Tandoori Fish

This is absolutely incredible.  I got this recipe from Nita's husband when he returned from a trip to India.  I decided to try it with fresh fish. What's great about this dish it has fabulous flavors but it is not spicy hot. I served it to the dance troupe before we did a performance. If you can, use fresh fish instead of frozen if at all possible.   Asian and ethnic grocery stores have large fish tanks with a good assortment of live fish to choose from.  Have your local fishmonger scale and clean the fish for you.

Ingredients:
2 whole fishes (cleaned) trout, sea bass or tilapia
2 inches of fresh ginger root (peeled and minced)
10 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 tblsp olive or canola oil
1/2 lime (juiced)
3 tblsp tomato puree
1 tblsp paprika
1 tblsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
salt and pepper

Cut diagonal slits on each side of the fish.  Make sure you cut deep enough to expose the meat, but not all the way through the bones.  Place fishes in a glass or ceramic plate.  Place the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix until it creates a paste.  Rub the paste all over the outside of fish on both sides.  Make sure some of the paste get between the diagonal cuts.  Rub some of the paste inside the cavity of the fish.  Use all the paste.  Cover the fish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to marinade.

Set oven to broil and preheat in low.  Cover a baking dish or deep tray with foil.  Place fish in the foil covered dish and broil in the oven uncovered.  Broil one side for approximately 8 minutes.  Turn fish over and broil the other side for another 8 minutes.  Increase the setting to medium or high to allow the skin to crisp.  Watch carefully so as not to burn for appoximately 4 minutes; flip fish and do the same on the other side. Remove from the oven and serve with basmati rice and Tomato, Onion and Chilli salad (recipe available on this blogsite).

Tomato, Onion and Chilli Salad

This refreshing salad is absolutely great with fried or grilled foods.  Serve this over rice with the Tandoori fish. Yummmmm..... Adjust the spiciness by increasing or decreasing the number of chillies.

Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes (chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped)
1-2 green chillies (remove seeds and finely chopped)
1/2 lime
1tsp sugar
salt and pepper

In a non-metallic bowl, place all the igredients and mix well.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Taste and adjust with salt and pepper before serving.

Tandoori Chicken

This is probably one of the most famous dishes from India.  This is absolutely wonderful. The spices add so much flavor, but not with heat. 

Ingredients:

3lbs chicken (assorted pieces)

1/2 lemon

2 tblsp melted butter or ghee

salt and pepper

Masala Paste:

1 tblsp ginger paste

2 tblsp garlic paste

1 1/2 tblsp paprika

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3/4 cup yogurt

Few drops of edible red food coloring

In a small bowl, mix lemon juice and butter.  Rub the lemon juice and butter mixture all over the chicken pieces.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl make the masala paste by combining all the masala ingredients and mix until all have been incorporated.  Using your hand, rub all the chicken pieces with the masala paste.  Make sure all the chicken pieces are well coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours, preferably overnight. 

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.  Lay chicken pieces on a roasting rack and tent (lightly cover) with foil, place in oven and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil. Change the oven setting to either broil or roast in a low setting.  Continue cooking the chicken for another 15 minutes or until chicken's juice runs clear.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes, serve garnished with cilantro and lemon slices.  This is great with the vegetable pulao on this same blogsite. Enjoy!

Whole Fish with Black Bean Sauce

Something I have always wanted to try was to cook a whole fish.  It is not as difficult as I thought it would be.  It was actually a lot of fun.  Note: there is a difference between fresh fish and frozen.  Asian and ethnic grocery stores have huge fish tanks for live seafood.  It is amazing how wonderful it is to cook with very fresh seafood.  I recommend it highly.  Have your fishmonger scale and clean the fish for you.  The original recipe normally steams the fish.  I prefer baking or broiling; this creates a different texture to the fish.  If you wish to steam, wrap the fish in foil and steam for 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 whole fish (cleaned) trout, sea bass, tilapia

2 tblsp salted black beans

1 tsp sugar

2 inches of fresh ginger (shredded)

6 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

3 tblsp Chinese rice wine

3 tblsp Light soy sauce

4-6 spring onions (shredded or sliced)

3 tblsp olive or canola oil

1 tsp sesame oil

Wash the fish inside and out and dry with a paper towel.  With a sharp knife, cut deep diagonal slices across the each side of the fish. Cut deep enough to expose the flesh but not to the bones.  Mash half of the beans in a small bowl with the sugar.  Add the remaining whole beans and mix well.  Place fish on a glass or ceramic plat and place half of the shredded ginger and sliced garlic inside the fish cavity spreading as evenly as you can.  Rub the blackbean mixture on to the outside of the fish making sure you get it between the diagonal slices.  Turn fish over and do the same on the other side. Cover with plastic wrap and marinade for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees.  Place fish in a foil covered pan.  Mix rice wine with 1 tblsp of soy sauce and 1 tblsp oil.  Pour mixture over the fish. Cover fish with another piece of foil and place in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil covering and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes or until fish is done (flesh is opaque).

In a small pan, heat the remaining oil until almost smoking; remove from heat. Add the sesame oil and the remaining soy sauce and stir.  Remove fish from the oven and transfer to a plate, sprinkle with the spring onions.  Drizzle with the oil and soy sauce mixture.  Serve hot with steamed rice.

NOTE: If you are not comfortable with cooking a whole fish, ask your fishmonger to remove the head.  This also works with fish fillets. Reduce cooking time if cooking fillets.