Indian Spiced Chowder

A creamy fish chowder made with leftover Tawa Machi and spicy potatoes (leftover samosa filling).

I had leftover Tawa Machi, about 1 1/2 cups of fish torn into chunks.  My husband had the awesome suggestion of turning it into a chowder.  I accepted his challenge and this is the delicious chowder that resulted.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
*leftover samosa filling
2 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup cream cheese, optional
**left over Tawa Machi
salt and pepper to taste
Garam masala and red chilli powder for garnish

*The leftover samosa filling is roughly mashed potatoes with peas and spiced with cumin seeds, green chillies, chili powder, garam masala, cilantro, and turmeric.  My next post will be about samosas, a recipe I got from With Love from Mom's Kitchen.
**The Tawa Machi is sea bass marinated with a paste of ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli, garam masala, and coriander powder. Then pan fried.

Heat butter in a large pot until melted.  Add cumin seeds and cook until they begin to sputter.

Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened.  Then add flour and cook, while stirring, for a couple of minutes (creating a roux).

Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer.  Add samosa filling, milk, and cream cheese (the cream cheese was just something I found in my fridge and just tossed it in to add more creaminess), reduce temperature to low and wait until soup comes back to a simmer.

Last  (once the chowder comes to a simmer and is thickened), add the fish until it gets heated through.

If the chowder isn't the thickness you like you can thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch (about 1 heaping tsp cornstarch dissolved in about 1-2 Tbsp water) added a small amount at a time until as thick as you like.  If it's too thick add more milk.

Makes 4 servings.  Serve with a sprinkle of garam masala and chili powder on top.  It is also great with crackers crumbled in it too.

If you would like to make this chowder without having the already spiced fish and potatoes, just add chillies, garlic and ginger before the onion, and then add turmeric, coriander, and garam masala when you add the liquid.  The turmeric gives the chowder a deep yellow color and all of the spices add a deliciously different flavor to the chowder.  I thought about making this with coconut milk, I think that would be a nice flavor too.  Maybe next time.

Enjoy.

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Indian Style Pan Fried Fish (Tawa Machi)

Sea bass steaks marinated in some common Indian spices and pan fried until crispy.  From With Love from Mom's Kitchen blog. 

When I came across this recipe for Tawa Machi I could not resist trying it. With Love from Mom's Kitchen is a great blog with easy to follow instructions and lots of pictures.  It is always my go to blog for any Indian food.  I had to substitute some ingredients because I did not have them.   The main one was Amchur, which is a dry raw mango powder.  It is supposed to add sourness so I just used some lime juice instead (I do have Amchur on my list to get from my next Amazon.com order).  I'm sure it isn't exactly the same, but it was all I had and the fish turned out great.  I also did not have garlic or ginger paste, so I used minced ginger and garlic (I tried to get them as close to paste as possible in my food processor).  My fish slices were too thick too, I tried to get them cut as thin as possible, but they were closer to an inch thick.  Even with all of these differences the fish turned out wonderful.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp coriander powder

Mix all of the spices together and smear onto both sides of fish slices (I also added salt and pepper to the fish).  Allow fish to sit at room temperature, with the marinade on, for about 30 minutes.  Pan fry over medium low-low heat, with about 2 tsp oil, for about 10 minutes per side.  Check out With Love from Mom's Kitchen for more in depth instructions, and better pictures.

My fish did not get as nice of a crust as I wanted, but my slices were so thick that there was a lot of liquid in the pan.  It  still tasted great and was plenty of food for two, I served the fish with a mixed vegetable salad, and orange wedges.  I had plenty of fish left over to make a delicious, Indian chowder the next day.  I will post that next.

This recipe would be good with any white fleshed fish and would also work with filets too (I think).

Enjoy.

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