Chraime – Fried Fish in Spicy Tomato Sauce with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Fried Fish

1. 8
   Pat the fish dry well with paper towels.

   Paper towels
2. 9
   Mix the flour, salt, black pepper, paprika and cumin in a wide bowl.

   Bowl
3. 10
   Roll the fish in the flour mixture on all sides, to a thin, even coating, and shake off the excess.

   💡Shake off the excess flour well: a thick layer of flour comes away from the fish during frying, while a thin coating stays crisp.
4. 11
   Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.

   StoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
5. 12
   Fry the fish 3–4 minutes per side, until the coating is golden and crisp.

   StoveFrying pan
6. 13
   Transfer to paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

   Paper towels

For the Tomato sauce

1. 14
   In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, paprika and cumin with the salt.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
2. 15
   Add the red pepper and fry 2 minutes, until the pepper softens.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 16
   Add the tomato paste, cumin, paprika and turmeric and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 17
   Place slice the fried fish in the sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily.

   StoveLid

   💡Don't overcook: overcooked fish dries out and falls apart in the sauce.