Having a dinner party or need a date night recipe? This Seared Ahi with Cumin Fennel Seed Crust – served over Moroccan lentils with Roasted Moroccan baby carrots, fresh herbs and yogurt drizzle – is so delicious! You will loooooooove it!
Happy weekend! Here’s a simple, delicious recipe for Seared Ahi Tuna with a cumin-fennel seed crust, served over Moroccan spiced lentils – which pairs deliciously with the Sweet and Spicy Roasted Moroccan Carrots in my previous post.
We’ve served this up numerous times in our catering business with happy results. It’s perfect for a date night dinner or a plated dinner party.
TIP: The secret to searing ahi tuna, is getting the skillet hot hot hot before you start, then searing all sides quickly and evenly, searing the crust until golden but keeping the inside rare. It only takes a few minutes! Then slice and serve. Beautiful and easy.
In Ayurvedic medicine, fennel seeds and cumin seeds make up two of the three healing spices that aid digestion, coriander being the third, which I put in the lentils. Healing aside, I love this combination of flavors and I think you will too! Anyways I hope you enjoy this Seared Ahi Tuna with Cumin Fennel Seed Crust…. its so tasty served over Moroccan seasoned lentils and the Moroccan Roasted Carrots. Give it a whirl and please let me know how you like it in the comments below!
For more tasty healthy Seafood Recipes…. make sure to check these out!
Print
Seared Ahi with Moroccan Lentils
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main, fish, gluten-free
- Method: Seared
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Description
Seared Ahi Tuna with a Cumin Fennel Seed Crust, over Moroccan lentils with roasted baby carrots, fresh herbs and a yogurt drizzle .
Ingredients
- 8–10 ounces Ahi tuna ( 2 x 4-5 ounce pieces or equivalent)
- 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons oil ( olive, coconut)
Seasoned Lentils
- 1 cup black lentils – beluga or black caviar
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- squeeze of lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley, dill or cilantro
- drizzle plain yogurt- optional
Instructions
- Set lentils to boil with water, salt and spices in a medium pot. Once boiling, cover and simmer on low heat until cooked through about 20-25 minutes. Uncover and let any extra liquid reduce for a few minutes. Drizzle with olive oil. Adjust salt and add a squeeze of lemon.
- Mix ahi spices together in a wide shallow bowl. Cut ahi no thinner than one inch thick at thinest point. Heat a generous amount of oil in a cast iron skillet, over medium high heat.
- Coat all sides of the ahi in the spice mix.
- When pan is smoking ( you wan the oil to be very hot), very carefully, slowing lay the Ahi in the hot oil. Using a splatter guard, protect yourself from popping seeds. You can also use a lid, but make sure to leave it partially open ( you don’t want ahi to steam or over cook)
- Sear each side about 1 -2 minutes or until golden. You want the edges seared just until golden and crispy, but the middle cooked rare. Set aside and slice.
- Plate the lentils, drizzle with plain yogurt and top with the Moroccan Roasted Carrots and Ahi.
- Sprinkle with fresh herbs.
Notes
Remember the key to getting a crispy crust on the Ahi- is to get the pan really nice and hot. Smoking hot!
Nutrition
- Calories: 450
Truly, an excellent recipe Sylvia. The combination of flavours was spectacular!
So glad to hear this!
There were no carrots in the ingredients for carrots
Hi There- sorry for the confusion, the Moroccan Carrots are a separate recipe- just click the link in the recipe post!
I just found your website from Paleomg referencing your miso carrot sauce and I have not stopped looking since. We made this today for lunch and the flavors were truly amazing. We are looking forward to trying many more recipes, thank you!
So glad you found us Dani!
As usual, this recipe is a feast at home, thanks to Sylvia! I made it, with the delicious Moroccan carrots, twice in two weeks, for friends and family. Gives you an idea of how delicious it is.
Awesome Lou! Great to hear!
Amazing dish! Every bite contained a subtle taste of the flavors.
I was trying to use food on hand and googled “tuna and lentils” thinking of a bowl for dinner. Your ingredients spoke to me. I had everything on hand – including baby carrots. Kismet!
Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to see what else you’ve done. 😊
Awesome Terri- glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight. One of your best recipes (and that is saying something – there are so many great ones)! I’ve made thisbefore and forgot how incredible it is! So many layers of flavor. Just phenomenal! Thank you!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Awww…. thanks Shannon- I like this one too!
I made this last night for a late dinner. We had worked outside till late and didn’t want to eat anything heavy. This was perfect. It was filling but didn’t leave us stuffed . I had frozen tuna steaks so ran them under cold water for a little bit to defrost. The tuna seared perfectly although I cooked it a tad longer then suggested since it was still cold. The combination of everything all together was so flavorful. It felt like we were eating at a high end restaurant. The leftovers the next day were even better. Another winner
Thanks Trudy! Glad you enjoyed it.
this was great as I miss restaurant-style dishes like this having been stuck at home during the pandemic. Beautiful to plate and delicious to eat and very easy to make including making the roasted carrots. The 3/1 ratio for water to lentils was quite a bit more than needed with the caviar lentils i used so had to cook them much longer than I anticipated which meant my carrots were done too early.
Thanks I will note the recipe!
It’s delicious !!! Together with the kids we loved it!! Thank you
This was AMAZING. We loved every bite.
i made this last week and it was amazing!!! my husband and i just loved it! and it was surprisingly straightforward and quick for such a fancy looking meal!
i made this for dinner the other night and it was amaaaaaaazing!!! loved every bit of it. i must admit i used du puy lentils as i could not find any black lentils so I’m not sure how much that would change it but whatever! it was delicious!!
one thing i noticed: it looks like the tuna makes enough for 2 people but the lentils (and the referenced carrots) make enough for 4 people. i just halved the latter two for my husband and me.
honestly, i can’t stop yapping about how tasty this was. love love love!
Thanks Erin! Im so glad you enjoyed it …I like this one too!
Beautiful dish and I love your bowl. Where do you get it?
I picked it up at a vintage store!