Have you ever gone out on a vacation only to crave ‘ghar ka khaana’? Is being homesick somewhat synonymous with missing ‘home cooked meals’ for you? Not that we are too picky about food, but it happens to us every so often. Just the other day, Anshuman & I got talking about ‘comfort foods’ – the kind of food which will give you that comfortable, warm-fuzzy, contented and homely feeling. And if you know me, no points for guessing what my comfort food is – it’s gotta be rice, solkadi & fried fish!
Growing up, seafood was an essential part of our meals. We could, probably, go on for weeks without meat…but fish, we had to have!
I remember my trips to the fish market with mom. As smelly as they were, I was always intrigued with how ‘her preferred’ fisherwoman always gave her the best deal, or so we thought (?). I loved watching my mom bargain and I secretly aspired to have my own “dedicated fisherwoman” one day. :-)
However, for all the seafood we had, it was surprising we never ate stuffed pomfret at home. I recently asked my mom why and she confessed that was because she doesn’t have much of a liking for this preparation.
Mumma, I hope you will read this blog, try the recipe and enjoy it. That will be the best culinary compliment I will receive!
Ingredients:
Fish :-)
Tip: I tend to buy the smaller pomfret, so you can serve the whole fish together with the stuffing to one person and don’t have to cut it up. This way, the presentation looks good too! You can substitute pomfret for butterfish.
For the stuffing:
Coriander
Ginger
Garlic
Green chillies
Coconut
Salt to taste
For the coating:
Turmeric
Red chilli powder
Salt
Tamarind paste
Ginger-garlic paste
Rava (Semolina/ sooji)
Rice flour
The recipe:
The stuffing:
Grind all the ingredients for the stuffing in a mixer.
Tip: Don’t add water at all to begin with. Let the water from the coriander or frozen coconut to mix everything. The stuffing should be as thick as possible so it doesn’t run out. Add 1 spoon of water at a time, so you don’t have excess of it.
The coating mix:
* Depending on what kind of tamarind you have, you’ll need around 1.5 tsp of tamarind pulp. I tend to add more of it, because I love the tangy flavor. If you have whole actual tamarind, microwave a few spoons of water for 30 seconds and let the tamarind sit in it for around 5 mins.
* Mix the turmeric, salt, red chilli powder, 1tsp of ginger-garlic paste and tamarind together. Add VERY LITTLE water again.
* Clean the fish properly. You may keep the head and tail for *ahem* aesthetic/ presentation value. I know a lot of you would probably snip it off for the very same reason. :-)
* Make a horizontal slit along the length of the fish, but be careful to not cut open too wide or else the stuffing won’t stay.
* Add as much stuffing as you can add in the slit.
* Coat the fish with the coating mix and let it sit in the fridge for about 20 mins to an hour.
* You can use a thread to tie up the fish.
* Mix equal portions of rava and the rice flour. I tend to use both because rava gives a crunch while the rice flour tends to coat more evenly. Put a pinch of salt in this mix.
* Remove the marinated fish, remove the thread and coat with this mix.
* Shallow fry on low heat.
For those of you watching your weight, you can bake this as well. If you plan to bake instead of frying –
* Minimize the rava in your coating.
* Spray the fish and baking tray evenly with some oil spray.
* Bake at 325F for 10-15 minutes.
* Keep checking as fish doesn’t take very long to cook.
* When you think the fish is cooked, broil on high heat around 425F for around 5 mins before turning the oven off.
Serve hot. Garnish with a wedge of lime. Stuffed Pomfret is best enjoyed with rice and solkadi*. Get yourself a refreshing cold lager to wash down the spicy fish!
Meher turned 8 months old this week and what better way to celebrate than with a good homely dinner of fried fish and rice! Ah, the Goan in me has spoken. :)
Happy 8th month birthday, Miu baby!
Solkadi* - A coconut milk preparation usually had with rice in western coastal India.
