Meen Pollichathu – A Kerala fish delicacy
Typically made with Karimeen (Pearl spot fish), this is a dish that highlights all the local flavours of Kerala – the amazing quality and freshness of seafood, shallots and curry leaves with a touch of coconut milk & coconut oil for enhanced taste and the ultimate visual and taste treat of unwrapping the lightly smoked banana leaf. Bliss !!
This will sound as sacrilege to most malayalees – but “I don’t like Karimeen” !. There you heard me…. I am not a fan of it’s taste though almost everyone I know swear by it. It was also declared as the official state fish for Kerala, so that explains how much it is loved. I prefer the pomfret/ avoli/paplet as it is called in it’s various regional lingo.
This is quite a simple recipe, with not many processes. The only tricky or “slightly” difficult part maybe to wrap the fish in the banana leaf. You do need delicate hands to wrap it as the leaves tear easily. Substitute the banana leaves with aluminium foil in case you do not find these leaves in your supermarket, however it definitely tastes better with the banana leaves.
This is definitely a “pièce de résistance” on your dinner table !!!
Meen Pollichathu
Ingredients
For marinade
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper crushed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 pomfret/avoli/paplet choose any other firm-fleshed fish
- salt to taste
for the masala
- 4 onions sliced
- 1 inch ginger sliced
- 10-12 garlic cloves keep whole
- 1 sprig curry leaf
- 4-5 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1/2 tsp fennel powder
- 1/4 cup thin coconut milk
- 2 banana leaves
- 4 shallots thinly sliced
Instructions
- Clean and make slits lengthwise on the fish. Marinade the fish with the marinade ingredients listed and set aside until you prep the other ingredients (5 minutes)
- In a pan, heat some coconut oil and lightly fry the fish for a couple of minutes only on each side. Do not fry the fish completely, it will cook more later. Just get it seared lightly on each side. Set it aside
- In the same pan, heat some more oil and add the onions, ginger, garlic and curry leaves. fry until onions have softened.
- Add the spice powders and salt and saute this for another minute. Do this on a medium flame to prevent the spices from burning
- Still on a low-medium flame, add coconut milk and stir until just combined
- Switch off the flame and add the shallots, stir to combine with the masala. The shallots will cook slightly in the next stage and retain it's crunch, more yumm.
- Wilt the banana leaves by sliding them over a flame until they become softer and more pliable
- To layer. Place a layer of the onion masala on the banana leaf and place the fried fish on top. Add another layer of masala on top
- Wrap the banana leaf around the fish making a parcel, use a string to keep it closed
- Place the parcel on a lightly oiled pan on a low flame. Cover with a lid to allow it to steam gently and cook on one side only for 5 minutes
- To serve, unwrap the fish from the banana leaf (you can keep it on the leaf) and drizzle some coconut oil over the top. Serve warm with porotta, chappati or even plain steamed rice.
Notes
- Please adjust spice as per your personal preference. The above measurement did not make the dish too spicy, just around the medium-spicy level
- Chilli powder used has a mix of kashmiri chilli powder too for a lovely red color. It is less spicy too.
- If the banana leaves are not too wide, use 2 leaves overlapping each other to make a wider base to wrap the fish.
- The shallots & the coconut oil added at the end bring a lovely flavour to the dish.The shallots soften just a bit and retain their amazing flavour.
