Meen Pollichathu / Karimeen Pollichathu / Fish Cooked in Banana Leaf

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Putting a 85 days old baby to sleep is really a tough one..My lil girl is so naughty and she doesn’t go to sleep that soon. I will be feeding her, and she will be closing her eyes, i think that she is asleep and slowly take her away from me and put into her bedding..With no more than a second she opens her eyes to the widest she can..HA HA. It will be fun to see that, but not everytime 🙁

Yesterday afternoon, i was feeling so tired and feverish. I want to sleep so badly. But she was crying so badly. She will stay quite when she is in my lap, if i put her in the bed, she will start crying again. With no more hope i started playing lullaby in my mobile phone, and what a surprise she was laughing and playing hearing that..Thank God for lullaby 🙂

Enough baby stories, back to todays post.This one is the most awaited post for me. I made it so many month back and actually forgot to post. So i took it out today and made it. This is a yummy fish recipe which is filled with a lovely banana leaf aroma since it is cooked in it. But if you guys find difficult to get banana leaf you can use only foil too. So try this out and let me know how it turns out..

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 50 mins to 1 hour
Serves : 3

Ingredients:

Fish Steaks – 3 (Use any fish, traditional karimeen is used)

For Marination:
Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder / Manjal Podi – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
Coconut Oil – 3 tblspn

For Masala:
Mustard Seeds / Kaduku – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds / Jeerakam – 1/2 tsp
Onion – 1 large chopped finely
Ginger – 1 tsp finely minced
Garlic – 1 tsp finely minced
Green Chilli – 1 finely chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig chopped
Tomatoes – 1 large chopped finely
Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder / Manjal Podi – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves – 3 tblspn finely chopped
Thick Coconut Milk – 1/4 cup
Lemon Juice – 2 tsp

Method:

Take fish steaks in a bowl and add in all the marination ingredients and mix well. Let it marinate for 10 mins.

Now heat oil in a kadai. Fry the fish steaks in hot oil for 3 mins on each side and remove it to a plate.

Now in the remaining oil. Add in mustard and cumin seeds and let it sizzle for 30 sec.

Add in finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic, green chilli and curry leaves.Fry this for 3 to 4 mins till it is light golden.

Now add in all the spice powders and salt. Mix well.

Add in finely chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 mins till it turns mushy.

Now add in coriander leaves and coconut milk. Mix well and simmer it till it is reduced and thickened.

Now squeeze in the lemon juice and mix well. Now the masala is done.

Now take fried fish pieces, masala, banana leaf and foil.

Take a banana leaf and place over the foil. Now place a spoonful of masala on the banana leaf. Place the fried fish on top of the masala. Spoon some more masala over the fish and fold the leaf. Now cover the entire thing with foil so a parcel is formed.

Now heat a tawa on medium heat. Place the parcel over the tawa and cook for 12 mins on each side.

Now remove it from tawa and open the parcel and serve hot.

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