Tilapia in a Spicy Indian Tomato Sauce

A few years back my son began dating a young lady who loves fish. I never cooked much fish when my kids were growing up because no one in our family really cared for it and they had a tendency to just pick at it rather than eat it. However, adding a new person to the normal mix around our dinner table motivated me to experiment with fish. To our surprise, we've grown to love it, particularly when we have an opportunity to prepare it Indian style, as in the recipe below.

Tilapia in a Spicy Indian Tomato Sauce

5 tilapia fillets

For Coating the Tilapia:
5 tilapia fillets
4 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground coriander

For the Spicy Indian Tomato Sauce:
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp. garam masala
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
½ cup water
1 bay leaf
8 black peppercorns
2 cinnamon sticks
1" piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed

For Cooking the Fish:
3 tbsp. oil, separated

For Garnish:
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

Mix together the cornstarch, 2 tsp. salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, ground ginger and ground coriander. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Rinse the tilapia fillets and pat dry. Cover the fish with the powdered spice mixture, coating as evenly as possible.

Place the fish in the skillet with the heated oil. While the fish is frying, combine the tomato sauce, garam masala, cayenne pepper, salt and water and set aside. Fry the fish until golden brown on both sides and until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove the fish fillets from the frying pan.

Heat the remaining tbsp. oil in the skillet over medium heat. When hot, toss in the bay leaf, black peppercorns and cinnamon sticks and stir and cook for about a minute. Add in the crushed garlic and chopped ginger root and cook and stir for an additional minute or two, but do not let the garlic brown. Pour in the tomato sauce mixture and simmer for about three minutes. Carefully place the fish back in the skillet and gently spoon the tomato sauce mixture over the fish. Cook for an additional two minutes.

Just before serving, sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

This has a pretty good kick to it. The first time I prepared it, I used twice as much cayenne pepper as I did in the recipe above and it was good, but very spicy. Due to the spiciness, plan to serve with plenty of cooked rice and garlic naan.

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