A spice rub of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric and cayenne teams with fresh ginger and garlic to create an aromatic marinade for Tandoori-spiced Grilled Salmon. Recipe below.
Quick note: This is the first of two recipes using this fragrant, flavorful, slightly spicy rub. Check back next week for a one-pan dinner recipe.
For no good reason I can think of, I often consider grilling a peculiarly American cooking method. It is, of course, not. The basic technique was pretty much born when early man learned to build a fire, and just about every culture has embraced it and created its own spin on it.
But perhaps no other culture has embraced grilling quite like we have. From May through Octoberish, just about every holiday, event or family gathering practically demands outdoor cooking. And so it was this past Memorial Day, in spite of horrendous heat and dire threats of major storms, I planned to fire up the grill for the first time of the season.
Something that truly is peculiarly American (and not just imagined as such by me) is our cheerful willingness to borrow from other cultures, particularly in the kitchen. Search the pantry of any home cook worth his or her salt (kosher, sea salt, fleur de sel…) and you’ll find ingredients that would be at home in kitchens in Italy, Mexico, China, France, Japan, India…
Which segues nicely into this recipe. Strictly speaking, a tandoor is a clay oven used for cooking and baking, usually with wood or charcoal in the oven itself. It is particularly popular in India and Pakistan, where meats are marinated in yogurt seasoned with an array of fragrant (and often fiery) spices.
In the West, tandoori has come to mean a blend of spices creating a certain flavor. The most common mix for tandoori spice rubs generally includes cumin, paprika, turmeric, coriander and cayenne pepper. Powdered ginger is often used too, as is garlic powder. I left them out of my version, adding fresh ginger and garlic to the marinade instead.
Turmeric, a spice used in almost all curries, adds an intense yellow-orange color to the rub, to foods you cook with it and to mixing bowls as you prepare them. According to recent studies, it also helps the immune system fight off bacteria, viruses and fungi. Turmeric is intensely flavored and can take over dishes, so I used a modest amount for my spice rub.
I used indirect grilling to cook the salmon, giving it a nice, smoky flavor, but no charring. The spice rub provided plenty of appealing color for the finished fillets.
Tandoori-spiced Grilled Salmon
Serves 4
For the tandoori spice rub (makes about 5 tablespoons):
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
1-1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the salmon:
4 6-ounce salmon fillets, preferably with skin on
3 tablespoons tandoori spice rub (reserve the rest for next week’s recipe)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
Prepare the spice rub. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. A quick note—if you have whole cumin seeds and coriander seeds, so much the better. Toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently, cool them and grind them in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. The flavor will be phenomenal.
Marinate the salmon. Pat the salmon fillets dry with a paper towel and arrange them in a glass baking dish in a single layer. Mix the spice rub, olive oil, ginger and garlic in a small bowl. Spoon, brush and/or rub the mixture on the tops and sides of the fillets. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and marinate the salmon for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours in the fridge.
Grill the salmon. About 1/2 hour before you’re ready to grill, remove the salmon from the fridge to let it come to room temperature. I did this when I lit the charcoal, using a charcoal chimney. Prepare your grill for indirect grilling; with a charcoal grill, I arrange the coals on one side of the grill. Make a tray of two layers of aluminum foil to hold the salmon (it won’t begin to support the weight, but that’s not its job). Just before cooking, season the fillets with salt.
When the coals are hot, place the foil tray over the section of the grill without the coals. Pierce it in numerous places with a knife tip to allow smoke to circulate through it. Brush the foil tray with olive oil. Transfer the fillets to the tray, brushing the skin sides with oil as you do. Using tongs, slide the tray of salmon fillets over the coals and cover the grill with the lid (all vents top and bottom should be open). Grill for 2 to 3 minutes, then slide foil tray off the coals, cover the grill and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes, until an instant read thermometer registers 125ºF (for medium rare) to 135ºF (for medium).
Using a spatula and tongs, transfer fillets to a platter and serve.
NIce rub, nice recipe. I sometimes do Tandoori Salmon, but in the traditional yogurt-based sauce. The rub is a great idea — I’ll definitely borrow this! You should try Tandoori Tuna sometime. Not only does it taste great, but Tandoori Tuna just rolls off the tongue in a nice way. 😉 Good post — thanks.
Wonderful recipe! I can see the rub being great with other fish as well as prawns. The technique for grilling is a great idea (the little tray for sliding it back and forth). Kudos!
this looks and sounds wonderful but my problem is no grill – can the salmon be broiled or roasted?
Thanks, Kitchenriffs! Do give it a try—and I may try the alliterative tuna.
Melody, not only would it work beautifully with other fish, I could see it on chicken or, as you’ll see next week, pork.
Elle, I think I would try roasting, since that would most closely match the indirect grilling. I’m thinking the oven at 375ºF for about 10 to 15 minutes in a shallow, foil-lined baking pan, depending on the thickness of the fish. Again, an instant read thermometer is your friend. Good luck!
Thank you Elle, and Terry for answering. You all were so nice about my “I HATE GRILLING SEASON” rant last year that I thought I’d spare you this year – but the recipe did look so far out of my comfort zone that I immediately wanted to try it!
Your recipe on salmon is really good. I have prepared this for dinner. My family liked it so much. They cannot wait to have this dish again.
Anita, I have to admit, I am often ambivalent about grilling. Partly because our second floor apartment turns grilling into a stair-climbing marathon and partly because I still just feel more in control at the stove. But speaking of comfort zones, by making myself grill more often, I’m getting more comfortable with it—and having less heat and less clean-up in the kitchen makes me like it even more. That said, if you have no grill (like Elle) or just don’t like grilling (like you) there are plenty of wonderful ways to cook that don’t involve it.
Thanks, Kitchen Renovation! I always love to hear from someone who’s actually cooked one of my recipes.
We’re trying to get into salmon and the recipe sounds great, however, you mention tumeric and then don’t seem to include it in the recipe. Did you? My husband hates tumeric, but the spices in to recipe sound great without it. What do you think?
Barbara—Thanks for catching my omission! I’ve fixed the recipe; it does indeed include one teaspoon of turmeric. That doesn’t mean you need to if your husband hates it. There are a number of other big personality spices in the rub that, coupled with the fresh ginger and garlic, that will make the salmon quite flavorful.