Indonesian Sour Fish

A very simple and easy dish, with grand results.
For a FODMAPS friendly recipe, infuse the garlic in the oil and remove before cooking.





2 large fish fillets, (eg. Spanish mackerel, barramundi, snapper)
tamarind water made from 1 tbsp tamarind puree and 1 cup water
2 tbsp oil for frying
1 large clove garlic, finely sliced
2 large mild red chillies, finely sliced with seeds removed
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised and cut into 3 cm pieces (optional)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sugar (optional)
salt
pepper

Wash the fish and cut into 6 x 3 cm pieces, discarding any bones.
Lightly stir fry the garlic, chillies and lemon grass.
Add the fish and tamarind water, turmeric, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and simmer gently until the fish is cooked.
Tip out onto a dish, remove the lemon grass and serve.

This recipe has been adapted from a recipe by Rosemary Brissenden in her book, South East Asian Food.

Tomato Oil Chilli Pickle

Another FODMAPS friendly recipe. 


1 1/2 tablespoons black mustard seeds (or a combination of yellow and black)
1 1/2 cups malt vinegar
3/4 fresh ginger, chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 1/4 olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons turmeric
4 tbsp cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
20 fresh red chillies (big mild ones)
2 kg tomatoes, chopped
1 cup sugar

For the FODMAPS diet, put the peeled garlic cloves in the olive oil and leave to infuse for at least one hour.  Discard the garlic before using the oil in the cooking.

Soak mustard seeds overnight in vinegar.  Remove mustard seeds from vinegar, and grind in mortar and pestle.  Add fresh ginger (and garlic if you are not following FODMAPS) to the mustard puree.

Heat oil and fry turmeric, cumin and chilli powder.  Add chillies, tomatoes, sugar and mustard puree.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and cook gently until it forms a pulp (oil should float on top after about one hour).

Allow to cool and transfer into clean and sterilized jars.

Lemon Jelly

1 kg lemons
4.5 cups water
3 cups sugar

Take 1 kg of the freshest lemons you can find, not overripe or stale. The younger the fruit, the more pectin in it.  Slice off the stem end of the lemons, but leave the blossom end intact, as that's the end with more pectin in it.  Using a food processor, slice the lemons as thinly as possible and put them into a large pot with 4.5 cups water.

Bring the lemon water to a boil, then reduce the heat and gently boil for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.  You can leave it for longer, even overnight.  Strain the mixture to remove the seeds and pulp from the liquid.  This should give you about 3 cups liquid.

Put a small plate or saucer into the freezer.  Add 3 cups sugar and 1 cup lemon juice to the mixture, and bring to a boil.  Boil the mixture fairly hard ( but not so hard that it overflows or goes foamy), stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.  It should appear ever so slightly thicker on the back of your spoon.  Take your frozen plate out of the freezer, set a teaspoon of liquid on the plate and see if it sets up:  run your finger through the liquid, and if the two sections do not run back together, it is set and the jelly is ready.  Just make sure that you do not boil it for too long, as that will make the mixture bitter.

Be warned: it may look runny and watery, but it really takes only about 10 minutes to see a slight change in the consistency of the liquid.  When the 10 minutes have passed, immediately pull the pot off the stove and ladle the jelly into three or four waiting jars that have been properly cleaned and sterilized.