Thursday, May 23, 2019

A Perfect Recipe For This Summer Barbeque Season, Fish Tikka.


One of the first dishes I ever made for company dinners when I first started cooking Indian food, nearly 30 years ago was Tandoori Chicken. It  was the perfect  intro to anyone not used to eating Indian cuisine because who doesn't like grilled stuff on sticks????  Now that we finally seem done with the rain and atmospheric rivers that have been passing over us for the past 4 months, it's time to get ready for outdoor cookout season, and this Fish Tikka recipe is one that's going to get a lot of use at our house.
  
Since Alan has moved from being a stone carnivore to a pescetarian/vegetarian (yeah he eats fish) I've been cooking a lot more fish, and Fish Tikka is very reminiscent of all the fish tacos we used to eat at roadside places when we lived in Malibu, especially the Reel Inn.
                

Nothing like a couple of writers escaping the office  at lunch to sit at a picnic table off PCH enjoying the  Taco Tuseday $.2.00 Fish tacos.
      
So, okay, fish tacos, tandoori, and tikka. What's the difference? Well, Fish Tacos are tacos, while Tandoori Chicken or fish is served whole, after being cooked in a tandoor oven. Fish or Chicken Tikka are small pieces of meat or fish, marinated  just as tandoori dishes are, but  here's the difference, tikka is then threaded onto a skewer and grilled. It can also be made in the oven under the broiler, which is what I did on the cold and rainy day that I made these. This is a simple recipe, a rather quick marinade and then you hit the grill or the broiler, so here we go.

Here's What You Need:

  

The Fish

1 lb of firm fish cut into cubes. Remember you're going to be threading this on skewers so use a fish that holds up on the grill. I used snapper for this.

The Marinade

1 cup of thick whole plain yogurt
4 Tbs of vegetable oil
1 medium onion  ground into a paste
1 Tbs of fresh ginger ground into paste
1 Tbs of shallot or garlic ground into paste
4 Tbs fresh lemon juice
annnnnd......red food coloring
 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbs dried mango powder aka Amchur powder (this is optional so if you can;t find it don't worry)

Here's What To Do: 

Mix all these ingredients together in a large bowl.


add the pieces of fish to the marinade.


Cover the bowl and pop it into the fridge for at least 1 hour. If you can let it soak for a longer period that only makes it better, but 1 hour minimum.

While the fish is marinating, soak your skewers (if they are wood) in warm water for about 30 minutes. If you are using metal skewers skip that part

 Ready To Grill


Thread the fish onto the skewers.


QWhen they are threaded up and ready, lay the skewers across a pyrex baking dish like this.


Slide the whole thing under the broiler and cook for anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes or until you get that nice charred look.

Serve the fish skewers on a plate with a squeeze of lemon juice, some chapattis and a cilantro chutney.


If you make your marinde the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight, you're golden, and you can have this dish on the table in minutes. Even if you decide to make it at the last minute, it still comes together quickly. Just slip the fish off the skewers if you wish, and fold them up inside the chapatti with some cilantro chutney  and you are good to go.

Coming up next more summer dishes from the Indian Kitchen, follow along on Twitter@kathygori

1 comment :

  1. Delish!! Was worried about the amount of turmeric, but turned out perfect amount of heat. Whole family loved them!

    ReplyDelete

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