Salmon kebabs - Memories from Alaska

This week we were on vacation in Alaska. Wherever we went for meals, we found that two types of fish were really popular there -- Halibut and Salmon. Although we savored the famous Alaskan cuisine, I have to confess that my Indian taste buds were getting homesick by the end of the trip. I couldn't help but remember how salmon would taste if I spiced it up a bit. So, it seemed only natural that I wanted to share this simple recipe for this week.

Ingredients:

Salmon – 2lbs Steak pieces further cut into 2” cubes
Coriander seeds – 2tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Peppercorns – 1tsp
Green Cardamom – 6-8
Mustard powder or Dijon mustard – half tsp
Lemon juice – 1tbsp
Cinnamon small pieces – 3-4
Cilantro – ½ bunch
Garlic cloves – 2 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch
Green chillies – 6-8
Salt to taste
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Non stick spray

If the ingredients look the same to you as that of Chicken Cafreal Roast, you are right. I had prepared a larger quantity of the dry ground spice and used what was left to marinade the salmon. The additions were mustard powder and lemon juice. Mustard and fish go well together and hence, the addition. I used steak cut salmon instead of fillet because the fish oils around the bones and in the skin keeps the fish moist and tender when cooking.

If you haven’t read the chicken cafreal recipe yet, here is how I had made the spices: I dry-roasted the spices and ground them in a coffee grinder. The cilantro leaves, garlic, ginger and chilli were ground to a paste with a little water in magic bullet grinder.

The spices & cilantro puree were added to the salmon, along with salt, oil and mustard powder. They were left to live happily ever after – for 2 hours only ☺ … after which they were barbecued on the grill. As finishing touches, I drizzled the lemon juice on the hot grilled fish.

I had prepared this dish for my friends few weeks back and they insisted that I share the recipe on the blog! So, here it is. Imagine you are sitting at a beautiful waterfront restaurant and enjoying this dish with rice pilaf ..... yumm! :-)