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Fish Poached in Garam Masala
Recipe by Neil Perry
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- To make the tomato and chilli base, heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-based pot and gently fry the onions, garlic, turmeric, chillies and ginger. Season with salt and cook slowly until caramelised (this can take between 40 minutes and 1 hour). Slice the tomatoes finely, cut into julienne, then into 5mm dice. When the onion mixture has caramelised, add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside until ready to use.
- For the semolina noodles, in a bowl, combine the flour and salt and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs, yolks and oil and gradually work in with a spoon until a dough forms. Tip the dough out onto the bench and chop together, then knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover with cling wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- To make the garam masala, crack the roasted cardamom pods in a mortar with a pestle and remove the black seeds. Combine with the rest of the spices and grind finely.
- Roll the dough out with a rolling pin and book fold. Pass the dough through the pasta machine, gradually increasing the gauge until you get to 3. Book fold the dough again, and again pass through the machine. Repeat this process until the dough is smooth and has lost its rough edges. Roll the pasta through the 6th setting, then through the fine noodle cutter. Hang to dry.
- In a saucepan with a tight fitting lid, large enough to hold the fish portions snugly, add the coconut milk, 2 tablespoons of the tomato and chilli base, lime leaves, ginger, 3 teaspoons garam masala, fish sauce and palm sugar. Bring to the boil. Add the fish, presentation side up and lower the heat to a very gentle simmer. Put a lid on and cook very, very slowly, making sure that the mixture never boils, until the fish fillets are very nearly cooked – just a little under. Remove from the heat and rest for 5 minutes. Add the coconut cream and basil, and replace the lid.
- While the fish is resting, blanch the noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well and set aside. In a separate pot of boiling salted water, blanch the snow peas until bright green and just cooked but still crunchy. Remove from the pot straight away and set aside.
- Serve the noodles in perfect rounds and arrange the snow peas into a large shallow bowl. Serve the fish on top and spoon plenty of broth over.
