Whole Roasted Fish
Whole roasted Bhetki. Gorgeous bhetki. A wicked marinade. Wrapped in banana leaves and char grilled to perfection. Ideal for that lazy Sunday lunch ?
Ingredients
For the fish roast
- 1 800-900g whole bhetki scaled, cleaned and gutted
- 1/2 tbsp gondhoraj lebu juice
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 gondhoraj lebu
- cooking oil for greasing
- 4 big banana leaves
For the marinade
- 2 one inch lemongrass stalks
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 2 inch ginger sliced
- 8-10 fresh red chillies
- 4 garlic cloves
- 10-12 gondhoraj lebu leaves
- 3 tbsp tomato paste cooked ( 2 big tomatoes boiled, peeled and puréed, then cooked to a sticky consistency in 2 tsp of oil)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1/2 tbsp zest of gondhoraj lebu
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the fish and pat dry. Score the fish (till the main bone) at 1/2 inch intervals on both sides with a sharp knife as shown in the picture.
- Marinate the fish with lemon juice and kosher salt. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
- Take the lemon grass stalks, ginger, garlic, onions, red chillies and 5-6 gondhoraj lebu leaves, grind to a paste.
- Transfer the above paste to a mixing bowl, add the tomato paste, fish sauce, lemon zest, cooking oil, salt , sugar and coarsely ground peanuts. Give it all a hearty mix.
- Smear the marinade all over the fish (including the insides) to coat it well. Keep aside for 30 odd minutes.
- Cut off the central vein of the banana leaves . Warm the leaves over a very low flame, taking care to not char or burn the leaves.
- In a greased baking tray, place two pieces of banana leaf overlapping each other, do ensure they cover the tray. Brush the leaves with oil.
- Gently place the fish on the leaves, add the remaining marinade evenly on the top.
- Place the remaining gondhoraj lebu leaves on the fish, top with a few lemon slices.
- Cover well with another two banana leaves. Brush a little oil on the top of these banana leaves.
- Preheat the oven to 200C, bake the fish for 20-25 minutes. Check with a skewer. The skewer should come out clean.
- Switch the oven to the grill mode, increase the temperature to 210C. Remove the top banana leaves carefully, grill for 5 odd minutes.
- Take the tray out from the oven very carefully and allow the fish to rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with a dash of gondhoraj lebu and a bowl of piping hot steamed rice or coconut rice.