Wednesday, December 10, 2014

726. Iraqi Broiled Fish with Sultana Sauce


I am so happy to host this month's MENA Cooking Club Challenge: IRAQ!
Previous months include: Algeria, Bahrain, Djiboui, and Egypt.
Unfortunately, Iraqi food, culture, and customs have been overshadowed by political events for the last several decades, which paved the way for opportunists to take shameless advantage and claim much of ours as theirs. This happened to Palestine, and it's happening to Iraq.
I chose to highlight my fellow compatriot, the esteemed scholar Nawal Nasrallah's work by picking recipes from her blog and her cookbook Delights from the Garden of Eden. This amazing fish dish is everything you could look for to surprise and entice the senses: sweet, savory, tangy, and can be started and finished, with the yellow rice, in 30 minutes or less. Note that the cookbook version is without pom molasses, whereas the guest article she wrote for the Boston Globe is slightly different.
Thank you Noor for giving me the opportunity to showcase Iraq!


Ingredients:

For the sauce:
2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onions, chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup sultanas
1/2 tsp powder noomi
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ cup water

For the fish:
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
900g fillet of salmon, divided into 4 portions
¼ cup toasted pine nuts, for garnish


Method:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil and saute onions until transparent, about 5 minutes.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, and coriander and stir until fragrant, a few seconds.
Add the rest of the sauce ingredients (garlic, tomatoes, sultanas, noomi, salt, pepper, and water).
Cook gently over medium heat, covered, until sauce thicken, 5 to 7 minutes. Keep warm.
Turn on the broiler. In a small bowl, stir the mustard, honey, olive oil, and salt to combine.
Arrange the fish pieces on a non-stick pan, leaving space between them.
Brush the fish with the mustard-honey mix. Broil for 5 minutes, then turn over the pieces and give them a brush of the mustard-honey mix and broil until the surface is crisp and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.
The fish is done when a knife gently inserted in the thickest part slides all the way through without resistance.
Immediately transfer the fish pieces to a platter, and spread the sultana sauce around and between them.
Sprinkle pine nuts all over the dish, and serve with yellow rice.


 صحة و عافية

Please take a moment to check out other members' contributions to the challenge:


14 comments:

Unknown said...

Although i'm not that keen on salmon i would most definitely try yours! Thank you for being this months host.

Rafeeda AR said...

Looks really delicious... participating in MENA for the first time and absolutely loved making the Margat Bamia... :)

Maryam said...

Thank you Umm Hamza!

Maryam said...

Welcome to the Club!

Joanne T Ferguson said...

G'day and thank you so much for hosting this month's Iraq Cuisine!
I really enjoyed trying a new dish I had never made and LOVE how food unites us all!
Cheers! Joanne

Noor said...

I would love to learn more about Iraqi food from you and the history. I have always loved Iraqi history mashAllah, one of my good friends is also from there, but grew up in the UK. Salmon is our favorite dish in my house. Saudis' also make this dessert too.

Joannae I agree, I have LOVED getting to know you all :)

Maryam said...

It has been an immense pleasure hosting and introducing Iraqi cuisine. I'm so glad you made the time to join in!

Maryam said...

Thank you for your kind words Noor, it means a lot because Iraq is so much more than it's made out to be. What better than food and an open mind to bring people together?

Carrie said...

Very nice! Looks perfectly cooked, and I love pinenuts! Thank you very much for hosting, I've enjoyed learning a little about Iraqi cuisine.

Maryam said...

That's fantastic Carrie! It was a real treat and I loved the opportunity.

Amira said...

Thanks Maryam for hosting this month's club. Unfortunately, politics and politicians have ruined not only Iraq and Palestine's history and people but it touches every culture and every country on the face of earth!!!. Anyways, I do not want to vent here :). Your dish looks, sounds and smells amazing and bet it tastes very delish too.. look at the color .. so lovely. I just wanna ask what is the sultanas? and where do you get it from?

Maryam said...

Too true Amira.
حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل
Sultanas are dried green grapes (raisins are dried red grapes). They can be found easily in most supermarkets in the dried fruit section.
Thank you for your kind words and may Allah protect, unite, and grant victory to our religion, people, and lands.

Sneha's Recipe said...

Thank you Maryam for hosting this months event. Such beautiful pics., and well presented a really feast to my eyes.

Maryam said...

Thank you Sneha; it was a pleasure!