WHOLE BAKED FISH WITH VADOUVAN BUTTER

This was a very delicious meal! Once you have made the vadouvan curry mix, it is just a matter to put the fish in the oven and cook the topping while it cooks.

I used a whole snapper and it was perfect. You can get the backbone out easily and then there aren't any small bones left, just some big ones on the side which are easy to remove while you're eating it.

Next time I cook it, I will halve the butter and put olive oil instead, I thought it was too buttery for my liking, but then again, I prefer olive oil than butter!! Hubby thought it was lovely!

Ingredients

1 plate-sized Snapper or Murray cod (about 1.3 kg), cleaned

Vegetable oil, for drizzling

80g unsalted butter (or half butter & half olive oil)

3 eschalots, thinly sliced

2 cm x 3 cm piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 sprig curry leaves

Lime wedges, to serve

For the vadouvan curry powder (makes extra)

15 curry leaves

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds

3 green cardamom pods

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1½ tsp turmeric powder

2 dried red chillies

6 cloves

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (fan-forced). Place the fish onto a lined baking tray and drizzle with a little vegetable oil. When the oven is hot, bake the fish for 15 minutes or until cooked.

Meanwhile, combine the vadouvan curry powder ingredients in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Toast the spices, swirling for about 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Allow to cool slightly, then grind to a fine powder using a spice grinder.

Return the saucepan to medium heat with the butter. When foamy, add the eschalots, ginger and garlic, and fry until just fragrant, then stir through the curry leaves with 2 tsp of the vadouvan curry powder.

Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Transfer the baked fish to a serving platter and spoon over the vadouvan butter. (I removed the backbone before adding the vadouvan butter on top.)

Serve with lime wedges on the side.

Serves 4

Note from the author:

Vadouvan curry, also known as French curry, is a versatile and unique masala spice blend combining Indian spices and French elements. If you make your own for this recipe it will keep in an airtight container for about a month before it loses a lot of its aroma. If you don't want to go to the effort of making your own curry powder, just use your favourite blend.

Comments

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