The idea for this recipe came from a baked fish I had made a while back. That recipe combined quite a few contrasting flavors on a plate. I applied the same cooking technique to essentially come up with an Indian palak (spinach) gravy style dish, cooked in an oven.
Here's what you need -
2 fillets of white fish (used Tilapia)
4 oz mushroom (used baby portabella)
4 slices of lemon
1 medium onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (finely sliced)
8 oz spinach (chopped)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (will get at any Indian grocery store)
2 tbsp sour cream
Cooking -
1) Rub some salt onto the fillet and place two slices of lemon per fillet on the top side
2) In a pan heat 3 tbsp oil
3) Add cumin when hot
4) After cumin has crackled, add the onion
5) Fry onion till well browned and then add the spinach and garlic
6) Reduce heat to medium and cook till spinach darkens (almost 15 minutes). You may have to add water to keep the spinach moist. Keep it well wet to a gravy consistency.
7) Add the garam masala and salt to taste to the spinach
8) Pre-heat oven to 375 F
9) For each fillet, place it upturned (with the lemon slice below) on a non-stick/oiled foil
10) Arrange the mushrooms on the fillet
11) Put half the spinach gravy on each fillet
12) Fold the foils and twist at ends to seal each fillet
13) Bake the fillets for 17 minutes. The fish should be flaky when you take it out.
14) Pick the fish up with a spatula leaving the lemon behind and arrange on a plate using the lemon slices as garnish
15) Spread the sour cream evenly on the spinach topping on the fish. You can garnish additionaly with some coriander (cilantro)
What worked very well in this recipe is that the fish absorbed the lemon tang really well, which gave a great contrast with the slight bitter of the spinach. The sour cream helped merge these contrasting flavors. The portabella though did not work well. The flavor of the mushroom did not stand out. I suppose using oyster or shitake may have more sense. Try that. Also, the garlic should not have been cooked with the spinach, but added in the end with the garam masala before baking the fish. The spinach should be wet to work as a sauce. Even though so many things went wrong, the flavor of the tangy fish worked really well with the mildly spiced spinach. Serve the fish with pilaf or white rice as per your preference.
I would call this a TRY! due to the changes I mention above. Would love to see if anyone else experiments and improves the recipe. Happy fishing!
Here's what you need -
2 fillets of white fish (used Tilapia)
4 oz mushroom (used baby portabella)
4 slices of lemon
1 medium onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (finely sliced)
8 oz spinach (chopped)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (will get at any Indian grocery store)
2 tbsp sour cream
Cooking -
1) Rub some salt onto the fillet and place two slices of lemon per fillet on the top side
2) In a pan heat 3 tbsp oil
3) Add cumin when hot
4) After cumin has crackled, add the onion
5) Fry onion till well browned and then add the spinach and garlic
6) Reduce heat to medium and cook till spinach darkens (almost 15 minutes). You may have to add water to keep the spinach moist. Keep it well wet to a gravy consistency.
7) Add the garam masala and salt to taste to the spinach
8) Pre-heat oven to 375 F
9) For each fillet, place it upturned (with the lemon slice below) on a non-stick/oiled foil
10) Arrange the mushrooms on the fillet
11) Put half the spinach gravy on each fillet
12) Fold the foils and twist at ends to seal each fillet
13) Bake the fillets for 17 minutes. The fish should be flaky when you take it out.
14) Pick the fish up with a spatula leaving the lemon behind and arrange on a plate using the lemon slices as garnish
15) Spread the sour cream evenly on the spinach topping on the fish. You can garnish additionaly with some coriander (cilantro)
What worked very well in this recipe is that the fish absorbed the lemon tang really well, which gave a great contrast with the slight bitter of the spinach. The sour cream helped merge these contrasting flavors. The portabella though did not work well. The flavor of the mushroom did not stand out. I suppose using oyster or shitake may have more sense. Try that. Also, the garlic should not have been cooked with the spinach, but added in the end with the garam masala before baking the fish. The spinach should be wet to work as a sauce. Even though so many things went wrong, the flavor of the tangy fish worked really well with the mildly spiced spinach. Serve the fish with pilaf or white rice as per your preference.
I would call this a TRY! due to the changes I mention above. Would love to see if anyone else experiments and improves the recipe. Happy fishing!
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