Meen Pollichathu ~ Kerala style Baked Fish

One thing I miss the most here in the US, is a ventilated kitchen. Whatever you cook, the smell just remains within the house. If its some baked goodies, its ok because they leave the smell of the essence. But what if it is fish? Fishy smell is not really pleasant, isn't it? So we have almost given up frying fish, but the malayali in me can't resist it when I see the fish lined at the Indian/Asian stores here. So we indulge in these occasionally.

I remember having meen pollichathu long back, made by my mom's cousin, when we had come down to Kerala during our vacation. Those were delicious. I wanted to try it for so long.

Given the fact that, that week's Indian store shopping got us lucky with fish and some banana leaf, I thought of finally making it a reality, else I would have to wait for another batch of banana leaf to appear, which I would be unsure of.

This is the recipe of the Meen pollichathu that we made and had it till we were done having the last crumbs, off the banana leaf.

Ingredients

For the cleaning, marination and frying of fish

1. 1 tbsp of vinegar
2. One whole fish or 2 fish fillets - I used whole Pomfret for this recipe
3. 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
4. 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder
5. 1/2 tsp of pepper powder
6. Salt to taste
7. 2-3 strands of curry leaves
8. 1-2 tbsp of oil for frying the fish (preferably coconut oil)

For the masala

1. 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp of oil (preferably coconut oil)
2. 5-6 shallots finely sliced
3. 1/2 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
4. 1/2 tbsp of finely chopped garlic
5. 2 green chillies finely chopped
6. 1/2 tsp of coriander powder
7. 1/2 tsp of chilly powder
8. 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
9. 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
10. Curry leaves
11. Salt to taste
12. 1/4 cup of thick coconut milk
13. Banana leaf/ aluminium foil

Method

Cleaning, marination and frying of fish

• Clean the fish thoroughly. Give it a final rinse in a bowl of water, vinegar and 1/2 tbsp of salt. Pat it dry using a paper towel and make gashes on both sides of the fish. 
• Marinate the fish with turmeric powder, red chilly powder, pepper powder and salt. Keep it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 
• Heat a pan and pour the oil. Line the strands of curry leaves and place the fish on top of it. Fry both the sides of the fish lightly, by flipping it when necessary. Remove it on to a plate when done.

Preparing the masala

1. In the same pan, pour the oil. Once hot, drop in the ginger, garlic and green chillies. Once they loose their rawness, add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and salt. Let the shallots turn soft. 
2. Add in the coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder. Give it a stir and add the lemon juice. Give it another stir. Now add the coconut milk. Let it heat up untill it just starts to boil. The masala mixture should be more like a paste and not too runny. 
3. Spread the aluminium foil or banana leaf (which ever you are using to bake the fish) on a baking sheet. Spread half of the masala on it and place the fried fish on top of it. Now spread the remaining masala on top of the fish. Fold the aluminium foil/banana leaf to wrap up the fish completely. If using the banana leaf, tie it up with a twine. 
4. Bake it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes @ 400 F.
5. You could also grill it on the stove. Just place the wrapped up fish in a hot cast iron skillet and place another heavy pan on top of it. Grill it on medium high heat flipping it every 10 minutes to cook them evenly.
6. Serve it hot with some steamed rice and it would be heavenly. All you would be missing, would be a real Alappuzha house boat.

Tips

1. Do not over fry the fish, it should be half fried. 
2. Placing the strands of curry leaves, when frying the fish helps to prevent the fish from sticking on to the pan and also adds flavor and taste.
3. If using banana leaf, wash the banana leaf and wipe off excess water from it. Heat up the stove and turn it on low. Place the banana leaf on the stove on low heat for just seconds just untill they start to change from bright green to dull green, so that it looses its stiffness and is flexible enough to wrap the fish in it, without tearing off the leaf. You need to be very careful doing it else you might just burn up the leaf.