Spicy Fish -Samke Harra with Spiced Rice

This is an AMAZING middle eastern dish! It’s called Samke Harra which means spicy fish. I couldnt beleive what I was tasting and even more shocked that I made that! You can really surprise yourself when you take on a challenge! My husband is from Beirut, Lebanon and this dish was introduced to me by my mother in law. There are many different versions of this dish and many of them have tahini added to the sauce. I have tried it this way and it is good however the way that I am making it here is already so full of flavour, the tahini is simply not needed! Alright here’s what you need:

For this fish mixture:
4 large fillets of white fish (cod, haddock, merlin) if you are using a whole fish, this would traditionally be made with red snapper. In my video I have a combination of large pieces and smaller peices of fish.
4 tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 (large) cloves of garlic
1 cup of roughly chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 white pepper
1 tbsp butter or 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
1 red pepper diced

NOTE – For the red pepper, add it to the pan before cooking the fish. Saute the red pepper in the butter or oil and then add your fish covered in the paste.

Yellow Rice:
2 cups basmati rice (soaked for 30 min-1 hour)
4 cups water
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

I really hope you like this recipe! It is a favorite in our house 🙂

Please let me know what you think!

ENJOY!

[ all music credits go to Abdul Khalil Ensemble – track name Habib Elomr]