Salmon in fresh Fenugreek Ginger Garlicky Sauce / Hariyali Fish

This is not something I make regularly, in fact I made this dish this way for the first time but I'm sure I'm gonna make it quite often now. Though I named it  Hariyali(greenery) fish, but the color  of the dish is not green  because the greens are not pureed & also because of all the other ingredients that goes in. Plan was to make regular fish curry but when I opened the cooler box saw two bunches of fenugreek(methi) leaves, needed to be cleaned but as I was cleaning, my mind was planning something else. I must say inspiration behind these kind of dishes is Mr. HE, as he keep saying put fish & chicken in everything you cook and which is totally not me. I do use dry methi leaves(kasuri methi) in my fish curries but cooking with fresh ones is little different as fenugreek has little bitter taste, though in my family everybody enjoys it but when mixing it with fish I didn't wanted it to overpower the flavors of fish, so I made it little extra spicy and used little extra onion & tomatoes. The final results were so good that I'm sure I'm gonna make it regularly now.

What U need :

• 1 pound fish clean & cut into pieces around 3" or so (I used wild salmon)
• 2 small bunch - around 1 pound of fresh fenugreek(methi) cleaned & finely chopped( pluck the leaves from the stem before chopping & discard the stems)
• 1 & 1/2 big onion, finely chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, pureed
• 1 & 1/2 Tblsp. of finely chopped ginger
• 1 & 1/2 Tblsp. of finely chopped garlic
• finely chopped green chillies as per taste( I used 5)
• 1 Tblsp. of tomato paste
• 2 Tblsp. of plain yogurt/dahi
• salt as per taste
• 2 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. red chilli powder
• 2 tsp. coriander (dhania) powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala(indian spice mix)
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2-3 whole dry red chillies
• juice of half a lemon/lime
• oil for cooking around 2-3 Tblsp.

What to do :

1. Sprinkle juice of lime on the fish and rub salt, 1 tsp. turmeric, 1 tsp. of paprika on the fish. Cover and keep it aside.
2. Take a wok/Karahi, heat 2 Tblsp. of oil. Add mustard seeds when splutter add garlic, when aroma starts to come add ginger & sprinkle a pinch of salt on to it, that will help ginger release it's juices hence prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan as we are not using a lot of oil.
3. Now add chopped onions, pinch of salt, stir, saute them till they become translucent, add tomato paste & tomato puree. Cook it for 5 minutes or so.
4. Add green chillies, salt, 1 tsp. turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder, 1 tsp. paprika.Mix it.
5. Add chopped methi(fenugreek) leaves to it. Cook it for about 15 minutes or so on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Below is the picture of fenugreek cooked at this stage.
   
   
   
   
6. While leaves are being cooked, heat an iron griddle or a non-stick pan add 1 Tblsp. of oil & saute the fish on both sides. Saute it till it's cooked half way, as rest of the cooking will be finished in the sauce. For salmon with skin on I usually cook for around 2-3 minutes on each side, depending upon it's thickness. Keep it aside.
7. Beat yogurt/dahi add it to the veggie mix, let it cook for few minutes & it will start leaving oil on the sides of the wok/karahi/. Add around 2 cups of water, cover & let it come to boil. Add less or more water according to the thickness of sauce/gravy required. I made thick kind of gravy (not runny kind) to be served with rice.
8. Once the water starts to boil add sauteed fish, give it a gentle swirl & let it cook for another 5 minutes or so, till the fish gets fully cooked.
9. I served it with rice but I'm sure will taste equally good if served with roti(Indian flat bread).

It's one very healthy dish, because of all the good stuff that goes in. I have already discussed the benefits of salmon in my older post, here are some of the benefits of fenugreek :

1) Due to its estrogen-like properties, fenugreek has been found to help relieve the symptoms of menopause and PMS.

2) In India and China it has also been used to treat arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, improve digestion, maintain a healthy metabolism, cure skin problems (wounds, rashes and boils), treat sore throat, and cure acid reflux.

3) Fenugreek helps lower blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

4) Fenugreek is also being studied for its cardiovascular benefits.

5) Very beneficial to aid milk production in lactating mothers.


As one of the main ingredient is fenugreelk leaves, I'm sending this dish to Yasmeen's Health Nut Challenge : 4 - Bitter Better Health.

Heart Healthy - Wild Salmon Curry

Salmon well known for it's health benefits is an incredible fish, different from most of the other fish you might know of. Most of the world's fish either live in fresh or salt water, but salmon fish during the course of their life, live in both, salt & fresh water habitats.They spawn in fresh water where the eggs hatch, live in the streams for 1-3 years then start their journey to open oceans, travels thousands of miles throughout their life cycle and finally return to the very location where they were born to spawn & die, isn't it amazing.

Salmon is low in calories and saturated fats, yet high in protein and considered very nutritional as it contains heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. And omega-3's are also called essential fatty acids as they are essential for human health but because they can not be made by the human body so they must be obtained from the various foods.Salmon is considered heart healthy fish not only because of the presence of omega-3's in it but mainly because of it's great ratio of omega-3's to omega-6's. To get more information about balancing omega-3 & omega-6 essential fatty acids click here.

There are many species of salmon, fresh wild caught salmon is usually in season from early summer to late fall though farm raised is available through out the year or you can also find frozen salmon in the grocery stores. You can also refer here to get some more information about how to choose fresh fish.

The main difference between farm raised & wild caught is in terms of contamination and because of that it's recommended that adults should eat no more than 1 meal per month if it is farm raised(more info). Another difference between farm raised & wild caught is in terms of what food do these salmon eat, because that results in the amount of omega-3's in them. Wild salmon eats varied diet from the sea(salmon are carnivores : they eat no plants at all) hence rich in omega-3's & they travel a lot which makes it lean protein. Where as farm raised fish is fattier because of it's diet based up on wheat & soybean(not a good source of omega-3's), which results in less omega-3 fatty acids in farm raised salmon. So, try to choose wild caught whenever you can.

Health benefits of wild salmon :

• good source of omega-3's
• reduce inflammation in bodies
• good source of vitamin D, B6 & B12
• lower triglycerides
• help prevent & control high blood pressure
• protection against heart attack & other heart diseases
• special cardiovascular protection for postmenopausal women with diabetes

Now to the recipe, it's very simple & can be prepared within 15-20 minutes.

Ingredients :

• 10 0z. cleaned salmon(I use frozen wild caught Keta salmon from pacific waters)
• 1 medium size onion
• 1 large tomato
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
• 3-4 green chillies
• 2 spoon plain yogurt or home made dahi
• salt as per taste
• 1 tsp. coriander(dhania) powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. garam masala( indian hot spice mix)
• fresh cilantro(coriander) for garnish
• little oil(preferably evoo)

Method :

1. Wash & cut salmon into 4 pieces. Apply very little oil, salt & 2-3 pinches of turmeric. keep aside.
2. Chop ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes and chillies. Heat little oil in a heavy bottom pan add mustard seeds when splutter add garlic, cook it a little bit. Now add onion, cook them for around 5 minutes or so then add ginger followed by all the dry spices.
3. Mix them & add yogurt. When mixture starts to get dry & kind of leave oil on the sides(that is when the yogurt is cooked & absorbed into the masala mix/curry) add green chillies & tomatoes. Cooking gravy should not take more than 10-12 minutes.
4. In the meantime heat non-stick pan, using very little oil saute the salmon pieces for 2-3 min. on each side(cook only half way).
5. Once the masala/curry is cooked, grind it & put it back in the pan. Add no more than one cup of water, also add half cooked fish to it. Let it boil & then reduce the gas and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Check for the fish using a fork, if it's flaky it's done.
6. Garnish it with freshly chopped cilantro before serving. Can be served with roti/naan or rice.

Note : Cooking time of fish totally depends upon the thickness of the fish.
Sending this over to Yasmeen's Health Nut Challenge 3 : Healing foods.