Transatlantic Tastes Week Two - Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt

This week in our "Transatlantic Tastes" series, we decided to step up our game a bit, while still cooking something that was somewhat basic. We went Indian!

Anyone who has lived in England or is familiar with English food and culture will know that curry has changed the definition of British cuisine. It could be said that the curry has essentially become the national dish in modern day Britain. There are just as many curry shops as there are chip shops in cities and towns all over the nation.

While we didn't make a proper curry this week with rice and all the fixings, we did make a dish that is Indian to its core. I've listed the ingredients below to show you what makes up the recipe, and as you can see, most things you will be able to find in any supermarket. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't find the tandoori paste that Jamie calls for in the recipe, but as luck would have it, good ol' Dominion came through for me! It was even the brand he specified, Patak's!

Jamie Oliver's website hosts a large number of his recipes, including this week's, which you can find at the link below.

Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt


Ingredients:
naan breads or flatbreads
a fresh red chile
a cucumber
a lemon
natural yogurt
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh cilantro
2 salmon fillets, skin on, scaled, and bones removed
tandoori, or mild curry paste
olive oil

Ingredients at the ready...

Should've used Greek yogurt! Ah well, I know better for next time. :)

The salmon is sizzling away!

The finished product...a little charred, but still good!

Nancy's turned out pretty good as well!

This dish was a little challenging because to be perfectly honest, I'd never cooked salmon before. I'm not a big fish eater, and with my shellfish allergy, I generally stay away from all fishy foods. But, I wanted to give this recipe a try, because it involved two things I don't have very often - fish and Indian cuisine. It's always good to try something new! Jamie also says in the recipe that it's called "Quick Salmon Tikka..." because it should take about 17 minutes to throw together...well, it took us a bit longer than that, probably because we pause to talk so much and don't actually try to rush in our cooking. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' with it.

Like last week, I had to switch out some ingredients for others; I couldn't find a red chile pepper anywhere in St. John's (does anyone know where I can find chillies that look like this? Ignore the green! I want red!) so I had to use a jalapeno instead, as that was all they had at the grocery store. It didn't add the heat I think it was supposed to.

I like to think that my finished product looks exactly like Jamie's, however, I'm sadly mistaken. Jamie's salmon isn't as charred as mine turned out to be, but I expected I wouldn't cook it perfectly, since I'd never cooked salmon before, and didn't really know how. However, when the time came for the taste test, it still tasted pretty good!

You can try this recipe for yourself by picking up a copy of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook, or checking out his website, JamieOliver.com! Until next time, happy cooking!