When the current slows down and the sea turns flat, blue-eye trevalla can be caught off the edge of the continental shelf, especially with sweat-saving electric reels.
It is definitely one of the jewels of the sea from a chef’s point of view. Its firm, bright white flesh when cooked perfectly is hard to pass up, regardless of how it is prepared.
At the restaurant we simply serve it plain grilled and we always have a few loose ends left over.
This recipe uses them up with the help of a few prawns and some spice combinations, wrapped in flaky pastry, shallow-fried and served with a sweet chutney.
Facts
Ingredients
300g blue-eye, diced finely
175g prawn meat, diced
100g green peas
1 medium onion, diced
200g unpeeled new potatoes, diced and blanched
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 long red chillies, deseeded and chopped
100g ghee for sautéing
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon garam masala
½ bunch of coriander, washed and chopped
Seasoning to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Pastry
750g flour
125g softened butter
400ml warm water
To make the pastry, simply place the butter and flour into an electric mixer and on low speed and beat until it forms breadcrumb consistency, then add the water slowly and beat until it is a smooth pastry. Remove and rest covered for 1 hour.
For the filling, place the diced potatoes in a pan on the stove, cover with water and boil until just cooked. Remove, refresh under cold water and drain.
Heat the ghee in a large saucepan and sauté the peas, onions, garlic and chillies until soft, then add the spices and cook for two minutes.
Add the blue-eye, prawns and blanched potatoes and cook until the seafood is just cooked. Add the chopped coriander and season, then allow to cool before using.
Dust bench with a little flour and roll out pieces of pastry to form 20cm circles, then with a knife cut a ‘peace sign’ so you end up with three pieces of pastry the same size. Grab a piece and fold it on itself and pinch together so you form a triangle shape with the top open. Spoon in some blue-eye mixture until almost full, then pinch the top closed. Repeat until all the mixture or pastry is gone.
Heat vegetable oil to 180° and fry until golden. Drain on paper towel, then serve warm with some of your favourite chutney or sauce.
