Sujan Sarkar’s Sea Bass with Rhubarb Alleppy Curry and Bone Powder Podi

For the Sea Bass

Ingredients

• 450g sea bass fillets, cleaned
• 25g sea salt
• 60g unsalted butter

Method

1. Portion the sea bass neatly with even edges into 75g each.
2. Seal each portion separately in a vacuum-tight bag with a pinch of salt and 10g of butter and cook it in a water bath at 45°C for 20 minutes.
3. Remove fish from the bag right before service and sear one side of the fish fillets lightly in a pan over medium heat for 45 seconds.
4. Rest the fish for 15-20 seconds and then season with Maldon salt flakes.

For the Rhubarb Alleppey Curry

Ingredients

• 200g fresh rhubarb, chopped
• 100g green mango, chopped
• 10g shallot, chopped
• 500ml coconut milk
• 25 ginger, chopped
• 15g salt
• 5g turmeric powder
• 5g red chilli powder
• 30ml coconut oil
• 5g fresh curry leaves, chopped
• 3g mustard seeds
• 3g fenugreek seeds

Method

1. Heat coconut oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and fry until the seeds starts to crackle.
2. Add curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.
3. Add chopped shallot and ginger and fry until shallot turns translucent.
4. Add chopped raw mango, turmeric and red chilli powder and cook for few minutes.
5. Add chopped rhubarb and 1/2 cup water and cover and cook for 5-6 minutes.
6. Blend the curry with a hand blender and check the seasoning.
7. Pass through a fine strainer to get a smooth consistency.

For the Savoury Cannoli Shells

Ingredients

• 600g refined flour
• 5g salt
• 70g soft butter
• 2 eggs, separated
• oil for frying

Method

1. First, combine the dry ingredients and mix them in a food processor. Then add the butter and pulse until it looks like small pebbles.
2. Next, add the egg yolks and pulse until the dough barely begins to hold together.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the dough is smooth. Next, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
4. Roll out the dough to ⅛ inch thick and cut into 4/6-inch rectangles. Next, place the egg whites in a bowl, whisk lightly and set aside.
5. Heat the oil in a pan to 180°C.
6. Wrap dough loosely lengthwise around a cylinder mould. Brush one end of the dough with egg, then pull the dry end over the top and press down to seal.
7. Using tongs, lower the dough into the oil and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Remove the shells with the tongs and transfer them to the paper-towel-lined plate to cool.
8. When the shells are cool enough to touch, remove the moulds and repeat with the remaining dough in batches until all shells have been fried.

For the Cannoli’s Crab Filling 

Ingredients 

Stage 1

• 500g crab meat
• 75g onions, chopped
• 5g ginger, chopped
• 900ml cream
• 3 gelatine leaves, soaked
• 5g salt
• 5g white pepper
• 15ml oil

Stage 2

• 350g crab meat
• 50g onions, finely chopped
• 7g ginger, finely chopped
• 7g green chilli, finely chopped
• 5g curry leaves, finely chopped
• 5g mustard seeds
• 2g chilli powder
• 4g white pepper
• 4g salt

Method

Stage 1

1. Place a pan over low-medium heat and add the oil.
2. Once hot, add the chopped ginger and the chopped onions and sweat until soft but not coloured. Add the crab meat and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add 450ml of the cream and bring to a boil.
3. Transfer the mix to a blender and blitz for 2 minutes.
4. Pass the mix through a chinois, mix in the gelatine and place in a tray. Leave in the fridge until set.
5. Once the mix is set, semi-whip the remaining cream and fold it into the set mixture. Store it in the fridge.

Stage 2

1. Place a pan over medium heat and add oil.
2. Add the mustard seeds when the oil is hot and allow them to crackle.
3. Add the finely chopped ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Cook for a few seconds and add the chopped onions and sweat until they turn translucent.
4. At this stage add the chilli powder and the crab meat. Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
5. Season this mixture with salt and pepper and allow it to cool.
6. Once cooled down, mix equal quantities of the set mousse and the cooled cooked crab filling until it forms a homogenous mixture and decant it into piping bags.
7. Fill the cannoli shells with this mixture just before plating.

For the Bone Powder Podi

Ingredients

• 100g fish bones
• 25g prawn cracker
• 25g urad dal
• 15g dry red chillies
• 25g curry leaves
• 5g asafoetida powder
• 10ml ghee
• 10g tapioca maltodextrin

Method

1. Blanch the fish bones and thoroughly clean them. Then dehydrate them completely.
2. Toast urad dal with deseeded dry red chillies.
3. Heat Ghee in a pan and add asafoetida powder and curry leaves. Remove from the heat and cool down.
4. In a dry grinder add all the ingredients and blend into a coarse powder.
5. Gradually add maltodextrin powder and blend it using the pulse switch.

Plating and Presentation

1. Place the hot portion of sea bass on the plate with the seared side facing outward of the plate.
2. Place the filled crab cannoli parallelly.
3. Garnish with nasturtiums and wood sorrel and sprinkle some bone powder podi right above the fish.
4. Spoon in the hot rhubarb Alleppey sauce in the middle of the fish and the cannoli.

Recipe courtesy of Sujan Sarkar of ROOH.