Photos: Passport & Plate - Carp Poached in Sambar

akshay — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 05:21:00 GMT

Ingredients
For 5-6 tbps of Sambar Powder
Ingredients:
4-5 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 1/2 tbsps coriander seeds
1 1/4 tbsps red gram
3/4 tbsp bengal gram
3/4 tbsp split black gram
5-7 curry leaves
Ingredients for the Sambar Recipe:
1 cup pigeon pea lentils
1 to 1.5 cups, roughly chopped/cubed vegetables of your choice
(Most commonly used veggies are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, drumsticks; optional additions eggplants, okra, beans)
1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
1tbsp sambar powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste
for the tempering of sambar
2 - 3 dry red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1tsp cumin
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
2 to 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
few curry leaves
Ingredients for the marinade (For 2-3 medium sized fish steaks):
Pinch of salt
1tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1tsp sambar powder
1tsp garam masala or all spice
Dash of lime
1-1 ½ tbps tamarind extract

How to prepare this recipe
Sambar Powder
Dry roast all ingredients separately until they release their aroma
Once they cool later grind them coarsely along with turmeric and asafoetida
You could use store bought sambar powder as well
Sambar
Soak tamarind in warm water for 30 mins and discard the pulp after extracting the juice
Wash lentils 2-3 times and cook in a pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water until they are fully cooked (4-5 whistles). Once cooled mash them up
Add chopped veggies, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, asafoetida, salt along with 2 cups of water and stir well. You could sauté the veggies before adding them
Pressure cook again for 1 whistle or until the veggies soften
Now transfer to a pot or cook in the pressure cooker with the lid open, adding the sambar powder, tamarind pulp and water. Aim for a thickish consistency
Let it simmer for 10-12 minutes, while stirring occasionally to ensure it does not stick to the bottom and burn. Check for taste and adjust, salt, spices
take a small pan, heat oil and crackle mustard and cumin seeds then add fenugreek seeds, garlic, red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves
Saute till the garlic turns light brown and red chillies change colour
Pour and stir in to the sambar. Turn off the heat and cover to let the flavours infuse

Marinating the fish
I’m using carp but you could use salmon or trout as well
Wash and clean the fish, gently score the fish on the skin side
Add all ingredients and rub into the fish and apply evenly on both sides
Keep aside for at-least 30 mins.
Poaching the fish in Sambar
In simmering sambar add the fish steaks skin side down. You could crisp up the skin side in a different pan first if you like it crispy
Cover and simmer, until fish is done, about 5-8 mins
After the fish has cooled off, remove from the pot and place on a bed of the vegetables and ladle sambar over it
Serve with hot steamed rice or dosa
Top the fish with fried poppadums or chips. Garnish it with fresh cut coriander and a wedge of lime

The story behind this recipe
Back in 2010/11, I had been living away from home for over 4 years and had progressed from cooking for sustenance to cooking for pleasure.

I had achieved a fair degree of ease in my kitchen and was eager to add more skills. I figured the best way to do this was to take familiar tastes and dishes and try to cook them using different techniques and tweaking flavours by substituting ingredients.

Sambar (a tangy spicy lentil broth) is a staple in every south Indian home, served along with rice or snacks like idly, dosa etc.

I wanted to do use sambar and create a non vegetarian dish. I felt Its tangy and spicy flavour would be best suited to fish rather than meat.

The next choice I had to make was how to incorporate the fish into the sambar, do I fry fish and add it? Do I cook it along with the sambar? Do I bake it?

Incidentally I happened to watch a show on television where they were poaching a duck breast. I figured it was worth a shot.

After a couple of trial runs with tiny portions I was confident enough to make a proper attempt. Although it tasted nice, it wasn't spectacular, felt sort of incomplete.

A couple of days later it occurred to me that what it was lacking was an accompaniment, I instinctively went for the popaddum (a light and crisp fried cake) and it worked great this time.

Since then I have cooked it a few times, each time tweaking it a bit more and perfecting the taste, the garnish and final presentation.

I can now fearlessly present it this people and be sure that they will in all probability like it.

Along the way I have achieved what I set out to do in the first place, add to my skills in the kitchen.

travelling under the influence

Photos: Passport & Plate - Carp Poached in Sambar