Hammour Sayadiya Recipe

Chef  Matteo Guerra from The Fish House at Intercontinental Festival City sources hammour from The Fish Farm. He showed us his favourite way to prepare this local speciality

A rice and fish dish, made with hammour and a spicy tomato sauce

Level Intermediate
Preparation Time 30 minutes
Cooking Time 1 hour
Serves 4

PHOTO BY Aasiya Jagadeesh
RECIPE BY Matteo Guerra
FOOD STYLING BY Matteo Guerra

INGREDIENTS

110ml olive oil
2 tbsp ras el hanout spice mix
1 fresh green chilli, chopped
2 red onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
500g plum tomatoes
spinneysFOOD Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
300g basmati rice
700ml fish stock
4 200g hammour fillets, skin on

METHOD

1. For the spicy tomato sauce, heat 30ml of the olive oil in a heavy, large saucepan over a medium heat.

2. Thinly slice 1 red onion and add it, together with the garlic, chilli and 1 tbsp of the ras el hanout spice mix. Cover and cook until the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the tomatoes and simmer gently, uncovered, until sauce thickens - for about 40 minutes.

4. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

5. For the ras el hanout rice, finely chop the remaining red onion and fry it with the remaining 1 tbsp of the ras el hanout spice mix in 50ml of the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan.

6. Stir in the rice, add the stock, cover the pan and simmer for 15 mins, or until the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid.

7. Next, brush each hammour fillet with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

8. Grill the fillets skin side down first, for 8 minutes on each side.

9. To serve, spoon the spicy tomato sauce on to the rice and top with a hammour fillet.

10. Garnish with a herb salad and deep-fried crispy onions.

NOTES

Top tip:

"Plum tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and are also a good source of vitamin A, essential for good vision and a healthy immune system. In addition, plum tomatoes are low in calories and in carbohydrates," says Freda Molamphy, Spinneys Nutritionist.