This hearty Seychellois Creole Fish Daube with Snake Gourd -Ladob Pwason ek Patol-is one of my favourite dishes of all time. It is flavoured with onion, garlic, and ginger, and is the hearty comfort food you have been waiting for.
- 700 g trevally with skin and bones (Tail end)
- 1 medium size onion, chopped
- 2 fresh ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 medium immature snake gourd
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 potatoes, cleaned and cut in thick wedges
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 400 ml water
- 1 tsp crushed ginger
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 sprig parsley- finely chopped
- Oil for deep-frying fish and potatoes
- 3 tbsp oil, for the roux.
- Salt and pepper
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Wash the fish, pat dry and chop into bite size cube, drain and season. Do not remove the bones. They impart an extra layer of flavour to the dish.
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In a deep pot, add and heat enough oil for deep frying
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Deep-fry the fish until golden brown. Keep. The fish must be still moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.
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Wash the immature snake gourd and pat dry.
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Scrape the thin outer layer off the gourd with a knife and wash the gourd again.
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Trim the ends and slit in two length-wise and use a spoon to scrape off the central core of seeds and white pith leaving only the outer flesh.
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Rinse and cut into pieces of approximately 3 cm x 2 cm and keep.
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Wash and peel the potatoes and pat dry. Cut into bite size and shallow fry until golden brown and keep.
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In a pot, heat oil add flour, stir until it starts to brown. You are basically making a brown roux (note 1), except that you are using oil and not butter.
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Reduce heat and add onion, garlic, and ginger, cook until the onion is translucent.
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Add chopped tomatoes, snake gourd and thyme, add about 200ml of the water and stir thoroughly. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
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Moisten with remaining water, and add fried fish and fried potatoes, gently stir and simmer for about 15 minutes. Avoid stirring too much as this may break up the fish. The sauce of the daube will be fairly thick.
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Season and serve with plain boiled rice and a pumpkin chutney.
- A roux is a combination of butter or margarine and flour cooked together. It is a base for some thick sauces and there are of three types depending on the degree of cooking namely the white, blond, and brown roux. I call this step making a ‘rough’ roux because we are using oil and not butter. Basically, what we do is heat the oil in a pot and add the flour and stir until it starts to brown.
- Traditionally the bones are not removed because they impart an extra layer of flavour to the dish, but you may decide to remove all bones and it will not affect the dish much.
- If you are game enough, why not try the fish head instead of the fillet.
- If you cannot access the trevally any snapper will do, or any firm white-flesh fish is also a good substitution.
- The frying assists in imparting more flavour to the dish as well as giving the fish a ‘hardened surface’ so that it does not break up in the cooking process