Aishling Moore: This spicy tomato masala cod is perfect to make at home

You can swap the fresh tomatoes for a can of good-quality chopped tomatoes.

Aishling Moore: Tomato masala cod, served with dill potatoes. Picture: Noel Sweeney

It has been another great year for tomatoes, although it seems the crop is ripening later each summer. It was mid-August this year before we began seeing a significant amount of these fruits at the restaurant.

I can’t quite believe that it is Jazz Weekend this week in Cork and we are still receiving so many varieties of tomatoes in our deliveries.

We have gone through kilos of Irish-grown tomatoes with ease in the last couple of months , as they really are one of the most versatile ingredients you can have in your kitchen.

In salads, salsas and sauces, tomatoes make the perfect accompaniment to seafood. On the menu now, we have a curried tomato and fig leaf sauce that we have been serving mostly with pan roasted chunks of hake and monkfish tails. Singing Frog Garden’s San Marzano tomatoes are diced, spiced and cooked down for hours with lots of garlic and ginger until thick and jammy. A tea is then brewed from this summer’s dried fig leaves from the very same gardens. This tea gets introduced at the final moments of the process and adds the most wonderful coconut note to the sauce.

This weekend’s tomato masala is based on the above sauce, though is simpler, requiring less ingredients and coming together very quickly. I love cooking fish like this at home, as the spicy masala permeates through the fish as it cooks producing fantastic results.

I have used skinned fillets of cod here, but this method works extremely well with all round fish like pollock and hake and would work too with thicker fillets of flat fish like plaice.

Here, I have served the cod with some lightly spiced dill potatoes which would make a fabulous use of any leftover cooked potatoes you have knocking around.

Masala Baked Cod with Dill Potatoes

recipe by:Aishling Moore

The tomato masala can be made a day or two ahead of cooking and freezes well so is perfect for batch cooking.

Servings

12

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the masala cod

• 4x 130g fillets of cod (skinned and pin-boned)

• 2 tbsp golden rapeseed oil

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• ½ tsp curry powder

• 6 medium tomatoes, diced

• 1 green chilli, finely sliced

• 1 lemon

• For the dill potatoes

• 500g baby potatoes

• 2 tbsp golden rapeseed oil

• ½ tsp mustard seeds

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• 1tsp curry leaves

• 2 sprigs of dill, finely chopped

Method

1. For the tomato masala

2. Place a medium sized pot onmoderate heat and add the rapeseed oil to warm.

3. Add the finely chopped ginger and garlic and cook stirringregularly for 3-4 minutes.

4. Add the turmeric and curry powder and cook for about 1minute to bloom the spices.

5. Add the diced tomatoes, season with salt and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the water is removed and you are left with a chutney-like consistency.

6. Add the sliced green chill and lemon juice and taste to correct seasoning.

7. Preheat an oven to 190°C/gas mark 5.

8. Remove the fish from the fridge and pat dry using some kitchen towel to remove excess moisture.

9. Lightly oil a large baking tray and place the skinned fillets of fish skin side down.

10. Lightly season the fillets of fish with fine sea salt and top eachfillet with 1-2 tablespoons of the tomato masala mixture.

11. Bake in the oven for 8-10minutes until cooked through and the fish flakes when gently pressed.

12. For the dill potatoes

13. Steam the baby potatoes until cooked through and allow to cool.

14. Dice the cooked potatoes into bite-sized chunks.

15. Place a large heavy-basedfrying pan on medium heat and warm the golden rapeseed oil.

16. Add the mustard seeds to the pan and cook for 1 minute.

17. Add the diced potatoes, season with fine sea salt and cook,stirring regularly until golden brown.

18. Add the curry powder and ground turmeric and toss to coat the potatoes in the spices.

19. Remove from the heat and finish with the finely chopped dill.

Fish tales

Removing the skin from any piece of fish requires a very sharp and flexible knife. If you don’t feel confident to approach this task just ask your fishmonger who’ll be delighted to do it for you.

Add a can of coconut milk to the tomato masala at the final cooking stages and bring to the boil for a creamy spiced sauce rather than a thick topping for fish.

Use fresh curry leaves if you can get them. They are far superior to dried.