This is another case of “tastes better than it looks”. The sauce is very heavy and spicy; it would do well made on its own and paired with cooked beef, pork, or chicken. At least to me, it was not intuitive to use such a strong sauce with fish – but it works! This recipe is a modified version of a Bon Appétit offering.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb. skinless cod, haddock, or halibut, cut into 3″ pieces
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt, plus more
- 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 3″ cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp. garam masala
- 2 tsp. rose harissa (or more to taste)
- 1 tsp. cumin seeds
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more
- 1 28-oz. can tomato purée
- 1 tsp. sugar
- Sourdough bread or jasmine rice for serving
Directions:
Season fish with some salt. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium. Cook onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon stick, garam masala, rose harissa, cumin seeds, and ½ tsp. pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato purée, sugar, remaining 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¾ tsp. kosher salt, and ½ cup water. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium, carefully add fish, and cook until fish is flaky but still firm, 8–12 minutes. Remove from heat; season with more pepper.
Meanwhile, either cook rice, or for bread, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low. Add bread slices; cook until golden brown and crisp underneath, about 5 minutes. Transfer either to a plate and serve with braised fish.
Thank you for another recipe that uses rose harissa. I loved your salmon bites recipe but I didn’t use the rose harissa for anything else and it has a short shelf life after opening.
@HammerZeitgeit, LOL – that was the exact reason that I made this!!! Must use rose harissa, must use rose harissa . . .
@elliecoo, can the Harissa be portioned out like Tomato Paste and Frozen for *later* use?
I’ve seen it in the store, but haven’t had time to do much REAL cooking the last couple years with *everything*, so I haven’t bought any yet…
But here the stuff I’ve seen comes in z jar, and it *looks* like it may be of a “scoop it out by the tea/tablespoon to freeze on a lined cookie-sheet” sort of tomato-paste-like consistency?
I had to order mine online, it is a powder as opposed to a paste. But I bet the paste is better, and the freezing would work well. I currently have homemade tomato paste frozen in ice cube trays – and that is very handy. @Emmerdoesnotrepresentme. PS: How goes the apartment relocation?
Doh! I feel so silly for not thinking of that. Thanks for the life hack @Emmerdoesnotrepresentme
https://canyoupreserve.com/can-you-freeze-harissa-paste/
Yay, fish dish! Love it. I am guessing from the ingredients that this is a heart-healthy dish that is favored in Castle Blacksmith?
Favored may be too strong a word for the carnivore’s opinion . . . I enjoyed it, however.