Name: Blackened Sea Bream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: Chelow Rice or Vermicelli Rice, to serve; 2 green mangoes, sliced into 1cm/½in cubes; 1 tbsp ground dried lime (optional); 4 whole sea bream, pollock or haddock, about 1.25 kg/2 lb 12 oz in total, cleaned and gutted, then butterflied (head and tail intact); small pinch of crushed chilli flakes; ¼ tsp ground fenugreek; 4 tbsp cider vinegar; ½ garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed; ½ tsp turmeric; 3 cm/1¼ in piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated; 3 tbsp olive oil; a small pinch of sea salt; 2 tbsp clear honey; 2 tbsp smoked sea salt flakes; 1 tbsp tamarind paste or lemon juice; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; chopped coriander/cilantro leaves, to sprinkle

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
55 min

Appears in

The Jewelled Kitchen

By Bethany Kehdy

Published 2013

About

The infamous masqouf, as Iraq’s national dish is known, is a much-revered dish for Iraqis, reserved for special occasions. Considered to be food for the mind as well as the body, this Baghdad speciality sprang up along the banks of the Tigris, where the day’s catch would be served to Arak-sozzled patrons in cafés. It’s traditionally prepared with freshwater fish, similar to carp, butterflied and hung on skewers over brushwood fires. Mango chutney was introduced via Indian traders, and Iraqi