Baked Fish Paturi

Baked Fish Paturi

Eat light! Feel light! So true during these blistering summer months. 

Fish is one product that can be made in so many ways. Grill it, fry it, steam it! Starter or main dish! It hardly takes any time to cook. Even if you are frying it even the littlest bit of oil would suffice.

Fish Paturi or fish wrapped in banana leaf is a Bengali delicacy. The love affair that Bengalis have with fish is beyond words. The best thing is that Bengali cuisine is rarely heavy on oil, ghee or spices. It is more aromatic that helps in bringing out the natural flavour of the food.

Fish paturi is usually made with Hilsa (slurp!! Oh the God Of Fish!!) or bhetki. However I have made it with Basa which tastes as well if not better. 

The real problem was getting hold of banana leaves. Where will I find banana leaves in the land of Kikkar trees.  The arid desert conditions don’t allow the growth of foliage. 

I improvised and decided to wrap the fish in aluminium foil and bake it in the oven. It was delicious. Agreed that the banana leaves give a different kind of flavour to the dish. 

Wrapping them in foil had a distinct advantage. The fish juices were not able to run out and the fish was cooked in its own flavourful juice. I opened the parcel, took out the fish and allowed the juice to drip all over them. And what was left, I licked!!

Ingredients

500 gm fish (Basa/Hilsa/Bhetki)

5 tbsp khus khus/poppy seeds

3 tbsp mustard seeds

2 green chillies

Salt to taste

Grind together the poppy seeds, mustard seeds, green chillies and salt to a fine paste. Cut the fish into big cubes. Marinate the fish pieces in the paste for at least 1 hour.

Check the seasoning. I have not added turmeric deliberately because I want my fish to be flaky white beauty. You can add turmeric if you wish.

Preheat the oven at 230 degrees Celsius. Wrap the fish pieces in aluminium foil. 

Bake for 25 minutes.