A Weekend Blog about Herbs

Goodness, another post, another food blogging event! This time I'm trying out Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly ode to herbs sponsored by Kaylyn's Kitchen. This week's host is Nandita, whose blog saffron Trail comes to us from sunny Mumbai, India. Since I *love* Indian food, and have a husband who loves chili, I grabbed my well-used copy of Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking in search of a recipe full of fresh herbs.

"Fish in a Green Sauce" doesn't sound too appealing, but as the green comes primarily from cilantro, it's actually quite good. As I come from Australia, I'm more familiar with the name coriander and particularly coriander seeds which features in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. I'd previously associated fresh coriander only with Asian and Mexican cooking, so to use it in fresh form in an Indian dish was rather exciting.


Madhur Jaffrey's Fish in a Green Sauce
Prepare the Fish
2 good-sized fish steaks eg salmon or kingfish (about 300 g each, I used ocean trout fillets)
Rub with salt, pepper, 1/8 tsp ground tumeric and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.

Leave for about 10 minutes. Heat 3 tbs vegetable oil in a nonstick frying over high heat. Brown fish quickly on both sides without letting it cook through. Remove and set aside.

Prepare the Green Sauce
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 medium-sized tomato, finely chopped
2-3 fresh hot green chilies (I assumed they were also to be chopped, although the recipe didn't specify this)
1 tsp grated ginger
t tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala

Fry the onion and garlic until the onion starts to brown. Add cilantro, tomato, green chilies, ginger, lemon juice and salt. Fry and stir until the cilantro and tomato have completely wilted.

Putting it all together
Spread the green sauce evenly around the pan and lay the fish over the top. Spoon a little green sauce over the fish. Sprinkle the fish with the cayenne pepper and garam masala. Bring to a simmer. Cover, lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes, until fish is cooked through.

I served the fish with cumin-fried potatoes garnished with chopped cilantro. The green sauce was lovely - fresh and spicy without overpowering the fish. This is definately one to make again!

Tags
Weekend Herb Blogging + whb