Iraqi Fish With Pomegranate and Loomi (Samak Tibsi)

UmmBinat's Note:

"It’s called samak tibsi in Iraq, samak meaning fish and a tibs being the kind of pot it is usually baked in. Despite the long oven time, the fish remains moist thanks to the syrup and the insulation of the vegetables." This is wonderful served over Bahraini Sweet Rice (Muhammar) along with a fresh salad masha Allah. Both dried limes and pomegranate molasses can be found in Middle Eastern shops. Modified from a recipe found on http://desertcandy.blogspot.com.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0

• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon allspice (or 1 tbs Another Allspice Substitute (Halal))
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste, I don't use when using the Another Allspice Substitute (Halal) I just add a bit more of that recipe)
• sea salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper (original recipe called for 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes which I couldn't locate)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 lbs thick white fish fillets (such as orange roughy or red snapper)
• 3 large sweet onions
• 4 dried limes (loomi, noomi basra in Middle Eastern stores, may use white or black version)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb tomato, sliced
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses dissolved in 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F Combine the spices in a small bowl. Rub half the spices over the fish fillets.
2. Grease a casserole dish with 1 tbs of the butter.
3. Thinly slice the onions and seperate into rings.
4. Toss the onions with the remaining spices to coat.
5. Spread half the onions in the bottom of your dish.
6. Cut the fish into medium-sized pieces and arrange over the onions.
7. Cut several slits in the dried limes and nestle them amongst the fish.
8. Scatter the minced garlic over top.
9. Dot the remaining tablespoon of butter over top.
10. Top with the remaining onions, then cover the whole dish with the tomato slices. Overlap the tomato slices slightly as the will shrink when baking.
11. Pour the pomegranate molasses dissolved in 3/4 cup water, over top.
12. Bake the dish for 45-50 minutes, until the onions are softened. Serve warm over a rice dish such as Bahraini Sweet Rice (Muhammar) or Rice With Onion (Mashkoul) or with fresh bread to mop up the juices and a fresh salad.
13. NOTE: When serving, you shouldn't actually eat the dried limes (loomi)!
14. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Dreamer in Ontario]

What a delicious, moist dish this is! I used Homemade Pomegranate Molasses for the pomegranate syrup and prepared the recipe as written. Made for the July NA/ME Tag.