Cherie expressed a desire to eat salmon a few days ago. The challenge is usually using up all the ingredients that I’m experimenting with, leftover vegetables and putting all of them together into a single platter.
There were a couple of sad carrots in the fridge accompanied by an equally glum green bell pepper. I had made soaked and boiled a batch of chickpeas a couple of days ago and that needed to be used. There was a batch of toor dal that I had soaked for a few days to see when they would be tender enough to quickly cook in an open pan with a little water. Indu had picked up some corn on the cob, a pomegranate and some spinach a few minutes ago. Here’s what happened.
Ingredients:
- Salmon, steaks; salted, drained and rinsed
- Corn on the cob, boiled with a pinch of sugar
- Carrots, sliced fine.
- Green bell peppers, sliced fine
- Chickpeas, boiled and drained
- Tahini (sesame seed paste in oil)
- Garlic, raw, a few pods; sliced
- Toor dal; boiled and drained
- Pomegranate seeds
- Honey
- Eggs, boiled
- Spinach; blanched, drained and squeezed
- Black peppercorns; freshly cracked
- Olive oil
- Sesame oil
Method:
- Blend boiled chickpeas with a couple of pods of garlic, some tahini and some salt. That’s your hummus. Start with two pods of garlic and a tablespoon of tahini for about 150 gm of boiled chickpeas and adjust per your taste. Blend finely or coarsely; your call. Set aside.
- Mix the boiled toor dal with pomegranate seeds, salt and a little olive oil. Set aside.
- Toss the carrots and bell peppers in a hot pan with a little oil, and then add a bit of honey, some salt and take off the flame. Mix well. Set aside.
- Mix the blanched spinach with sliced fresh garlic, salt and sesame oil. Set aside.
- Slice the boiled eggs.
- Sprinkle salmon with a little salt, fry on that side in a little oil for about 2 minutes on a medium flame. Sprinkle freshly cracked black pepper on the side facing you and then flip it over and fry for another couple of minutes or so, depending on the thickness of your steaks.
- Plate it all. Serve.
Notes:
- When the layers of salmon are perfectly visible and separable, it’s well cooked. When they’re fused together, it’s overcooked.
- Use extra virgin olive oil if possible.
- Free range eggs are good. Don’t over boil the eggs as I’ve done. Yolks ought to be a bit moist.
- Feel free to change the dal used. Don’t nuke it though, while cooking. We don’t have to pressure cook everything to death.
- I used wild honey.
- If you’ve prepped beforehand, don’t pre-mix the dal and spinach mixtures. Rinse the dal, spinach and corn in in hot water to reheat them. Re-toss the carrots and pepper if you wish at the last moment. Don’t fry the salmon prior.
