This dish came to me last night as I made way my through Lidl, questioning what delicious meal I could make that wouldn’t push me into my overdraft. Something spicy, healthy, and oh-so-moreish. I’ve swapped from sunflower oil to olive, so I guess you can say I’m going up in the world. ?
And let me tell you, what a treat this dish turned out to be! The crispy batter combined with flaky cod – AMAZING. The seasoned, roasted veggies? Tantalising. And honestly, the garlic sauce was the gorgeous little cherry on top.
Cod is an expensive and healthy fish – so I fully recommend you buy some. If you look into the freezer section of your local supermarket, you’ll find the little beauty. Simply pop it in the fridge to defrost overnight (but use a bowl unless you want your fridge to leak fish juice. Mmm!)
We’ve got five basic tastes.
- Bitter
- Salt
- Sweet
- Sour
- Umami
Everything that we eat touches at least one of these flavour points. Complex dishes often marry these margins together, e.g. beef casserole. But when we take that first bite, certain flavour points stand out more to us than others. For this recipe, we’d say these are:
- Bitter
- Salt
- Sweet
- Sour
- Umami
Pan Fried Cod with Roasted Veg & Couscous
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1/2 cup Chickpea flour
- 2 fillets Cod
- 1/2 tbsp Garam masala
- 1/2 tbsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp Coriander powder
- Salt & pepper
- 1 whole Broccoli cut into florets
- 4 whole Cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 Red pepper cut into thin strips
- 2 tbsp Plain yoghurt
- 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Garlic puree
- 2 sprigs Dill chopped finely
- Couscous
- 1/2 Red onion chopped finely
Instructions
- Prep the veggies and reheatyour oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Add your chopped pepper, tomatoes, andbroccoli to a baking tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oliveoil. Roast for 15-18 minutes.
- Add chickpea flour and spices into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Coat the fillets thoroughly and place to one side.
- Pour a generous amount of oil into a pan and heat. Add the fillets and fry each side for 3-4 minutes.
- Fill a bowl of couscous with boiling water and cover for 5 minutes. You want the water to just cover the couscous – don’t drown it. Once the water’s absorbed, fluff the couscous to perfection with a fork, and mix in the chopped red onion.
- Prepare your homemade garlic sauce! Add yoghurt, garlic puree, dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper together and mix thoroughly.
- Arrange everything nicely on a plate and enjoy!
