🇮🇶 Iraq
Masgouf
On Baghdad's Abu Nuwas street the carp stand in fiery circles for hours — patience is the recipe.
🔪 Prep: 20 min🔥 Cook: 90 min📈 Difficulty: Medium
Cooking for
4 people
✨ What makes it special
Butterflied carp cured with tamarind, turmeric, and salt, grilled skin-side-last beside (not over) the fire.
Ingredients
- 1½ kgwhole carp or sea bass, butterflied
- 2 tbsptamarind paste
- 1 tbspturmeric
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 2 onions and tomatoes to grill
- 1 lemon
Method
- 1
Slather the opened fish with tamarind, turmeric, salt, and oil.
- 2
Stand it on a rack beside hot coals, flesh facing the fire, for over an hour.
- 3
Finish skin-down over the embers to crisp.
- 4
Serve on bread with grilled onion, tomato, amba, and lemon.
🍽 On your table
How this dish looks served for 4