Salmon in Tomato Cream Sauce

This recipe comes from Madhur Jaffrey's AT HOME WITH MADHUR JAFFREY. If you have kids, you might be thinking: Salmon? Indian cooking? No way.

Maybe. My fairly fussy thirteen-year-old quite likes this, and our visiting students from Egypt and Serbia LOVE it--as do I. It's tasty, a little sweet, very creamy, with a little bit of kick from the cayenne that can be dialed back very easily. Give it a try. Even if your kids don't like it, you will, and eventually the little buggers will grow up and move away, breaking your heart, so, you know: all's fair in love and war.

One note: this calls for skinned salmon fillets. If you can't buy fillets skinned, then try doing it yourself. It's actually not that hard: lay the fillet skin-side down on a cutting, board, then press the fingers of one hand down firmly on a centimeter of the thin side of the fillet. Then, hold a large french chef (the knife, not the person!) at a ninety-degree angle to the fillet. Sawing up and down very slightly, move the flat of the blade into the fillet, in the direction you want to skin. Keep moving your fingers to keep up with the blade. The blade should never rise so high as to threaten your finger tips. Be patient. I learned how to do this, and I'm about as inept a chef as any you've ever met.

One thing to remember: the salmon here tastes amazing--but even better is the taste of the sauce on the basmati rice. So don't skip the rice!

Salmon in Tomato-Cream Sauce

3 cups basmati rice (always use basmati! it just tastes better!)

1.5 lbs salmon fillets

1/4 ts. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 ts. ground turmeric

1/2 ts. cayenne pepper (divided)

1 cup tomato puree

1 cup heavy cream

1 ts. salt

1 ts. sugar

1 ts. garam masala (it's there in the spice aisle of your grocery store; trust me)

1 ts. ground cumin

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 ts. cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 ts. whole cumin seeds

1 tablespoon canola oil

1. Prepare the three cups of basmati rice according to instructions. 
2. Wash (and skin if necessary) the salmon
3. Cut the fillets in half, width wise, so that they're shorter and easier to work with.
4. Sprinkle both sides of the salmon with salt, pepper, turmeric, and 1/4 ts. cayenne. Feel free to use more of everything if necessary. 
5. Here, the recipe says to put the salmon in the fridge in a plastic bag for an hour. I sometimes do, but it taste fine without doing this. 
6. Mix together the sauce, including everything else on the list EXCEPT the whole cumin seeds and the oil
7. When the rice is near to ready, heat the oil in a frying pan at medium heat. 
8. When just hot, toss in the whole cumin seeds. When the seeds have sizzled for 10 seconds, pour in the sauce. Mix. Bring to a simmer. 
9. Add the fish pieces. Cover with sauce. 
10. After a minute, turn the fish pieces over and lower the heat to medium-low. 
11. Continue cooking for 6-7 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. 
12. Serve with the sauce!!!!

Family Ratings: 

James, who's less fussy than he used to be but still fussy: 10

The Serbian kid, who said she eats anything, but nonetheless has favorites: 10

The Egyptian kid, who really does eat anything (except pork): 10

Ellen, who occasionally remembers why she married me: 10

Me, who can't stop talking about how much I love this dish as I stuff it into my mouth: 10