Fish with Indian Flavors

Recently our meal choices all seem to be dictated by outside forces -- the produce in the weekly Box, the Mexican food on the List, and what grows in the Garden.

Tonight's dinner came about as a result of a generous Gift of mango pickle from a friend at work. I'd enjoyed the tiny cups of pickle that come with lunch plates at India Sweets and Spices, but never owned my own container of Indian pickle. I had to try it right away.

I scoped out the Patak's situation in the refrigerator and found the last of a jar of Vindaloo paste. We had two weeks' worth of vine-ripened tomatoes from the Box, some cod my husband had defrosted and past success pairing the Vindaloo paste with tomatoes.

I grated half a cucumber with some buttermilk left over from Fried Chicken Day for a refreshing Raita. No basmati around, but a pot of long-grain rice would do the job and make enough for fried rice later in the week.

Full Disclosure on quantities in recipes:  I don't measure as I cook (unless it's in baking or when using helpful rice-cooking ratios). I will henceforth abandon the fiction of measurements as much as possible or unless I actually measure the ingredients as I cook.

Fish with Indian Flavors Recipe

Rice
2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 tsp salt

Start the rice first. I used white long-grain rice, but basmati would be even better. Combine 2 cups rice, 4 cups of water, and about a teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, then lower temperature to low/very low, cover with tight-fitting lid and cook for 20 minutes. Set aside, covered.

Vindaloo Tomatoes
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons Vindaloo curry paste

Heat medium nonstick skillet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. When oil is hot, add onion and sautee until just starting to brown, then add tomatoes. The tomatoes will break down and exude liquid. Once the liquid has evaporated and pan is dry, make a space in center of skillet and add the Vindaloo paste. Spread out the paste so that it can fry for a minute or two. Once the curry paste is hot and sizzling, combine with other the ingredients. Add a few tablespoons of water if the tomatoes stick to the pan.

Fish
Steam the fish on top of the Vindaloo Tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup of water to pan, and once it is steaming, place the fish on top of tomatoes and cover pan. Steam according to thickness and density of fish.

Raita
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, and grated
About 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
Salt

Combine all ingredients. Taste for seasoning.


Serving
Serve the rice alongside a piece of fish topped with Vindaloo tomatoes. Pass the raita and the jar of mango pickle.