21 April - cod with Bengali-style mustard sauce

Today was a bit hectic, but I was determined to find the time for some proper cooking with lots of ingredients before we head off tomorrow for another week in a self-catering cottage. I chose a recipe from last Sunday's Observer Food Monthly magazine by Vivek Singh for fish (the recipe used halibut, but my local fishmonger only had cod) with a spicy curry sauce. I'm never 100% about fish curries, but in this one, you cook the fish and the curry sauce separately and just serve them together, which appealed to me. The original recipe includes three parts, the fish, the sauce and an onion garnish, but after a busy day, I gave up and omitted the garnish.

Fish & marinade:
two chunky cod fillets
a few black onion seeds
a few fennel seeds
salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
bay leaf
1/4 tsp black onion seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
small onion finely sliced
1 tsp mixed grated ginger and garlic
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
small tomato finely chopped
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
250ml water
large green chilli slit lengthways
salt
sugar
pinch garam masala
fresh coriander
c. 200ml coconut cream

For the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the bay leaf, onion seeds and fennel seeds, then the onion. Fry gently, then add the garlic-ginger paste, chilli powder and turmeric. Fry for a couple more minutes, then add the tomato. Cook, stirring and mushing for a couple more minutes. The same with the mustard. Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Add the green chilli, a pinch of salt and sugar, the garam masala, coriander and coconut cream and leave to bubble gently.

Mix together the marinade ingredients and rub them over the fish - set aside for 10 mins or so. Then sear the fish on both sides for a couple of minutes in an oven-proof frying pan, before popping it in a hot oven (200C) for just over 5 minutes.

I then quickly wilted some spinach, put this in the middle of a deep dish and surrounded it with the sauce, before putting the seared cod on the top, sprinkling on a little more coriander and serving it with rice in separate bowls.

The verdict? It looked great and although the sauce was quite sharp and seemed a bit overpowering at first taste, it really grew on me. And because the fish isn't cooked in the sauce, you still taste it rather than it being drowned out by the strong sauce. Definitely one to try again, perhaps with the halibut if I can get some next time.