Fishbites with Tomato Mustard Chutney

Fishbites! Never heard of it, right? Because I think no recipe exits by this name ;).

Fish and mostly white delicate fishes with a nice Grüner Veltliner or Gewürztraminer is the best combination on a romantic evening.

I like a simple fish sautéed in butter with herbs like tarragon or dill with a slight lemony zing to it. Ahh the fish and a glass of good white wine is an absolute winner.

As much as I love the simple preparations, my husband loves them spicy and pan fried. He generally prefers the pan fried fish with a cold beer.

These fishbites I served in my 7 course dinner I cooked for my husband for his birthday.

You can serve this as an appetiser or as hors d’œuvre if you cut the fish small in bitesize pieces, hence I have named them fishbites.

Because it was for my husband I served them with this rather pungent Tomato Mustard Chutney.

Do give this recipe a try and I sure you will love it as much as we did.

Instructions:

Dry roast the spices on medium heat till they fragrant, add in the chillies and continue to roast for 2 minutes.

When the spices are cold, place them in mortar pestle with garlic, coriander and rosemary. Make a coarse paste and add the salt, lemon zest and juice.

Marinate the fish for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Heat a pan till very hot, add in the oil and place the fish, skin side down. Press the fish with spatula. Pan fry the fish for 3-4 minutes and turn it over repeat the same.

Serve hot with tomato chutney.

Ingredients for tomato chutney:

• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 onion finely sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1 tbsp or to taste hot red chilli powder
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

Heat oil and add sugar, onions and mustard seeds. Fry the onions till they are brown.

Add in the tomatoes and fry it till the water is completely evaporated, this might take 15-20 minutes.

Add in the red wine vinegar, salt, red chilli powder and thyme.

Fry till the chutney starts to look glossy.

You can store this chutney in the fridge up to 2 weeks.