Wine pairing – Kerala sea bass fish fry with saffron potatoes

Sea Bass is such a great fish to pair wine to as it is ‘meaty’ enough to hold its own. I love the rich, buttery flavor of sea bass. When it’s cooked right it has that melt-in-your-mouth quality. The accompanying spices in this dish are what I’m interested in paring to though as the lemon, and garlic are both complimentary yet stronger flavours than the fish.

I’ve chosen the Charly Nicolle Petit Chablis because of its light, fresh texture to match the weight of the food. Notes of citrus peel and white flowers mingle with the lemon and garlic beautifully and the racy finish is a perfect match to the accompanying saffron potatoes. Overall a delightful spring-time mouthful.

Saffron potatoes are a spectacularly colored dish that will brighten up this meal. Their exotic flavour makes a nice change from the usual plain potatoes, but saffron is an expensive spice, therefore it’s a dish to be enjoyed sparingly. With just a handful of ingredients, this recipe tastes like it was made in a fancy restaurant. It’s extremely quick and easy to prepare so it makes a wonderful weeknight meal.  So, the next time you really want to impress someone with dinner, try this recipe!

Saffron Garlic Potatoes

Preparation time: 15 min
cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients
Butter – 4 tablespoons
Thinly sliced garlic cloves – 2 tablespoons
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
saffron- 1/4 teaspoon
potatoes – 3 Medium
cups water – 1 1/2
salt – to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
Method

Cook the potatoes with salt in required water, strain and keep aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and cook, stirring often, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the saffron, stir and cook an additional minute. Add the cooked potatoes and toss to coat. Reduce the heat to low, stir and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, Stir in parsley. Transfer the potatoes serving bowl.

Kerala seabass Fish Fry

Ingredients:
Sea bass fillets: 5-6
Ginger- Garlic paste: 2 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder: 2 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Black Pepper Powder: 1 tsp
Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp
Coconut Oil/Vegetable oil as required (coconut oil preferred)
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Salt to taste

Method

1.Clean and pat dry the cleaned fish using a kitchen tissue.
2. Make shallow cut marks about 1 inch apart on both sides of large pieces to make sure the marinade seeps through.
3. Make a fine paste of all ingredients using either oil or bit of water. Apply the masala paste on the fish pieces one by one.
4. Keep the marinated fish pieces for 1/2 hour to 1 hour in refrigerator.
5. Pour required coconut oil (it will enhance the authentic taste) and when it’s hot tilt the pan in such a way that oil gets spread evenly in the pan.
6. Shallow fry the fish on medium heat with curry leaves; close it with a lid to avoid any spluttering out due to the moisture content on the fish and the marinade.
7. Flip the fish pieces carefully after 2-3 mins.
8. Pour little bit of oil over all the fish pieces and reduce the flame to low and fry for another 5 minutes. Once crisp and cooked, remove from heat. Serve hot with saffron potatoes and enjoy!
Note:Add just add enough oil to shallow fry.