Bharlele Pomfret
A delicious Maharashtrian style fish preparation using fresh green masala
Ingredients
- 4-6 small-medium sized pomfret
- 1 big handful fresh coriander leaves, washed and drained
- 1 inch ginger
- 10-12 cloves peeled garlic
- 4-5 green chillies
- 1 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Maharashtrian garam masala (ghati masala)*
- salt to taste
- 5-6 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice*
- 1/2 cup semolina flour
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 cup water or as required for grinding
Instructions
- Clean the pomfret and make a slit in the middle to make place for the filling. Also make few slits on the pomfret to allow the masala to flavour
- Grind together coriander, chillis, lemon juice, garlic and ginger to a smooth paste using little water.
- Set aside one portion of this paste and grind the remaining paste with fresh coconut into a smooth paste
- In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and gently warm the ground coconut and coriander paste with turmeric powder for 2-3 minutes to take out the pungency from the raw ginger and garlic. set this paste aside to cool
- Meanwhile, prepare the flour coating by mixing the semolina and rice flour in a wide plate. Season this with cumin powder, a pinch of garam masala and salt
- Carefully stuff the fish with the ground coconut and coriander paste
- Smear the outside of the fish with the reserved paste (paste without coconut)
- Gently dip the fish into the seasoned flour mixture until coated evenly on both sides
- Heat up a frying up with 3-4 tbsp of oil
- Shake off the excess flour from the pomfret and place it carefully into the pan
- Fry each side for 4-5 minutes or until cooked.
Notes
- Frying the ground paste is essential, else the stuffing tastes of raw ginger and garlic
- You can substitute the lemon juice with tamarind paste
- Increase or decrease the number of green chillies to suit your spice preference
- you can substitute the Maharashtrian masala with garam masala of your choice