Miso Kadhi Gratin

This sounds like a dish put together by a bot: Indian kadhi with Japanese miso with a French Gratin finish. This is inspired from a Japanese fusion recipe (miso gratin) and I threw in my twists (amaranth kadhi). The nuttiness of the toasted amaranth flour and the salty umami of miso go very well with the light tanginess of the yogurt. This one calls for many techniques, a diverse pantry and a healthy dose of patience- but is worth trying on a lazy weekend. Enjoy!

Special tools:.

Iron skillet or oven proof pan, wire whisk.

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces + 1 garlic
• 1 lb monkfish, cut into bite size pieces marinaded in little salt + garlic powder + 1 tsp amaranth flour
• 1/2 onion thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter (to stir-fry the fish)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce for seasoning
• Sauce: 1 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp amaranth flour + 3/4 cup thick yogurt + 1 cup dashi + 2 tbsp white miso
• Gratin: 1 tbsp butter + 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 3-4 scallions sliced

Method

Cook the potatoes and garlic with salt in small amount of water– just enough to cover the potatoes– till fork tender. Don,t throw away the water, since we will add the water as well to the sauce later to get the exuded potato starch.

Stir fry the fish in oil+butter in an ovenproof pan till almost done. Add the sliced onion. Mix well till done. Remove to a platter, season with soy sauce and tent with Al foil.

Kadhi sauce: Make the sauce in the same pan. Toast the amaranth flour in butter in low heat. Stir rapidly with the wire whisk; add yogurt little at a time, on very low heat, till well mixed. Then add the dashi little at a time till mixed. Finally mix in the miso and whisk till well. Taste for seasoning.

Add the fish to the sauce in the pan. Mix then add the potatoes with its water. Mix well and let simmer for 3-4 mins.

Gratin layer: Mix 1 tbsp melted butter with the breadcrumbs and layer on top. Broil for 2 mins or until lightly toasted. Garnish with scallions.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. If kadhi is not your thing, you can replace the amaranth flour with regular flour and yogurt with milk to get your trust old bechamel sauce.
2. Dashi (Japanese fish broth) can be easily made from dashi granules, available in Japanese grocery.
3. Make sure the kadhi sauce is made on low heat so as to maintain the light color as well as not the curdle the yogurt. This process may remind you of making roux. If you cannot find amaranth flour, you can use regular flour.
4. You can replace the fish with chicken breasts and follow the same procedure.
5. If you like a little heat, you can add hot pepper to the sauce.