Garam Masala Braised Seabass Recipe

Braised Seabass with Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1/3 C Dried Chickpeas
1 Qt Water
1 ea Bay leaf
6 ea Peppercorns
1 ea Onion- peeled and cut in half
1 ea Carrot- peeled and stem end trimmed off
1 ea Celery stalk- washed
1 ea 4” x 4” piece of Kombu (edible kelp)
4 ea 6-8 oz Seabass fillets
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1/3 C Spice Union Garam Masala Spice Blend
1 ea Onion- fine diced
1 ea Garlic clove- minced
4 ea Plum tomatoes- diced
1 ea 8 oz Bottle of clam juice
4 Tbsp Cold butter
2 Tbsp Chopped chives

Prepare the chickpeas:

Rinse chickpeas under cold water.
Combine chickpeas, water, bay leaf, peppercorns, halved onion, carrot, celery and Kombu in a stainless steel pot.
Bring the contents to a boil, lower the temperature to simmer.
Cook the chickpeas until tender all the way through and do taste ‘starchy.’ This will take approximately 90 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf, peppercorns, onion, carrot, celery and Kombu.
Drain the chickpeas from the cooking liquid and set aside until needed.

Prepare the Seabass:

Preheat a cast iron pan to medium high heat.
Add the olive oil to the cast iron pan and heat until just shimmering.
Liberally season the Seabass fillets with Spice Union Garam Masala Spice Blend.
Place the Seabass fillets in the cast iron pan, skin side up.
Cook the Seabass for 3-4 minutes; turn over the fillets.
Add the diced onion and garlic to the cast iron pan. Sauté for 2 minutes.
Add diced plum tomatoes, chickpeas and clam juice.
Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until Seabass is barely cooked through.
Remove the cast iron pan from the heat and swirl cold butter into the pan sauce.
Garnish with chopped chives.
We suggest serving with a micro-green salad dressed with champagne vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.