. Once reduced I allowed it to fry for 5 mins. Removed from heat added water and stirred through, base done.

The fish was then placed under a hot grill for 12 mins turning once. Whilst this cooked I added the other half of the finely chopped onion to a pan with oil, along with 2-3 garlic cloves sliced, half a yellow pepper diced a pinch of black cumin seeds and a small pinch of aniseed. I heated the pan and allowed the onion to fry gently for several minutes. Once softened, I added about 2 tsp of mix powder, 0.5 tsp of ginger powder, 0.5 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp methi and a pinch of salt and stirred for 2 mins. The base was added along with 0.5 tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp sugar and half a diced tomato. This cooked for several minutes before the tomato wedges were added. This was left on a gentle heat until the fish was ready (a couple of minutes).

The result was quite good, the curry was not over powering and had a good balance of flavour, though it would have been much better if I had used a proper base. The fish was good but the smoke became a little too much during the meal. The marinade however, did compliment the smoked fish.

I am going to repeat the marinade on a plain cod loin next time and use the Kushi base with the Kushi spice mix.

I'll keep you all posted.

Cheers for reading.

Curried Cod Loin

[976bar]

Hi Axe,

That looks really nice

When I use fish for curries I make a marinade out of the following.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8th tsp salt
end of tsp of chilli powder
a pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (cracked)
small pinch of fresh coriander

I leave the fish in this marinade for 2-4 hours before making the final curry, which is

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp Garlic & ginger paste
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp spice mix
1 tsp rajah madras curry powder
1/4 tsp ground fennel
200ml base sauce

If I use scallops then the marinade is as follows

1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ginger puree
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp soy sauce
1/8th tsp salt
pinch of fresh coriander

I like fish curries sometimes as it makes a welcome change from chicken or lamb.

I've yet to have a go at a fish Goan curry, but I also want to experiment with lobster too, but it's an expensive fish to experiment with if you get it wrong

[Malc.]

Thanks Bob, I will certainly give that a go and your right, using fish is a welcomed break to chicken and lamb. Scallops is something I hadn't given thought to so will be looking to do a few of these along side to try.

Quite pleased with my marinade for the fish last night, it had itself, a slightly smokiness about it. Perhaps this didn't help with the smoked cod but it one to do again.

[chewytikka]

Hi Malc
Your experiment looks more like an Indian home recipe, rather than BIR. (nothing wrong there)

Most of the Fish dishes on offer in my local Restaurants are pan fried
with a masala crust "lightly spiced". served on or in a delicate sauce.

I know somebody is serving Monkfish curry, I can't remember at the moment, but
it will probably be in a Bhuna style sauce (I'll do some research)

I do Salmon Loin, in a Red Onion Pasanda sauce, I just rub the fish with oil and mixed powder, gently pan fry it, then transfer it to the Pasanda sauce pan, to finish off.
I also do the same with Asda's Patagonian Scallops with the addition of red capsicum, steam fried in the Microwave.

Another one I haven't done for a while is:-
Hot and Spicy Catfish, River Cobbler, pan fried in mustard oil and black cumin,mustard seeds and lots of fresh ginger, served with an achar or naga sauce.
Got me thinking Fishy Curries yum.

[Malc.]

Most of the Fish dishes on offer in my local Restaurants are pan fried
with a masala crust "lightly spiced". served on or in a delicate sauce.

The dry sauce I ended up with was down to not having any proper base. But I was aiming for a delicate sauce and it did actually turn out to be lightly spiced. I'd love to get my hands on a real 'delicate sauce' recipe.

I had intended to use monk fish which would have been pan fried in the sauce but in fear of having the cod break up, I followed lead from a local restaurant that mentioned grilled seabass with a delicate sauce. They also do Salmon Tikka fired in the Tandoor. But Alas, I haven't tried either as yet, but will be now.

Passanda, mmm, now that sounds nice.

Hints, tips, recipes and advice, all gratefully received.