Tag: main course
Pan Fried Salmon with Cashew Sauce
Pan Fried Salmon with Cashew Sauce
This is a take on a popular Sri Lankan dish using salmon instead of different fish indigenous to the South Asian island. The sauce uses cashews as the base, with cilantro, onion, garlic, green chilies, and lime juice. The best part of the sauce is that there’s no cooking required. As far as the salmon goes, it is simply seasoned with salt and pepper. It needs to be pan fried skin side down for 75% of the total cooking time. We’re looking to have nice, crispy salmon skin. Then, all you have to do is ladle the sauce in the center of a plate and place the salmon flesh side down in it.
Equipment
- Food processor or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 8 oz salmon fillet
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup roasted cashews
- 1/4 medium red onion chopped
- 1 green chili
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the cashews, onion, garlic, cilantro, green chili, lime juice, and 2 tbsp of vegetable in a food processor.
- Purée until smooth.
- Heat up the rest of the vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place skin side down into the sauté pan.
- Cook the salmon for 6-7 minutes on the skin side. Flip and cook for 3 minutes on the flesh side. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Place the cashew sauce in the center of a plate.
- Place the fillet flesh side down into the sauce.
Sri Lankan Pork Curry
Sri Lankan Pork Curry
With Sri Lanka being 70% Buddhist, they are one of the few areas in South Asia that consumes my favorite meat, pork. This curry is traditionally cooked in a clay pot; but using a large sauté pan will work just fine. Ready in just over an hour, the curry is bursting with flavor. You can adjust the heat level by adding as many green chilies as you’d like. Serve the curry over steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 20 curry leaves
- 1 large red onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp hot chili powder
- 3 tbsp madras curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 green chilies thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 3 lbs pork shoulder cubed
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp garam masala
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the mustard seeds and cinnamon stick for a minute.
- Add in the cumin seeds and curry leaves. Sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add in the red onions. Sauté for 10 minutes.
- Stir in all of the ground spices and ginger garlic paste. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Stir in the tomato paste, green chilies, tamarind, and coconut milk.
- Add in the pork. Pour in the chicken stock. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 1 hour.
- Season with salt to taste. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of garam masala.
Madras Curry Powder
While the British claim to have invented madras curry powder in th 1960’s, it can be traced back to South India in the state of Tamil Nadu in the 1700’s. The spice was commercially produced and sold to the British army and government.To make the curry powder, I recommend individually toasting all of the whole spices, since they all toast at different rates. Once all of the spices are cooled, grind all of them in a spice grinder. You can use the curry powder in a variety of South Asian curries; pairing well with just about every protein.
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp cumin seeds
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 3” cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 star anise
- 10 curry leaves
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 4 dried Kashmiri chilies
Instructions
- Individually dry toast all of the whole spices. Grind everything together in a spice grinder.
Shorshe Salmon Curry
Shorshe Salmon Curry
Shorshe curry is commonly eaten in Bangladeshi cuisine. The fish of choice in this spicy mustard based curry is the ilish fish, which is the national fish of Bangladesh. Being similar in flavor to herring and chad, the ilish fish has a high amount of omega 3 fatty acid. But being in the U.S., it is nearly impossible to find. I used a fillet of farm raised salmon as a substitute. This curry is very simple to prepare; ready in 20 minutes from start to finish. Serve the shorshe salmon with steamed basmati rice.
Ingredients
- 8 oz salmon fillet
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 garlic clove thinly sliced
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 green chili slit in half
- 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
Shorshe Sauce
- 1 tbsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Mix together all of the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Season the salmon fillet with turmeric, cayenne, and sea salt. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the mustard seeds for 1 minute, followed by the cumin and fennel seeds for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the garlic and shallots. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the shorshe sauce. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Place the salmon fillet in the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 10 minutes until the fillet is cooked through, basting with the sauce every few minutes.
- Half way through the cooking time, add in the green chili. Add a couple tbsps of water at a time if the sauce gets too thick.
