Salmon Cakes with Aioli dip

We recently went to the REI members event where they had a few finger foods and one of them were these yummy looking tiny crab cakes that were out of the world..So I came back home totally wanting to make something similar..I dint have crab at home but had some left over salmon from making fish puttu the other day. So I decided to make salmon cakes instead..
This is a healthy and utterly delicious recipe that just will make your taste buds very happy!!

Ingredients:
Salmon, cooked, shredded - 1 lb
Onion, large, finely chopped - 1/2 no
Bell Pepper, finely chopped - 1/2 no
Eggs, slightly beaten - 2
Garlic powder - 1tsp
Worcestershire sauce - 1Tbsp
Hot sauce - 1/2 Tbsp (or to taste)
Old bay seasoning - 1/2 Tbsp
All purpose seasoning - 2 tsp (opt)
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Pepper - 2-3tsp
Mayo - 2 Tbsp
Butter - 1/2 Tbsp
Olive oil -
Salt, to taste

For Garlic Lemon Aioli Dip:
Garlic pods, crushed - 2
Mayo - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp
Salt - 1 pinch
Pepper - 1 pinch
Capers - 1 Tbsp (optional)

 

Method:

1. Roast salmon in very little oil in a flat pan until completely cooked and slightly golden on both sides. Remove from pan, cool and shred into small pieces once cooled.
2. In the same pan, add butter, 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and add the onions and bell peppers, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder and all the seasonings, salt, pepper and let it cook until soft and slightly golden. Once done, remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together salmon, onion mixture, beaten eggs, bread crumbs and Mayo. Adjust seasonings per taste if need be. 
4. Heat in low flame about a tbsp of olive oil in a flat pan or griddle.
5. Take equal amounts of the mixture (I used an ice cream scoop for this) and make them into balls and then flatten them out a little like biscuits about 3-4 inches in diameter and place them in the oil one by one. 
6. Slowly brown both sides of the cake until completely firm and well done. 
7. Remove from heat and serve hot with garlic lemon aioli dip or tartar sauce. 
8. For the dip, mix all the ingredients together and adjust seasoning.

P.S : I used leftover salmon in this case. You can precook and refrigerate the fish for more than a week and use it when you need it. You can prepare the mixture and store it for a few days ahead before making the cakes as well.
Breadcrumbs substitute:  If you dont have breadcrumbs, you can use ritz crackers or any salt crackers or toasted bread to bind the ingredients together.

Grilled Salmon

This amazing grilled salmon recipe is from one of our best friends Mahesh. He's great at the grill and I've been to one of their barbecue evenings before and loved it! I wish my husband can get a few grilling lessons from him :P
He was kind enough to share his salmon recipe "inspired by the oriental kitchen"

Ingredients:
Salmon - 2 lbs

Mahesh's Magic Sauce:

Soy sauce - 1/2 cup

Sesame oil - 3 Tbsp

Freshly ground garlic - 2 Tbsp

Finely Chopped cilantro - 1/ cup

Peeled and grated ginger - 2 Tbsp

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Salt, to taste

Crushed red pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Mix everything from the sauce list above to create the marinade.
2. Marinate the fish with the mainade and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 mins.
3. While the marinade is doing its job, prep the grill and my fish grate.
4. Now, place the marinated fish in the fish grate and grill until slighly browned for an amazing asian grilled fish! 

Ginger Okra (or Fish) Masala

This is quick ginger based dish which can be a perfect side dish for Chappati or any rice dish. You can substitue okra with fish

Ingredients:
Okra - 1 lb or Fish (Tilapia)-1 lb
Onion - 1 large half
Ginger - 1 cup of grated or sliced or small cut
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
TUmeric powde - 1 tpsp
Bread Crumbs - 1 tbsp or 2 tbsp depending on crispyness you need
Oil


Method:
1-Slice okra and cut cilantro
2-Add ginger, cilantro,chilli powder,coriander powder, Tumeric powder, bread crumbs, oil to sliced Okra or Fish (Tilapia).
3-Heat Oil.Add cumin seeds and onion and saute until golden.
4-Add the mix from step #2

5-Constantly stir every 2 or 3  minutes
6-Close cook for 8-12 minutes
7-Open cook for 8-12 minutes
8-Garnish with Coriander leaves

Fish Puttu

"Sora puttu" is a very famous dish in tamiladu and its made with shark fish. Shark is not commonly found here everywhere. But you can get it in korean supermarkets if you want to. Traditionally the fish is steam cooked and shredded. This recipe instead uses salmon as it's very commonly found. And I think it's the perfect replacement fish for this dish. I made this once with salmon and was so satisfied that I never tried to find other alternatives.

Ingredients:
Salmon - 2 lb.
Onions - 2 medium
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 5 nos
Green chillies - 2 large
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the fish and pan roast the fish with 1 Tbsp of olive oil for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove fish from pan and keep aside to cool. 
2. In the same pan, heat another Tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves, red chillies and onions and sauté until the onions are well browned. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.
3. Meanwhile shred the roasted fish and add it to the saute pan and keep frying until the everything is well roasted. 

Fish Biriyani

I've never made fish Biriyani before and this is my first attempt. I found this much easier than other biriyanis since fish cooks really fast and takes little time. Here's how I made it.

 

Ingredients:

Fish Marinade:

Tilapia – 3 lbs

Yogurt –1/2 cup

Fish Biriyani Masala – 4 Tbsp

Chilli powder – 3 tsp

Lemon Juice – 2tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Curry powder – 3 tsp

Coriander Powder – 3 tsp

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Ginger garlic Paste – 1 Tbsp

For Biriyani:

Mint Leaves – ½ bunch

Cilantro, chopped - handful

Basmati Rice – 3 cups

Water – 4 ½ cups

Cloves - 4

Cinnamon – 4

Cardamon – 2

Star Anise – 2

Bay Leaves – 2

Onions – 2 large

Tomatoes – 1

Ginger garlic Paste – 1 Tbsp

 

Method:

1. Marinate fish with all the ingredients from the marinade above for at least 30 minutes.
2. Cook rice in the rice cooker with little oil, salt and half of all the spices above: 2 cloves, 2 cinnamons, 1 cardamom, 1 Anise, 1 Bayleaf
3. In a large skillet, add oil and once it heats up, add all the remaining spices.
4. Add the onions and fry until brown, add 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste and sauté until the smell goes.
5. Add tomatoes, mint leaves, cilantro and the marinated fish mixture and add heat it medium flame until the gravy thickens up and the fish is all cooked.
6. Adjust salt and other spices to taste.
7. Once rice is cooked, spread it in a large vessel and let it cool.
8. Remove fish curry from flame and mix with rice without breaking the fish.

Serve with raitha.

Fish Tikka Masala

I've heard so much about Vahrewah chef recipes and videos..Somehow never tried any of it..I am a little lazy at watching videos..
But while looking for fish tikka masala, I found this recipe for chicken tikka masala from Vahrewah chef.
http://www.vahrehvah.com/Chicken+Tikka+Masala:3272


My substitutes:
Chicken - Fish, any meat (I didn't have chicken)
Methi powder: Kasthuri methi leaves
Cream - 2% Milk

I also added curry powder and a little bit of chicken masala worrying if it would not turn out to be tasty..You can add a little bit of tikka masala if you have too..I dint have any.
Even though he says cream is optional I think it would add a lot of consistency to the gravy. But I used a cup of 2% milk to make more gravy and it worked pretty well. If you want to make it look like restaurant style, I would suggest adding cream.

My husband loved this curry and made me promise to make it another time.. :)

Fish Manchurian

This recipe again, is a mixture of a few manchurian recipes I liked...
In India, I was never a big fan of fish because of the bones! But, I always liked to order fish at restaurants because they were boneless and yummy..very different from the ones made at home.
So, this is my attempt of a healthy fish manchurian.

Fish Marinade:
Tilapia/catfish - 2 lbs
All purpose flour - 3 Tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tbsp
Cornflour - 2 Tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Egg whites - 2
Salt, to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

For Gravy:

Bell peppers,chopped - 1 no
Onion, diced - 1 no
Green chili, long slices - 3 nos
Spring/green onions, chopped - ¼ cup
Garlic, minced - 2 tsp
Ginger, minced - 2 tsp
Green chili sauce - 1 Tbsp
Soy sauce,dark - 3 Tbsp
Sugar - ¼ tsp
Red chili sauce - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1tbsp
Salt, to taste - ¼ tsp
Water - 2 cups
Corn flour - 2 Tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate the fish with all the contents from the above marinade list and keep aside for 30 mins.
2. Preheat the oven for 350 degrees and bake the fish for 20 minutes until it browns up a little. You can pan fry or deep fry the fish if you like.
3. In a skillet or pan, add oil, onions, bell peppers, green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt and sugar and heat in high flame.
4. Once cooked, add the soy sauce, green and red chilli sauces.
5. Mix the corn flour with water to make a solution. Pour this over the veggies.
6. Simmer and let the gravy thicken for a few mins.
7. Add fish to the gravy and heat up in low flame for 2-3 mins.

This will be great with chapatis, parathas or rice.