Tile Fish Curry with Glazed Rainbow Carrots

A couple times a month we'll order in from our favorite Indian restaurant here on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and very often, I'll hit up Kati Roll for lunch (If your in Midtown Manhattan, try the Paneer and Unda Aloo rolls and thank me later).  My point is, I love Indian food and it wasn't until pretty recently that I was able to get my wife into it, which is great for me, because I get to eat it more often.

This dish is a little bit of a riff on the popular "Tikka Masala" sauce that is very often paired with chicken, lamb or paneer (cheese), here I paired it with a tilefish filet, which is very mild flavored firm flesh white fish.  Next time, I'd probably use a fish that is a little stronger in flavor, like a sea bass, in order to stand up to the mildly spicy sauce.

Sauce*:

• 1/2 red (or yellow) onion minced
• 2-3 garlic cloves minced
• Thumb sized piece of ginger minced or grated
• Little piece of hot chili pepper minced (seeds removed) or some red chili flakes- as much or as little as you like
• Tablespoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon each of coriander, fennel and cumin seeds bashed up in a mortar & pestle (toasting first in a dry pan will intensify the flavor
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• Can of tomato sauce
• Tablespoon of honey
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup strained yogurt
• cilantro

For the fish:

• Tumeric
• Salt/Pepper
• Vegetable Oil

Carrots:

• Bunch of rainbow carrots
• Teaspoon of cumin
• Tablespoon of Honey
• 2 Tablespoons of Butter

• Fish: Rub the fish with salt, pepper, tumeric and vegetable oil and roast in a 350 degree oven till just cooked through.

• Sauce: In a saucepan, Saute the onion, garlic, chili, ginger in a little vegetable oil, after a minute or so, add the garam masala** and the other spices.
• Add the tomato sauce, honey and simmer, season with salt and pepper.
• Wisk in as much or as little heavy cream as you want

• Carrots: Fill a high sided saute pan halfway with water.  Add the peeled carrots and cook till just al dente and toss out the water.
• Add the butter, honey, cumin, salt and pepper and carrots, cook till nicely glazed.

• Top the fish with fresh cilantro and a dollop of strained yogurt.

* These measurements are approximate.  Of course, feel free to adjust the amounts of each ingredient to your taste.

**garam masala is a spice blend used in Indian cuisine.  It's got cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom,  tumeric and a whole bunch of other stuff.  It has a very "warm" flavor, but it's not hot.  It can be found in  Indian specialty shops like Kalustyan's in Manhattan or on their website.