Grilled Fish with Spinach - Weeknight meal ideas

 

 

Easy weeknight meal ideas is what I am forever scouting for. It saves my time and makes the man happy. Except for Tuesdays, for every single meal the man needs to eat non veg.There are times when I am totally out of ideas or the patience to produce something new. But thanks to the neighbourhood supermarkets , you are spoilt for choice. While I would mostly stick to buying fresh fish from my regular fish monger, once in a while something frozen comes in handy too. A pack of frozen Basa fillet is what caught my fancy on my last trip to the supermarket and scores of recipes started flodding my head!So I promptly grabbed the pack with the intention of cooking it up with some jazz. With winter just about to say goodbye, I wanted to use up the last batch of spinach from my kitchen garden. Teaming it up with the fish seemed like a fabulous option. So here's my recipe of Grilled Fish with Spinach.

 

Ingredients:

Basa Fish fillets - 4-6 pieces - You can use any other white fish fillet like bhetki

Olive oil - few tsps.

Fresh Parsely - a handful finely chopped

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

For the Spinach sauce -

Spinach leaves - 1 cup - finely chopped

Onion - 1 medium - finely chopped

Garlic - 2-3 cloves - minced

Cottage cheese /Paneer - 2 tbsp. - grated

cheddar cheese - 1 tbsp. - grated

Fresh cream - 1 tbsp.

salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Cherry tomatoes for garnish

Method :

Marinate the fish fillets with olive oil, salt ,pepper and chopped parsley. Keep aside while the sauce is being made.

For the sauce:

Heat a tsp of olive oil in a pan. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion and sweat it till transluscent. Don't brown it.

Next add the chopped spinach and cook covered till the water released from spinach dries up.

Add grated cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and sugar and give it a good mix.

Add fresh cream, remove from heat and keep aside.

Preparing the fish:

In a thick bottomed pan, brush a little olive oil. Place the fish fillets and cook for 2-3 mins on each side. Don't overcook the fish or it gets a rubbery texture.

Remove from pan and serve along with the spinach sauce. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and freshly chopped parsley.

Notes:

• I used Basa but any white fish fillet like bhetki would do just fine. Just keep an eye while cooking the fish so that u don't overcook. It takes very little time.
• I kept the sauce chunky in texture but you can puree it into a smooth sauce as per your taste. Just grind the sauce in a handblender and strain.

Maasor Tenga - a light and sour fish curry - Assamese soul food

Another very quick and short post. Sharing this recipe has been long due. Maasor Tenga is a very light, flavourful sour fish curry - an integral dish of Assamese cuisine. In assam they love their fish - all kinds of fresh water fish - big - small all kinds. And they also like to keep the dishes simple - minimal use of spices so that the freshness of the fish shines through. I still have a very limited knowledge of Assamese cuisine but I am well versed with a few dishes - like this one. You will be surprised when you see the list of ingredients used. Again , this dish is made differently in different household but the basic essence of the dish remains the same - its simplicity! You may use any kind of fresh water fish - best would be to use rohu /katla or aar fish. The most popular tenga is made with tomatoes with the addition of lime juice and traditionally thekera (dried mangosteen ) is also used.

I have used aar maach ( sperata aor ) here but rohu or katla can be used easily. I also added some potatoes coz I love my potatoes in the fish curry.Infact I would not eat the fish at times but would devour the potato and the broth with rice.

Ingredients:

Aar/Rohu/Katla fish - 6 big pieces - lightly marinated with turmeric and salt and shallowed fried in mustard oil.

Tomatoes - 3 large - cut into thin long slices

Ginger - 1 tsp - grated

Potato - 1 large - cut into long slices(optional)

Fenugreek/methi seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric/haldi powder - 1 heaped tsp

Red chilli powder - 1tsp (Optional)- I used it as I like the curry to a but hot

Fresh coriander leaves - a handful - finely chopped

Lime juice - 2 tbsp. - can be adjusted accordingly

Green chillies - 5-6 according to taste

Warm water - 2 big cups

Mustard oil - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

In a deep bottomed pan/kadhai  heat the mustard oil. Splutter the fenugreek/methi seeds.

Next add the sliced tomatoes and the potatoes( if using). Fry till they turn light brown and the tomoatoes turn mushy.

Add the grated ginger,turmeri/haldi,red chilli powder(if using)  and mix everything well.

Add the two cups of water ( a little more if you want more broth) cover and let it cook till the potatoes are cooked.

Lastly add the pieces of the shallow fried fish , chopped coriander leaves,green chillies and the lime juice.

Let it simmer for 2-3 mins.Remove from heat and serve hot with plain rice.

You are going to love this. This is perfect for the summers!











 

Blogging Marathon - Day Five - Masala Pomfret

Day Five and another recipe. I am so loving this challenge of posting a recipe every other day..its pushing me to put in my best.Now coming to today's recipe. Well , Pomfret is the choice of fish of the husband. He simply loves it. Give him fried pomfret with rice and dal and he will be a happy soul. I on the other hand, am not at all a sea food person. I find the fishy smell of pomfret overpowering..so I stay away. But I try and cook the fish in different ways for the man. Today's recipe belongs to Sanjeev Kapoor. Few years back hubby had gifted me a set of 5 books written by Mr. Kapoor! There are a few recipes that I have been trying out from there and this one such easy tasty recipe to cook Pomfret. Masala Pomfret is a spicy dish with soft succulent fish inside with a crispy coating on the outside. Simply serve it with rice and dal and it would make any fish lover happy. It should go well as a starter too.

 Ingredients:

Pomfret  fish - 2 medium sized fish

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Black peppercorns - 1 tsp (crushed)

Salt - to taste

Coriander leaves/Dhania patta - a handful

Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp

Garlic pods - 2 cloves

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Rice flour - 4 tbsp

Refined oil - 2 tbsp for frying

Method:

Wash and clean the pomfret fish well. Keep it whole and just make a couple of slits on both side of the fish.

Marinate with turmeric powder , red chilli powder , crushed black pepper and salt. Keep aside for 15 mins.

Put the coriander leaves , tamarind pulp , garlic and Olive oil in a mixie and grind into a smooth paste. Add some salt to the mix .

After 15 mins , marinate the fish with this mixture and keep for half an hour.

The next step is to fry the fish. Spread the rice flour into a plate. Smear the marinated fish with the rice flour till evenly coated on each side.

In a flat skillet add the refined oil. Once the oil heats up add the fishes and fry till nicely browned on both sides.

Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves and wedges of lime and serve hot.

Note:Today morning my dear blogger friend K from Silence Sings suggested that I should increase the size of the pics on the blog so as to make it better...she helped me how to do it and lo! see how beautiful the pics look now.Thanks K!

My fellow bloggers in this marathon are -

Kamalika @  Silence Sings

Sayantani @ A Homemakers Diary

Amrita - Vishal @ Sweet 'n' Savoury

Indrani @ Appyayan