Mother’s Day: Easy recipes with fish

If you want to make someone feel truly special, cook for them. With this in mind chef Aji Joseph, head of culinary development of the FreshToHome, shares two recipes for a quick last-minute meal for Mother’s Day.

Crab salad

Ingredients

200 gms cooked or pasteurised crab meat
30 gms red pepper, julienned
30 gms green pepper, julienned
20 gms spring onion
10 gms celery strips
1 tbsp coriander leaves
20 gms thin carrot strips

Dressing

5 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
Half tsp ginger, chopped 
Half tsp garlic, chopped
Half tsp sesame seed (white)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and refrigerate for a while.

2. Pull apart the cooked crab meat into thin threads and mix with the vegetables and refrigerate to chill it down.

3. Take this out of the fridge, toss the crab and vegetables with the dressing, and serve in a chilled bowl topped with sesame seeds and coriander leaves.

Grilled tilapia with lemon butter sauce and sautéed vegetables

Ingredients

250 gms Tilapia fillet

For marinating

3 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika powder
Half tsp garlic, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste

For lemon butter sauce 
25 gms butter
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp parsley, chopped
Salt to taste

For pan frying 
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp flour

Method

1. Mix mustard, paprika, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt, and apply on both sides of the fish. Keep in the refrigerator for 15- 20 minutes to marinate.

2. Heat a non-stick pan and pour some olive oil.

3. Spread the flour on a plate and place the marinated fillet on the flour and press lightly to evenly coat both sides of the fish.

4. Place this flour-coated fish on the hot pan and grill to a golden brown.

5. To make the sauce, soften the butter and add the lemon juice, salt and parsley and mix well. Keep this aside.

6. Blanch the veggies and sauté them in butter with some salt and pepper powder.

To serve:

1. Place the pan-grilled fish on a plate, arrange the veggies on the side. You could include a toasted garlic bread to go along with the fish.

2. The soft lemon butter sauce can be applied on the fish after plating which will melt into the fish.

Also read | Mother's Day: Meet the moms redefining education space