Pan seared fish with Shitake Mushrooms

I had some nice juicy seer fish (surmai) steaks and this recipe was light yet full of flavour.

I also came across some locally-grown and relatively inexpensive dried Shitake mushrooms, so it was a treat to mix both these items together in one dish. The mushrooms soaked the soy flavours nicely, and the ginger slices crisped up in the pan giving the dish an added texture.

You'll need:
3-4 dried Shitake mushrooms
1/2 cup hot water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 fish steaks cut about 1/2 inch thick
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and cut in thin strips
1/2 cup of bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 tbsp oil (sesame preferably)

Rub the fish with lemon juice and salt and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.

Soak the mushrooms in the hot water for 20 minutes. Once softened, remove the stalks and cut into thin strips.

(You could keep the water to use as stock in another dish)

In a bowl, mix the soy sauce and sugar. Soak the mushroom slices in it till absorbed. Keep aside.

In a flat pan, heat the oil and add the fish steaks. Let it cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Do not keep turning it.

Add the ginger strips and mushroom slices in the oil on the sides

When you flip the fish to cook the other side, add the bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Serve with plain rice and add some stir-fried vegetables for a wholesome meal.

Grilled Buttery Lemon Fish

Fish is the quickest thing to cook. This was a quick meal...with some outside help in the form of packet baked potatoes, but they could have easily been made at home as well. There's a lot of garlicky stuff happening all at once in this dish because we love the flavour, but you could tone it down and remove it from any of the dishes.

For the Grilled Fish:
2 fillets of fish such as salmon or basa
3-4 tbsp butter
1/2 small lemon sliced 
1-2 cloves garlic
Seasoning

Heat butter on medium heat, then add the garlic and lemon slices. Reduce the butter for a minute or two, then put in the fish fillet. Spoon over some of the butter on top of the fish. Season and cook for about a minute and a half on both sides.
*Remember, if you are using salted butter then adjust the salt you add on top.

This could be cooked in an oven. Just wrap the ingredients in some foil and bake at 180 deg C for about 15-20 min.

Spinach Sides:
1 small bunch spinach, cleaned
1 clove of galic
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste

In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic. Add the spinach and cover for 3 minutes. Then cook on high heat to reduce the water. Season.

Garlic Bread:
2 tbsp butter at room temperature
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
Sprinkle of chilli flakes
4-6 Bread slices

Mix the garlic and chilli with the butter (if you are not using salted butter then add a pinch of salt). Spread it on to the bread slices as little or as much as you like, bake for 10 minutes at 180 deg C.

Crispy Skin Fish with Veggies & Garlic Rice

I usually don't like the skin on fish (or chicken). But grilled fish with a crispy skin looked very appetizing on TV. For a first try, I decided to keep it simple. This came out well.

For the fish:
2 halves of a filleted fish (with skin) - I used Rawas or Indian Salmon
Seasoning (salt/pepper)
Oil for grilling

Take some kitchen towels and dry out the fish - it might take 2 to 3 tries to get it completely dry. Make small slits on the skin.

Heat oil in a grilling pan. Add the seasoning to it. Wait till the oil is sizzling hot, then lay the fish skin-side down. Don't prod or turn it for 3 to 4 minutes. Cook for another 2 minutes on the other side and it is done!

Steamed Vegetables:
Broccoli
Snow peas
Baby corn
2 tbsp Light soy sauce

Steam the vegetables, top it up with the soy sauce.

Baked Potatoes:
Potatoes
Salt/pepper
Chilli flakes
1 tbsp Olive oil

Cut potatoes in wedges. In a bowl, toss it with the seasoning and bake it in an oven at 180 deg Celsius for about 40 minutes.

Garlic Rice:
2 cups cooked rice
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
Salt to taste

Add butter to a hot pan, put in the garlic. Just when it starts to brown, add the rice and salt.

Mummy's Mustard Macchi

This is a fish curry dedicated to mustard lovers. Inspired by Bengali cuisine, this is Mummy's favourite fish recipe, loved by the entire family.

Ingredients

Any fresh water fish like Kingfish or Rohu - sliced 250 g

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seed black - 1 Tbs

Mustard Seed yellow - 2 Tbs

Tomato - 1 Large

Tempering

Red chilli - 1

Onion seed - 1/2 tsp

Bay Leaf - 1

Chilli Garlic Paste

Grind both in a mixer grinder:

Dry red chilli - 2

Garlic - 5 small cloves

Oil (preferably mustard oil)

Salt to taste

Green chilli - 1 slit in half

Coriander for garnish

Method

1. Wash the fish slices. Rub into the fish 1/2 tsp each of salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder and 1 Tbs oil. Put in the fridge for 15 min to marinate.

2. Dry grind the mustard into a fine powder. Mix the powder with one cup warm water. Add 1/2 tsp salt. Put aside.

3. Grate the tomato.

4. Heat 8-10 Tbs of oil in a non-stick wok. When oil is smoking hot, fry the fish in batches. This should be on high heat. Cover the wok while frying. Be careful not to brown it too much, it should be a yellowish golden colour.

5. In the same oil on low-medium heat add the tempering ingredients and then the grated tomato. Add the garlic chilli paste. Keep stirring, don't burn the tomato. Also add 1 tsp Chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Keep stirring until oil starts to separate.

6. Add the previously ground mustard powder mix. Check salt. Add roughly one glass water according to how you like your gravy. Don't make it too runny. Bring to boil and add the fried fish and the slit green chilli. Cook for 3-5 min.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Grilled fish with Baked Potatoes and Red Cabbage Salad

A great dinner option is something light but filling. It is also quite easy to make.

For the potatoes:
Potatoes sliced. Toss it in some olive oil, salt, pepper, and chilli flakes. Bake for about 40 minutes at 200 deg C. Around the half way mark, flip it around for an even texture.

While that is getting ready you can prepare the other two items.

For the salad:
1 small red cabbage
2 onions
A splash of vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Some oilive oil
(Boiled corn kernels optional)

Heat up the oil and add the onions. Stir till they start to get a little color, then add the cabbage. Cook till soft...about 5 minutes. Then add the vinegar and honey and cook till the liquid evaporates. Set aside to cool.

For the fish:
Fish fillet
Olive oil to coat
Salt / pepper to taste
Breadcrumbs
Cornflour to coat (only if required to soak up moisture)

You can marinate the fish in oil, salt & pepper for an hour or so but if you haven't had the time, it doesn't matter. Just coat the fillets with oil and seasoning, and dip it in a plate of breadcrumbs and press it so that it is evenly covered on both sides. If you feel that there is excess water, then coat the fillet with some cornflour before the breadcrumb layer. I didn't need to use any extra oil to grill it.

The whole process took me less than an hour!

Fish in Coconut Curry

I love simple curries with rice. It's a no nonsense meal that is easy to make and tastes great on its own without diluting the taste with accompaniments which is so common with Indian meals.

Here's what you need:
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-10 curry leaves
2-3 green chillies, slit
Some ginger & garlic (I prefer using them fresh instead of the packaged pastes) 
2 finely chopped onions
2 large tomatoes chopped (or pureed if you are fussy like me about bits of tomato in curries)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp tamarind paste or juice of 1 lemon
Chilli powder according to tolerance
Approx 300ml coconut milk
1/2 kg fish, sliced (I use Rawas - Indian Salmon or Surmai - King fish)
Salt/pepper to taste


Garnish
Chopped coriander 

Heat adequate oil in a pan and fry the mustard seeds with the curry leaves till they pop. Add the green chillies, onion and ginger/garlic. Cook till the onions are translucent. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and stir for about a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients all together and simmer for about 15-20 minutes till the fish is cooked

Serve with plain rice or naan