Tandoori Cod Loin

This was borne out from experimenting with a fairly typical marinade for tandoori chicken and putting it on some cod loins.  The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your cod pieces (pun intended).  I have some of those hot plate sizzle trays, it is quite nice to serve this on a bed of sliced red onion and coriander on one of these and spoon over some of the sauce that’s left in the oven dish.  Once again I don’t often ‘measure the marinade ingredients out too exactly so these are rough approximations. This is a super simple dish, but a lot of friends have really liked it.

Gear

• Chopping board and sharp knife
• Oven dish
• Oven set at 200^oC
• Large mixing bowl

Tandoori Cod Loin

Ingredients

• ~400g fresh cod loins , skinless and boneless, approx. fist sized pieces
• 2 healthy tbsp of plain yogurt
• 2 tsp of tomato puree
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 ½ tsp of tandoori masala powder
• ½ tsp of chilli powder
• ½ tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp nigella/onion seeds
• juice from one lemon
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• (optional sliced red onion and fresh coriander to serve)

Method

1. Put the yogurt, tomato puree, 2 tbsp of oil, lemon juice and all of the spices into the mixing bowl except for the nigella seeds and the cumin seeds.
2. Mix the marinade together with a spoon, if it is still very pale add a bit more tandoori masala/paprika.
3. Add the fish pieces and coat them thoroughly, leave to marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to a few hours in the fridge.
4. Heat oven to 200^oC, put 1tbsp of oil into the bottom of your oven dish.
5. Lay the cod loins in the oven dish, with all of the marinade and sprinkle the cumin and nigella seeds on top (I sometimes add an extra pinch of garam masala over the top too.) Grind some black pepper over and sprinkle with sea salt.
6. Put the dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of your cod loins.  Err on the side of caution. Whilst this isn’t completely ruined if overcooked, you want your cod to be moist and just flaky.
7. Mix the sliced red onion and fresh coriander together and lay on your serving dish.
8. Place the cod loins on top and pour over any remaining sauce from the dish. Add sea salt to taste.