We were blessed in the last two locations to have our
daughters attend two of the best schools in Southeast Asia. Both ISKL – the International School of Kuala
Lumpur - and SAS – Singapore American School – are part of an intercollegiate
league called IASAS. This dish brings
back happy memories of hosting IASAS friends and players when we were living in
Singapore. It’s quick and so
delicious. I think the last time I
served it was for a softball/baseball exchange or perhaps even tournament and
we had a house full up to the rafters. Along with a bunch of girls from JIS in
Jakarta (one of them a former ISKL student whose mother also stayed with us),
we had one ISKL team member’s mother, father and sister staying with us too. So many people to feed and I was in my
element. But after working all day at
the SAS Booster Hut, selling food and spirit wear with my fellow
Booster Club moms, I couldn’t have a complicated meal waiting to be prepared at
home. This quick salmon tikka, adapted
from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, was perfect.
I made it again last night, but with homemade naan. You can
find that recipe and those instructions here. It was just as tasty as I remembered.
Ingredients
4 small naan breads or two big ones cut in half
For the raita:
4 medium cucumbers
1 fresh chili pepper
1 thick green onion
1 lime
2-3 heaped tablespoons natural plain yoghurt
Sea salt
Black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Small bunch of cilantro or fresh coriander
For the salmon:
2 salmon fillets – about 90-100g or oz each
1 heaped tablespoon curry paste – almost any one
will do.
Olive oil
In these amounts, you can feed two. Multiply this as many times as is necessary
for your crowd.
Method
Preheat your oven to 110°C or 225°F.
Preheat your oven to 110°C or 225°F.
Pop your naan into the oven to warm through. Or, if you have time earlier in the day, make them fresh yourself. It’s easy and homemade are so much tastier
than the store bought. Again, complete instructions are right here.
First, the raita. Halve your cucumber lengthways, and then halve it again. Use a sharp knife to cut off the watery seedy part. Chop the cucumber diagonally into about 1/2 inch or 1cm pieces. Put them in a bowl with room to stir.
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| My helper and I share the inside seedy bits. One for him, one for me. Until they are gone. |
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| Then he loses interest in helping and I get this face. |
Finely chop your chili, cilantro and green onion. Add them to the cucumber bowl.
Halve your lime and squeeze the juice from one half into the
bowl.
Add a good sprinkle of salt and pepper and
the cumin. Mix well. Now add the yogurt. Give it a taste and if you would like the
raita spicier, add some cayenne pepper and add more salt, if necessary.
Slice each salmon fillet across lengthways into four equal
slices. Thinner is easier to accomplish
if the salmon is slightly frozen.
Jamie’s
original recipe calls for skin-on salmon.
I choose to take the skin off mine by slipping a sharp knife between the
skin and the flesh (skin side down on the cutting board) because 1. I find it very difficult to cut through the skin, especially when I am trying to cut thin slices and 2. I like to fry
it up crispy, sprinkle it with sea salt and eat it just like that. Delicious.
Spoon the heaped tablespoon of curry paste into a small dish
and loosen it with a little drizzle of olive oil.
Use a pastry brush to spread the paste all over each piece.
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| One side |
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| The other side |
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Once hot, put the salmon into the pan and
cook for about 1½ minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve on the warmed or fresh naan, topped with your cucumber raita
and a squeeze of juice from the other half of the lime. We folded ours up like tacos and ate them
with relish. Do lean over your plate
though, because these can get drippy.
Enjoy!
