Prep time 10 min cook time 10 min
Toasted garlic and coriander seeds quickly transforms a simple filet of seared mahi mahi, cod or halibut into something quite exotic.
I was sent to England at the age of seventeen to further my studies. I lived with a family who took in lodgers and they were a dear old couple. It was the sixties and although England was at the epicenter of the fashion, art and music world, home cooking or any cooking for that matter left a lot to be desired. Except for that great British tradition, the Sunday Roast. Served with all the trimmings of roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables, lots of gravy and followed by a pie of sorts, the meal became a highlight of my newly adopted country.
It was a far cry from my childhood Sunday’s at home in Cairo when Molokheya (Jews Mallow) was often the weekend feast of choice. It is one of Egypt’s national dishes and is an elaborate and time consuming production when made from fresh ingredients.
It is a rich soup and the Egyptian recipe calls for the green leaves to be finely chopped and cooked in a rich chicken or rabbit stock and served with rice. A key component of Molokheya is “Takleya” , a simple but amazingly intense and aromatic paste made of crushed garlic and ground coriander seeds. When sautéed in butter and/or olive oil, coriander seeds release a sweet, spicy scent. As the garlic browns, it loses its pungent taste and scent and becomes nutty in flavour. Now, whenever I cook the dish, these heady aromas bring back wonderful memories of those Sunday lunches.
I often use Takleya to flavor charred okra, one of my favorite side dishes or vegetarian meal. Here’s the recipe.
I also use it to dress a fillet of white firm fish. It is one of the quickest ways I know to transform a simple filet of seared mahi mahi, cod or halibut into an exotic dish that takes 20 minutes to prep and cook.
Fish With Toasted Coriander and Garlic Dressing
by
Derek Farwagi
Equipment
- 8"-9" frying pan or cast iron skillet
- Electric spice grinder If you do not have a spice grinder but a mortar and pestle, use them to crush the garlic and coriander seeds together. In which case you need to use finely chopped garlic cloves and use a tbsp of those.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp freshly ground coriander seeds (don’t use the very fine coriander powder often sold in stores. It does not sauté well and have no crunch when cooked).
- 1 tbsp crushed garlic cloves
- A small ammount of fresh or dried oregano ( optional)
- 2 flaky fish filets like mahi mahi, cod, halibut
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the crushed garlic and ground coriander into a paste.
- On a medium heat, warm 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter. When the butter is melted and starts bubbling turn the heat to low. Add coriander and garlic paste and oregano leaves (if using). Stir and cook until flavors are released - about a minute. Immediately remove spices and melted butter from the heat and set aside in small bowl. Wipe pan dry with paper towel.
- Pat filets dry and season on both sides with salt and ground black pepper.
- Add a little oil to the pan and sear the fish filets on a medium/low fire. Depending on the fish and the thickness of filets, that might take 3-4 minutes a side until the filets starts flaking when gently separated with a fork.
- Plate fish and dress with coriander and garlic mixture and a drizzle of lemon juice.
- Serve with a vegetable of your choice.
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