Kitchen Anugraha: Meen Pollichathu- Fish cooked in banana leaf

My husband's Malayalam accent is terrible. He doesn't know most words and what he does know, he cannot pronounce right. But, if it is to do with food, then he will keep saying it - till I make it for him. And that is the story of the meen pollichathu; he had it for the first time in Kerala and was so smitten that he wanted to have it again. In Kerala they predominantly make this dish with the Karimeen or pearl spot or green chromide fish which is found in the backwaters. In Melbourne, I used the Spanish Mackeral - which is my go to for a lot of these types of traditional dishes. The Karimeen is a fish that tastes divine for all Malayalis and the Spanish Mackeral can never match that; but still, the dish tasted immensely satisfying. The one thing you need for this dish is a nice banana leaf with no tears. The fish is cooked "en papillote" style - and the banana leaf is the key to getting the flavours right. Last year I planted some banana trees in my backyard and I was lucky to get fresh leaves for the dish.

Ingredients for marination:

4 slices of firm, white fish

2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

juice of half a lime

oil for shallow frying

Ingredients for gravy:

1 large red onion - chopped finely

2 large tomatoes - chopped finely ( I used about 10 cherry tomatoes as they are growing abundantly in my garden)

2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely

3-4 green chillies, chopped finely

1 or 2 stalks of curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

a couple of pinches of salt.

Ingredient for Assembly:

1 or 2 large banana leaves

Thread for tying the packages

Step 1:

Make a paste with all of the ingredients listed for marinating. Marinate the fish and leave aside for 30 minutes to an hour.

Using very little oil, shallow fry the fish on both sides for about 2 minutes on each sides. Make sure that the oil is not too hot or the spices on the fish will burn to a crisp. Set aside on a plate.

Step 2:

Add a bit more oil to the same pan and saute the chopped ingredients - start with the onions and when transluscent, add the ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, and lastly the turmeric powder and tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes become mushy. Add salt to taste. The gravy must not be too watery. It just needs to be mushy.

Step 3:

Prepare the leaf. Wash the leaf - there will be cobwebs/ insects etc so wash both sides and once washed, show over an open flame to melt the waxy substance on the leaf. This takes only a few seconds on each side of the leaf and it makes the leaf pliable. Once you have done that, cut the leaf to desired size to fit the fish and to be able to wrap.

Place a tablespoon of the gravy on the base of the leaf, the fish on top of it and then another tablespoon of the gravy on top of the fish.

Step 4:

Wrap the fish into a neat parcel, and using the thread, tie the parcel firmly.

Step 5:

Put the parcels back into your sauce pan, put the lid on and cook the fish on a medium to low flame for about 12 to 15 minutes - 5 minutes on one side and 7 to 10 minutes on the other side. The fish will cook in the steam from the banana leaves and the flavours of the masala will infuse with the steam from the banana leaves and permeate through the fish.