Fish with Raw Plantain

For dinner today, I was in the mood to cook something ‘not so everyday’ and the fish fillets sitting in the freezer were beckoning me :-). I decided to try out a recipe used by a chef on a television shown. Here is my adaptation of the recipe...

 Ingredients

300 grams of any fish fillet,

1 raw plantain,

50 grams of shallots,

2 twigs of curry leaves,

1 tsp turmeric powder,

2 tsps of chilli powder,

1 tsp cumin powder,

Juice of l lemon,

1 tsp ginger paste,

1 tsp garlic paste,

1 large pinch of cinnamon powder,

½ a black cardamom,

2 petals of star anise,

9-10 black peppercorns,

1 clove,

½ tbsp fennel seeds,

3 cashewnuts,

½ tbsp mustard seeds,

1 green chilli,

Some coriander leaves,

1 tbsp coconut,

½ cup of bhuna masala made by frying 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 tsp each of ginger and garlic paste in some oil (I used Maggi bhuna masala),

½ cup of rice flour,

¼ cup of corn flour,

Salt to taste,

Coconut oil as required

Some lemon wedges

Method

Peel the plantain, don’t peel too thick, some of the peel should be retained.

Boil some water and dunk in the halved plantain. Switch off the gas and let it stand covered for about 10 minutes. Drain well. Cut the plantain into long slices.

Cut the fish fillets into similar sized slices as the plantain.

Mix the rice flour, corn flour, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin powder, lemon juice, ginger and garlic paste and salt to taste. Apply this on the fish and plantain slices and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

Heat little oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the plantain and fish slices till done.

Heat some coconut oil and fry the coconut, coriander leaves, half the curry leaves, cinnamon powder, black cardamom, star anise, black peppercorns, clove, fennel seeds, cashewnuts and mustard seeds. Fry this to a fine paste.

Heat some more coconut oil, add the remaining curry leaves and the shallots. Fry for about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and reserve. In the same vessel add the bhuna masala, the masala paste and about a cup of water. Add salt to taste and let it come to a gentle boil. Fold in the fried plantain slices. Toss well. Add the fried fish slices and toss gently.

Serve garnished with the fried shallots and curry leaves and the lemon wedges.