Neighbor's Favorite: Curried Salmon Over Rice

Ranjit Dhaliwal would be the perfect party guest. He's retired (so he's in no hurry), he's relaxed (so he doesn't complain), he's an excellent cook and he loves it when people ask him to prepare one of his excellent curry dishes.

Ranjit was recommended to me by a mutual friend and former "Your Neighbor's Favorite Recipe" chef, Sharon Cornils. It also turns out this is Ranjit's second time as a featured chef.

On this day, Ranjit said he was making curried salmon, but he said he's just as happy making curried lamb, shrimp, chicken, pork or vegetables.

It's a simple, straightforward recipe: Boil the salmon in a closed plastic bag, sauté onion and a few spices, add the cooked fish, cook a little while longer and spoon over some white rice. That's all it takes for him to prepare a tasty, filling and low-fat meal.

The retired trucker, construction worker and property manager is proud of his abilities in the kitchen. "I cook all the time," he said. But when I asked his wife, Nilmal, if he was the one who performed all the kitchen duties, her answer was, "He cooks whenever he feels like it."

Ranjit said he was born in the Fiji Islands and lived in England for 30 years before moving to Yuba City 24 years ago. He explained that one of the best things about this area is that his four children, 11 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter all live close by. They like him being close as well, because, he said, when he's invited to visit, they often ask him to cook. In fact, on the day I visited with him, he was getting ready to cook a birthday dinner for a family friend that evening.

The first thing Ranjit did to prepare the curried salmon (a recipe he developed himself) was to salt the fish a little before placing it into a zipper-closure plastic bag and sealing it, then placing the bag into boiling water. He said it usually takes about 10 minutes for the fish to cook.

While that was boiling, Ranjit started on the sauce.

He began by slicing a large white onion and setting it aside. He then heated about 2 ounces of olive oil in a frying pan, added salt and cumin seed and sautéed the onions for about five or six minutes.

When the onions were translucent, he added garlic and pepper that he had ground together earlier plus all of the other dry spices.

Before Ranjit added the potatoes, he poured in about 1 cup of water and brought the spice mixture back up to temperature. He said that if you want more sauce, all you have to do is add more water. He then covered the dish and turned his attention back to the boiling salmon.

After carefully removing the fish from the bag, Ranjit peeled off the skin and then, using a fork, broke the salmon into small pieces. Then he added the salmon pieces to the onion and

spice mixture, covered the pan and let it simmer over medium heat for another 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are done.

The final steps are to spoon it over white rice and enjoy.

• CURRIED SALMON OVER RICE

Serves four

Total time: About 45 minutes

Estimated cost: $22, varies depending on the price of salmon

Ingredients

2 pounds salmon

2 ounces olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin seed

1 large onion

8 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup water (more if you want additional sauce)

2 medium-size potatoes, cubed

2 jalapeño peppers

3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

3/4 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon masala (hot mixed spices)

1 teaspoon paprika

Putting it together

To prepare salmon: Sprinkle salt over the fish. Then place the whole pieces into a large zipper-closure plastic bag. Carefully place bag into boiling water. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Once the salmon is done, remove from the bag, strip off the skin and break fish into small pieces before adding to the sauce mixture.

To prepare sauce: Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the salt and cumin. Slice the onion and sauté until translucent.

Grind the garlic and pepper into a paste and stir to combine; add to onion mixture and stir.

Add the water, cubed potatoes, jalapeño peppers and the rest of the dry spices. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat to medium. Add the salmon pieces to the sauce mixture, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the potatoes are soft, the curry is ready to serve over cooked white rice.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhollis@appealdemocrat.com.