👋 Mackerel is a fish best eaten when at its freshest, so we recommend cooking this meal towards the start of your weekly food plan, to make sure it's at its best. Mackerel is an extremely tasty, oily fish that can hold its own when up against spices, hence why this dish works so well. It's quick to cook, relatively inexpensive and is a really important source of omega-3 and 6. This dinner will leave you feeling gently warmed by subtle spices and proud for trying something a little different during the mid-week madness.
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/200°C fan. Line a large tray with baking parchment.
To make the spice paste for the chana salan, combine the tomato puree, ginger and garlic paste, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, oil and a big pinch of salt in a small bowl. Mix well and add enough water so that the paste is the consistency of double cream.
Cut the cauliflower into florets, drain the chickpeas, slice the red onion and halve the tomatoes. Tip the prepared vegetables into the lined baking tray and add two-thirds of the spice paste. Mix well and season with salt and black pepper. Fill the chickpea tin halfway with water (to serve 4) and add this in as well. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Stir once to encourage the tomatoes to burst and create lots of lovely juice.
Whilst the Chana Salan is cooking, pin bone the mackerel (carefully remove the bones that run down the centre of the flesh side using tweezers) and score the skin using a sharp knife. Coat the fish in the remaining spice paste ensuring it gets right into the gaps you just created.
After 25 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and stir through the spinach (it will look like loads but it will wilt down to nothing). Move the veggies out of the way and nestle in the mackerel fillets, skin side up. Place the tray back into the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes. If serving with garlic naans pop these inot the oven for a few minutes now to heat through. TIP: If you want a crispy skin, you can pan-fry the mackerel instead of roasting it in the oven. Cook it, skin side down in a hot frying pan with a little oil for 3 minutes on this skin side and 1 minute on the flesh side.
Remove from the oven and carefully mix through the now wilted spinach a little more. Serve with a generous squeeze of lemon juice and a few sliced green chillies and a splodge of greek yoghurt and garlic naans on the side, if you wish.