Week 83:
RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM THE STAFF AT HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS, LISA WALKER
If you’re not familiar with Indian cooking I would suggest giving this recipe a try. If you don’t like fish, it works well with boneless chicken breast. Serve with plain white rice and some naan.
Salmon in a Bengali Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ - 1 pound skinless salmon fillet
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground mustard (I like Colemans)
- 1/4–1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (I use ½ teaspoon)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons mustard oil (use extra virgin olive oil as a substitute)
- 1/4 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds (I use more, a lot more!)
- 1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- 2 fresh hot green and/or red chilies (bird's-eye is best), slit slightly
Instructions
- Cut the fish into pieces that are about 2" x 1" and rub them evenly with the salt, turmeric, and cayenne.
- Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes-10 hours.
- Put the mustard powder, cayenne, turmeric, and salt in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon water and mix thoroughly. Add another 7 tablespoons water and mix. Set aside.
- Pour the oil into a medium frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, a matter of seconds, add the cumin and fennel seeds. Stir once and quickly pour in the mustard paste.
- Add the green chilies, stir, and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Place the fish pieces in the sauce in a single layer. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through, spooning the sauce over the fish all the time.
Notes
The recipe calls for using whole spices such as cumin seed and fennel seeds, if you don’t have whole seeds, don’t worry, I often just use the ground spice as a replacement.