Tandoori Salmon with Mango Kachumbar

Tandoori anything in one word is delicious. Tandoori if you’re not familiar, is a cuisine style, an oven and a beloved cuisine of India. Tandoor is clay oven and normally used for grilling meats, breads, vegetables, kebabs etc. Tandoori chicken being one of the most popular and has a cult following all over the world. Tandoori is usually a community oven or set up in restaurants, but for the rest of us who don’t own a tandoor a regular oven can stand in beautifully. To achieve the smokiness you would get from a tandoor, I add some smoked paprika along with traditional spice mix. You could find all the spices at a good Indian grocery store or online. Its worth stocking them if you like to experiment Indian cuisine.

The kachumbar salad is an Indian version of salsa. Its a simple chopped salad served with Indian meals. Normally cucumber, onions, tomato radishes and/or green chillies are chopped or sliced and served along side a meal. I added mangoes for a sweet fruity touch and it works really well.

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Tandoori Salmon with Mango Kachumbar, Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder or sweet paparika works perfectly ( for color and smokiness) 
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cayenne or any hot chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon Chaat masala or use 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder or 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated 
• 1 inch piece ginger minced or preferably grated
• 3 tablespoons avocado or extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper as needed
• 4 (4-5 oz) fresh salmon center cut fillets, preferably wild

MANGO KACHUMBAR

• 1-2 mango, diced into small cubes, should yield about 1 cup
• 2-3 Persian cucumbers, diced into small cubes, should yield about 1 cup
• 1 medium red onion, diced into small cubes, should yield about 1 cup
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1-2 jalapeńo, seeded and chopped, leave the seeds in if you like it hot
• juice and from 1 lime
• ½ cup fresh cilantro and a little mint, roughly chopped
• black rock salt also called kala namak, if you can’t find it use regular salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Serve with steamed rice, quinoa or Naan or its good on its own
• Garnish with chia seeds optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 250 °F.
2. Mix all the spices, garlic, ginger with the oil and apply on the salmon. Let it marinate for about 30 minutes to one hour. Don’t leave it more than a hour, this fish tends to dry.
3. Place the salmon pieces on a baking tray with parchment paper.
4. Place it in the oven skin side down and bake for 25-30 minutes. Depends on the thickness of the salmon.
5. Crank the oven to high broil and cook for 5 minutes. Let the salmon sit for 5 minutes before servings. I find salmon cooked this way renders moist, perfectly cooked through, crispy edges and not dry fish.
6. In a small bowl, combine the diced mango, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, lime juice, black salt, ground cumin. Mix well.
7. To serve plate each piece of salmon over mango kachumbar and rice or quinoa. Serve with additional herbs, chia seeds and lime.