This Persian-style marinated fish is delicately, and deliciously flavored with a lightly spiced lime and yogurt marinade. It's easy to make and a wonderful change from plain old fish.
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You've probably seen me talk about different food holidays before, well today is the start of one I'm pretty excited about - it's the start of dairy month. Dairy is a big part of our family's diet in lots of ways. For both flavor and texture, I can't imagine family favorites like pesto, moussaka and lemon risotto without cheese.
Then some of our favorite desserts like panna cotta and strawberry tiramisu get their richness and smoothness from dairy. Even our favorite everyday breakfast, banana oatmeal, wouldn't be the same without milk. Not only is the flavor so much better, it's nutritionally better too.
Cooking creatively with dairy
Recently I got to see even more interesting ways to use dairy at a fun event hosted by New England Dairy at Milk Street. You may have seen me mention at the time on Instagram or Facebook, but you can see a bit more below. It was great to both learn some new and interesting dishes using dairy in different ways.
I also learnt from some of our local dairy farmers. For example, the increase in robotic milking, how a lot of dairy farmers are diversifying, and that the corn used to feed cattle is a different variety from what we eat.
One of the things I was reminded by some of the dishes we made was how diverse the uses of yogurt are. It then led me to think about a dish I had come across from Sabrina Ghayour's book Persiana for marinated fish, that I've drawn on here. I've since found other dishes using similar spicing, which comes from the coastal area of Iran, Bandar Abbas.
How to make Persian-style marinated fish
For this dish, you make a simple marinade with a couple spices, yogurt, dill and lime then rub it over the fish. It might not seem that much but it gives a nice layer that really adds a lovely gently aromatic flavor.
Fish doesn't need long to marinade, so you don't have to wait long before cooking. I baked the fish, but you could also pan fry it and even grill it (though I'd recommend indirectly).
What should you serve with this marinated fish?
I've served the fish with cacik, a simple dip/sauce from the region that's very much like tzatziki. It's more typical with bread or grilled meats but works well here too. Then I made a simplified herb rice. If you have time, the herbed rice from my sabzi poow mahi would be great, but this is a speeded-up version. A salad would also go well with this, either in addition or instead of rice.
This Persian style marinated fish is gently but deliciously flavored by the spice, herb and yogurt marinade. Alongside the deliciously creamy cacik sauce and herb rice, it's a light meal that's oh so good. Just that bit different, and one you'll want to make again.
Try these other seafood recipes:
- Baked swordfish with asparagus, lentils and chermoula
- Chinese oven steamed fish
- Tandoori shrimp/prawns
- Plus get more seafood recipes in the archives.
You can also find more Persian recipes including the classic fesenjan (walnut pomegranate stew) in the archives, too.
Persian style marinated fish with cacik
Ingredients
For fish:
- 1 tablespoon Greek style yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic grated/crushed
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon dill (chopped fresh)
- ½ lime zest (ie from ½ lime)
- 2 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 lb halibut or other firm white fish
For rice:
- ½ cup basmati rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped fresh)
- 1 tablespoon dill (chopped fresh)
- 1 teaspoon butter approx
For cacik sauce:
- 2 tablespoon cucumber finely grated (2tbsp is approx 2in/5cm piece)
- 3 tablespoon Greek style yogurt
- ½ teaspoon dill (chopped fresh)
- 1 pinch garlic granules
Instructions
For fish
- Mix together the yogurt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger, dill, lime zest and juice in a small bowl. Line a baking dish with foil large enough the fish to lay flat. Rub the yogurt mixture over all sides of the fish then leave to marinade approx 30-45 minutes (no more than an hour).
- Preheat oven to 400F. While oven is warming, bring fish to room temperature. Bake the fish for approx 20 minutes until cooked through, but do check as it will depend on the thickness of the fish and you don’t want it overdone. It should be transparent and with a little juice coming out but not dry.
For rice
- While fish is cooking, put rice and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Once cooked, stir through the parsley and dill. Dot the butter on top and cover the pan again. Leave to sit a couple minutes to melt then stir through.
For cacik sauce
- While rice is resting, grate the cucumber and squeeze out the excess water. Mix it with the yogurt, dill and garlic and stir well.
- Serve the fish with the herbed rice and cacik sauce on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.
This recipe was created in partnership with the dairy farm families of New England. For information about the dairy farm families of New England, school nutrition, and health and wellness topics, please visit New England Dairy & Food Council.
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Cathy says
Made this with halibut. Incredible! Served it with a lovely tomato biryani from Food 52. One of my favorite meals I’ve made. So unusual, light and healthy.
Caroline's Cooking says
Yes, halibut would be great - so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck says
This is one fish recipe I can't wait to try...it sounds so interesting!
Valentina | The Baking Fairy says
This sounds absolutely delicious! I love the spices you picked for the marinade and sauce. Yum!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it's a tasty combination.
Karen says
What a gorgeous dinner. It sounds delicious and fresh too. I can't wait to try the marinade and the cacik. So many wonderful flavors.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it really makes such a tasty dinner, enjoy!
Adriana Lopez Martin says
This cacik sauce sounds so good and a good dressing for lamb and chicken too. I need to make it soon this meal looks amazing and light perfect for my meal planning
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, indeed the cacik has so many uses.
Amy says
I love fish and this looks so good. It looks a little different and I like that. Thank you for sharing.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it is indeed that bit different so a great option when you need a little change (which is often, for me!)
Sabrina Modelle says
This looks fantastic. I'm a pescatarian, so I'm always looking for new fish recipes.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, sounds perfect then!
Danielle says
What a lovely light summer dish. The flavours in this sound wonderful.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it's lovely and light with great flavors too.
georgie says
that marinade looks absolutely delicious! i always looking for new ways to eat seafood, so i love this dish!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it's definitely a lovely change from your more typical fish dishes.
Lisa Huff says
So many great spices and flavors! Need to try! Always looking to add more fish to our diet.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, we are big fish fans and this one went down well.