Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Salsa Fish -- when Mexican meets Bengali



I don't have a lot of time to write today. I had promised to post this last week but then last week was super busy like any other. So if I start writing, this recipe will never see the light of the published blog!!

A quick note to say, that this Salsa Fish is my recipe, mine and mine alone. So don't compare it to salsa fish of a mom from Tijuana or to your neighborhood TexMex restaurant. Maybe she makes it this way or maybe the restaurant makes it better, I don't know. I have never had it at any Mexican restaurant here either. The inspiration came from our very own tomato fish and of course salsa.

So I make a mean salsa and my salsa has tomatoes, garlic, cumin, jalapenos, coriander leaves, sugar and salt. And then a couple of weeks back I thought since I am already making this why don't I use this to make a fish. That is what I did and called it Salsa fish. It had gravy and tasted like maacher jhol that a mom in Tijuana would make.

I served it with rice, and loads chopped onions, tomatoes and some jalapenos.



Then again few days back I made a similar fish, but not much gravy. I also added green peppers. Same salsa as the base. This was a drier salsa fish.

This is when I saw my housecleaning lady had put up her dinner photo on her WhatsApp status and there were tacos and guac and salsa and all very authentic as the mother in Tijuana would make. Not the American tacos that on the border makes.



Inspired I assembled a similar dinner. Multigrain tortillas made the base. Rest all were already there, how we served it, changed the scene and country!! So if you want, you can serve the salsa fish that way too.




Salsa Fish

Here is how I did it

Get the Fish ready

Fish -- any fillet of fish. Cod, Tilapia and Basa works well
Toss the pieces of fish with turmeric powder, salt and olive oil
I had 3 fillet of fish, cut in 4 pieces each.

You can shallow fry the fish or broil it in the oven for 25 mins. Your pick.

Make the Salsa


Take 2 medium good quality tomatoes. If you don't have access to great tomatoes, open a can of crushed or diced tomatoes.

In a food processor add
tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds
2-3 chopped green chili or 1 jalapeno chopped
a handful of coriander leaves
Pulse to combine everything. Should NOT be a smooth paste.

Add salt and sugar to taste to the above. Combine. Your salsa is ready

Cook

In wide mouthed frying pan or saucier, drizzle some olive oil and warm

Add 2 cloves of garlic minced or crushed

Add 1 green pepper chopped. You can chop it small or in thin strips.

Saute the green pepper for a minute and then add the salsa

Cook the salsa until the raw smell of the tomatoes is gone.

Add the broiled/fried pieces of fish to the pan and add about 1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water. It is okay to add water instead of stock. If you are making the gravy version add 1 cup.

Simmer until you see a thin layer of oil on top. Taste to adjust.

If you want to have it dry, cook until the water dries off.

Serve with chopped wedges of limeonion, tomatoes and jalapeno. If you don't have jalapeno, substitute with green chili.



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1 comment:

  1. This is excellent. I made it with cod and turned out delicious. I topped it with Avacado and chopped onions.

    ReplyDelete

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