Go Back
Print

Lebanese Spicy Fish (Samke Harra)

Fried fish fillets in a spicy tomato relish

Course Main Course
Cuisine Lebanese, Mediterranean
Keyword Crowd pleaser, Dinner Party, Seafood
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4
Author Zaatar and Zaytoun

Ingredients

To make the fried fish

  • 4 white fish fillets
  • ½ cup plain all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon fish spices
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon of salt

To make the relish

  • 1 onion sliced into strips
  • ½ cup chopped bell peppers finely chopped
  • 2 cups chopped tomato
  • 1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
  • small handful cilantro fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 birds eye chilli finely chopped
  • pinch turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Garnish

  • handful pine nuts & flaked almonds

Instructions

  1. In a dry pan, lightly toast the flaked almonds and pine nuts on a medium heat until slightly golden. Set aside

To prepare the fish

  1. Wash and drain the fish in a colander
  2. In a tray, add the flour, fish spices, turmeric, paprika, ground coriander and salt. Mix well and coat the fish fillets in the flour.
  3. In a wide deep pan, heat up the vegetable oil and then fry the fish fillets, shaking off any extra flour, until golden for around five minutes. Set aside

To make the relish

  1. In a separate pan, sauté the onion in a drizzle of mild olive oil. Then add the bell peppers, tomatoes, tomato concentrate, birds eye chilli and cook down for around ten minutes, pressing the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon
  2. Add the salt, spices (turmeric, paprika, ground coriander) and cilantro and sauté for another five minutes
  3. Add the fried fish fillets (skin side up) to the tomato relish and simmer on low heat for another few minutes

To finish

  1. Garnish with the toasted nuts. Serve with rice or fresh flatbreads.