Name: Bengali Style Fish cooked in Plantain Leaves recipe by Hazeena Seyad at BetterButter
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 3
Ingredients: Fish - 2 whole white pomfret, cleaned with close slits on both sides; Lime juice - of one lime plus more to drizzle over the fish; Mustard seeds - 2 and 1/2 tablespoons; Grated coconut - 1 cup; Green chillies- 8 or more to taste; Salt - to taste; Sugar -1/2 teaspoon; Turmeric powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoon; Vinegar - 1 teaspoon; Oil - 3 tablespoons to drizzle plus 2 tablespoons to fry; Banana leaves - 2 big strings / thread to tie

ABOUT Bengali Style Fish cooked in Plantain Leaves RECIPE

Other than having a few bengali seniors, class mates and juniors, I have no idea about their food habits to their culture or language. I have heard hubby dear talk a lot about the fish and shell fish in Calcutta and not to forget the mighty rasogullas for sure. I ended up making this dish as when it comes to fish, I always end up with a Tamil or Kerala recipe. I didn't want the regular onion - tomato base, so stuck to this combination of mustard seeds and coconut paste base. I sure did add a few ingredients and followed the recipe to the core. My version has made this dish more flavorsome with an additional dash of vinegar. The final product looked pale, however in taste it was an out of the world and a therapeutic comfort food. This dish can never fail to make you feel indulged. Happy me as I found a wealthy way to play with ingredients in true blue Bengali style. So here starts my inspiration to begin an affair with bong food.

Ingredients Serving: 3

Fish - 2 whole white pomfret, cleaned with close slits on both sides
Lime juice - of one lime plus more to drizzle over the fish
Mustard seeds - 2 and 1/2 tablespoons
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Green chillies- 8 or more to taste
Salt - to taste
Sugar -1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 3 tablespoons to drizzle plus 2 tablespoons to fry
Banana leaves - 2 big strings / thread to tie

Instructions

Smear the fish in salt, lime juice and turmeric powder.
Apply little oil over the banana leaves. Place the greased leaves over a gas burner and smear the leaves so that they loose their firmness. Set aside by cutting them longitudinally into two equal parts.
Grind the mustard seeds, coconut, green chillies with little water and vinegar to a smooth paste. Add sugar, salt , turmeric powder and 3 tablespoons of oil to the ground paste and blitz again to mix well .
Divide the paste into equal two portions and set aside .
Heat oil to shallow fry. Slightly fry the fish in hot oil and keep aside to cool completely.
Coat the cooled fish with the coconut paste. Place a coated fish in the centre of a banana leaf. Drizzle with a squeeze of lime juice and little oil. Neatly fold the banana leaf and tie it with a thick string.
Heat oil in non-stick wide pan. Cook the banana leaf wrapped fish on either sides for 7-8 minutes on a medium-low heat. Then remove and serve hot.

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