Fish Baked and Grilled (Rohu)

The very idea of buying fish was not a welcome idea, when I was growing up. Dad always felt, no matter how it was cooked, it left some unpleasant odor. He just could not stand the smell. So it was always chicken for non-veg at home. 

When I got married, DK had given up eating meat. But he was open to me eating it if I wished. Like to goodie wife I am (ha.... haa...), I refused to eat too. This went on for 2 years. Reliance fresh opened up close to our home and we started our weekly grocery and vegetable shopping there. Reliance also has a "Delite" store that stocks meat and farm eggs. When we started exploring that store, he had started feeling the need to make our diet protein rich. So we starting buying chicken (boneless breast) and making chicken gravy at home. 

When we were comfortable with the idea of cooking chicken at home, he wanted to try out fish. I had no idea how to cook fish. So I came up with a basic recipe to make healthy fish grill. I baked the fish first and then grilled it. It was an instant hit at home :) Everyone loved the flavors and the soft cooked flesh. So this became a regular at home too for a while. I could not stand the smell of fish for a while when I was expecting my little girl and fish was one of the items disallowed during the first year of the baby's life. So out went the opportunity to make fish! But chicken continued to be a regular at home. My little girl has come to love chicken so much, that I have to make it atleast once a week. But she had never tasted fish and we decided to make it at home, after a hiatus of more than 2 years.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Fish fillets (rohu works well) - 10

Curry leaves (chopped finely) - 10

Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder (jeera) - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp

Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
1. Clean the fish fillets well.

2. In a small bowl, combine  all the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Apply the masala paste generously over the fillets and allow to marinate for 4 hours in the refrigerator.

3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

4. Arrange the fillets on a lightly greased aluminium foil on a baking sheet and apply olive/sunflower oil on the surface. 

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned. 

6. Finish off by grilling for 5 minutes.

7. Serve hot with Chutney or sauce.

And be ready to get all the adulation for creating a mouthwatering starter :).

Tip: If you cannot grill it right away, put the fillets in a freezer container. The marinated fillets can be frozen for upto 5-6 days. The day you want to grill the fillets, pull out the container from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator for several hours.