thecookscottage

An illustrated glossary of Indian Fish-3 - Malabar Sole

 

Flatfish are common in India one of the most important fisheries being the Malabar Sole or  Lep as it is known in the vernacular in Maharashtra. Scientifically known as cynoglossus semifasciatus it is found in greater numbers in the waters of the Indian Ocean on the east coast and in the estuary of the Godavari, for which reason it is more commonly known as the Bengal tongue-sole in English. It is also found around Sri Lanka where it is native.

I buy sole at the Kirkee fish market which is open till late in the evening. They stock a lot of river fish,  eel, shark and other species which are not always available in other areas of the town.

Other common names for sole are Nangu in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. It is also referred to as Manthal in Kerala and Nakkumeen in Tamilnadu. Since there are 137 species of tongue fish it is likely that one can be mistaken for a different variety in different states. The Kukur jeebh of Bengal is also referred to as Bengal tongue sole in English( note: without a hyphen)  but its scientific name is cynoglossus cynoglossus, thus a different species.

Relatively inexpensive as compared to the pomfret, sole is a common food fish especially amongst the poor. Is is not, however, as rich in Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, as in fish like the salmon and mackerel .

Like other tongue fish it feeds on the ocean and estuary floors and is fished in the ocean only when it comes in to fairly shallow waters in September and October. During the monsoon, shoals tend to go out into deeper waters. At the end of October they migrate out again to breed, returning only at the onset of the monsoon. The biggest catches are, however, on the Malabar coast between Kadapuram in Thrissur district and Edakkad in  North Kerala.

The Malabar sole, as with all tongue fishes, has both its eyes on the left side of its head and can be recognized by its shape which is ovoid in the front and pointed towards the tail. The following simple fried fish recipe is good for all flat fish.

Fried fish - Tala hua macchhi

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

• ½ kg small  Malabar sole fish (about 6).
• 6 tbsp rava / semolina
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp haldi / turmeric
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 limes cut into quarters

Clean sole by peeling off the skin. It comes off really easily. Cut head and wash well.

Mix all the masalas and rub on both sides of the fish. Let it stand for half an hour. Now spread the rava / semolina on a plate and coat both sides of all the  fish.  Heat half  the oil in a large non stick frying pan and fry three fish at a time.  Brown well on both sides for 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately with lime quarters and tomato chutney.

Fishy Business - An illustrated glossary of Indian Fish -2. Pomfret

Pomfret is the party fish in this part of the world. If fish is served, at a lunch or dinner occasion, it has got to be pomfret. No Parsi wedding is complete without it . Pomfret takes pride of place on the menu and justifiably so. It has a delicate flavour, a central bone and is not too fishy.

When eating sea food I am almost spineless. Which means I don't like to fish the bones out of my mouth and prefer something not too spiky. Most Bengalis are adept at separating the bones from the flesh, even while chewing, a talent which I envy. It enables them to enjoy even the boniest of fish. They also crunch up fish skeletons with alacrity. Many sea food lovers would choke over lesser carcasses. I am told that Bengalis attribute their highly developed intellect (ahem) to their fish intake, which is pretty steep when compared to other communities .

Sadly, the price of silver pomfret has gone through the roof and it has become a delicacy for the wrong reasons. The fish monger slices each piece of fish like a diamond cutter works on each facet of a gem. Slowly and deliberately, setting each precious chip aside however microscopic.

Pomfret is also known as Butterfish, and is available throughout India, perhaps to a greater degree in Maharashtra. The three varieties are :

Silver Pomfret

Silver Pomfret (Pampus argenteus) is known as Vichuda or Paplet in Gujerati, Saranga, Chandava, Papleet or Paplet in Marathi, Pomfret or Chandi in Bengali, Chandee or Ghia in Oriya, Chanduva or Nallachanduva in Telugu , Karuvaval in Tamil, Avoli, Velluvolli , Velutha Avoli in Malayalam, Manji or Thondrette in Kannada,Surangat in Konkani, Silver Pomfet or white pomfret in the UK, Palometon platero in Spain, Lowandg in Indonesia and Ilak in the Phillipines.

White Pomfret
Pampus chinensis (Chinese pomfret)
which is often known by the same common name as the silver pomfret in different regions of India though it is not as widespread,

Black Pomfret

and Black Pomfret , Parastromateus niger which is known as Halwa in Hindi, Marathi and Gujerati , Karauthakoli or Karuvolli or Vellavoli in Malayalam, Karuvavalor, Vavval, or Vellaivaval in Tamil, Thellachanduva or Nallachanduva in Telegu, Thondrotte in Kannada, Slade or Butterfish in Australia, Palometa Negra in Spain, Black Pompano, Black Pomfret or Sweep in the U.S, Castoline Noire in France, Gebel in Indonesia, Kuro-Aji-Modoki in Japanese and, what do you know, Doggie in Australia

Of the three species the Silver pomfret is most common. Black pomfret is also widespread and Chinese pomfret, though familiar on the East coast, is rare on the West coast and not as readily available as the other two. Pomfret is fished extensively in the Arabian Sea from September to January and the season is at its height from October to the end of the year.
I like to bake pomfret as it retains its flavour and does not fall apart. Here is a recipe which always turns out well.

Baked Masala Pomfret Packets

To serve 4

Ingredients:

4 small silver pomfret about 6" in length and about 300-400 gms each. Fillet , wash and clean,without removing the skin.
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp haldi / turmeric

1/2 coconut grated.
1-4 green chillies minced.
2 inches ginger peeled and roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic.
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp jeera /cumin powder
2 tsp dhania/ coriander powder
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 piece of gur / jaggery or 1/2 tsp of brown sugar.

Foil

Make a mixture of the salt, pepper,chilli powder and turmeric and rub on the insides of the fillets. In a blender, grind all the other ingredients into a smooth paste . Place a fillet of pomfret on a piece of foil. Spread a generous amount of paste on it. Cover with the top fillet. Wrap into a neat parcel leaving a tiny pocket of air on top and place on a baking dish. Do the same with the other 3 pomfrets.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. When hot, place dish with fish inside and cook for 15-20 minutes till the flesh is white and flakes when tested with a fork.
Remove and serve hot with chapathies or rice. This is also delicious with crusty bread and a tomato salad.

(If you can get hold of some banana leaves you could use them instead of foil . If wrapped in banana leaves, steam the parcels in a covered steamer on the stove top for half a hour.)

7/20/2006

Pomfret curry at Morjim

Morjim is one of the quieter beaches in North Goa and well worth a visit. We stayed at one of the few 'resorts ' there which consisted of some wooden shacks with attached baths open to the sky. Very nice. But the food was awful. This might have ruined the few days we had there but we were lucky to find the "Seahorse Restaurant" on the corner of the Morjim Mandrem crossroads.
Mandrem is known for the Olive Ridley turtles which nest and lay their eggs there. Hopefully this wonderful spot will not be ruined by shacks which have sprung up a little too close for comfort on the beach, several of them licenced out to a few Europeans( exceptions obviously) trying to make a quick buck by encroaching on the habitat of the very same attraction which has enabled them to earn a living in this beautiful place.

Anyhow about the "Seahorse". It is owned by the Shetgaunkars, a husband and wife team. Sujata does the cooking and Uday runs the bar, the little tandoori area and does the waiting on tables. The restaurant seats 20 people and is very popular amongst the locals which gives you an idea of the quality of the food.
The Shetgaunkars have been in the restaurant business for 15 years, having run the Residency restaurant in Margao. They then tried to start an eating place on Bogmalo beach, next to Joets, but the investment was too high, barely clearing a profit after the season's license and electricity bills were paid off. So they decided to come home and start anew in their own village. They have built a basic little place decorated with yellow mirror work lanterns and red check tablecloths complete with a TV showing Hindi soap operas, popular with the villagers who actually come for the welcome change of tandoori and chinese food which are on the menu, but don't want to miss out on their favourite programmes.

We had malai kebabs from the tandoor which were smooth as cream, and then opted for the Konkani cuisine. A pomfret curry cooked in a different way from the usual Goan style and a very nice dal fry which was out of this world with hot buttered naan.

Sujata will especially cook vegetables and fish or prawns in the Konkani style if ordered in advance. She shared the fish curry recipe with me.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized pomfret about 750 gms
• 1/2 coconut
• 5 flakes of garlic
• 1" fresh ginger
• 4 green chillies
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large tomatoes.
• 1/2 tsp haldi /turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp jeera / cumin powder
• 4 red chillies
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chopped green coriander

Chop the coconut roughly, peel garlic chop ginger and chillies. Combine all and grind into a paste in a blender. Cover the paste with 3 cups of hot water and set aside.

Slice the pomfret into thick slices. Chop the onion into fine slices. Break the red chillies into pieces and shake out the seeds. Blanch the tomatoes in hot water. Dunk in cold water and peel. Then chop into peices.

Heat the oil and fry the onions till golden brown. Add the fish slices and fry lightly for a few mintes till brown . Remove.To the same oil add the chopped , peeled tomatoes, the cumin, haldi, red chilli bits and salt. When the tomatoes have dissolved add the coconut paste and water. Cook the paste for ten minutes. Add the fish slices and cook for another 5 minutes. Add a coriander , give the curry a good stir and serve with rice.

It is a bit of a walk from the beach to the Sea Horse but well worth it.The Shevgaunkars make you feel right at home.

Fishy Business- An illustrated glossary of Indian Fish - 1. Bombay Duck

Moving home means major upheaval in India. More so when the move is from one state to another.  Beside the usual challenges one has to face, like packing and unpacking, finding an appropriate place for everything, setting up the kitchen from scratch, finding new schools, and new doctors and dentists and friends, there is one more important, basic necessity: acquiring a quick knowledge of the local language in order to feed one's family.

I mean, try finding the word for nutmeg in Chennai, red snapper in Cochin, lotus seeds in Calcutta, or bottle gourd in Chandigarh. You would have to be a walking Tower of Babel.

Many Indian cookbooks give a cursory nod in the direction of this problem by adding a glossary of ingredients in different languages at the end of the book. Most prove to be vastly inadequate, if not entirely misleading. And let me tell you from experience, a spice by any other name does not taste as sweet. In fact, it can be positively ghastly.

Supermarkets, where one can identify everything by sight, do not exist in many towns and cities. One has to depend on the small, but well stocked, general store, where everything is out of sight and will be produced if asked for by the right name. So this knowledge of the local name for ingredients becomes critical.

My biggest problem has been with fish. In the early days of my cooking years it was easy enough when I walked through the 5.a.m. catch at Sassoon Docks in Bombay, picking up a kilo or more of prawns from a mound here, and a couple of pomfret from another mound there. The fisherwomen selling the fish had no weighing scales, and it was all an approximate amount, with prices negotiated on the spot. They found it quite amusing to sell small quantities to me, being more used to the wholesale buyers who generally came each morning and bid for one fisherman's entire catch.
I did not always know the name of the fish, and learned about the taste and the way it could be cooked through sheer trial and error. Some years later we moved to London and I had no idea what to ask the fishmonger. A fish that tastes like pomfret? The closest thing to surmai (by then, already my favourite fish)? By the time I got to know my fish facts we were in Delhi or some other part of India, where the process began all over again.
A moveable feast is not as easy as it sounds.
For all those who have suffered from life on the move, or even for those who travel for pleasure and would like to know what to ask for, or what sea creature they are about to ingest, here is the first in a 10-part series of an illustrated glossary of some of the commercial fish of India.

Bombay Duck all in a Row

I must begin with Bombay Duck, which, with its overbite, is possibly one of the most determinedly ugly fish ever seen. Commonly known as Bombil in Marathi and Oriya, Bamalohor and Nehare in Bengali, Bumla and Gulchi in Gujerati, Coco-mottah in Telegu,Vanharavasi in Tamil, it is also known by different names in other countries. Bumalo in Spain, Bumblim in Portugal, Bummalo in Germany, Tenaga-mizutengu in Japanese and Bombay Duck in most other European and Scandinavian countries.

This fish constitutes a major part of the total catch in India, and most of it comes from the Konkan Coast of Maharashtra, Gujerat and Saurashtra. Bombay Duck or Harpodon nehereus is also caught in substantial quantities in the Bengal estuaries and on the Andhra and Orissa coastlines in Masulipatnam and Jaffrabad. Some of it is sold fresh, but, as it is a very soft fish, it is susceptible to spoilage, so much of it is sun dried. A common sight in all fishing villages along the Maharashtrian coast are the ropes strung on bamboo poles where they are hung by the teeth. The familiar smell of drying fish follows you when walking on the beaches along the western coast.

Its somewhat misleading name is supposed to have come from the fact that the dried fish was carried, in the days of yore, by the Bombay Mail train and stank its way through the entire journey, gaining the train and its goods some notoriety. Dak being the Hindi word for Mail, Bombay Dak (i.e. Duck) became the name of the fish.

Dried Bombay Duck for Sale

It is such a favourite amongst Maharashtrians that one well known Maharashtrian cricketer was named Bombay Duck for his seven test zeroes against Australia. Bombay duck is very popular among the CKP community. I am grateful to Deepa Chitre for the following recipe, which is a customary way to cook this fish.

Ingredients
8-10 fresh Bombil ( Bombay Duck (), cleaned and cut into 2 inch pieces,
6 medium size potatoes, preferably round in shape,
3 tablespoons garlic paste
1 tablespoons red chili powder,
1/2 tbsp haldi (turmeric)
1 tablespoon salt
5-6 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves,
4-5 chopped green chilies (to taste),
5 tbsp fresh coconut grated,
4-5 tbsp oil

Thoroughly wash the slices of Bombay Duck in running water. Clean and scrub the potatoes(they will be used with the skin).
Dry the fish and coat the slices with a mixture of garlic paste, chili powder, haldi and salt.
Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Coat with haldi, chili powder, salt, coriander leaves, green chilies and grated coconut.
Put together the potatoes and Bombay Duck, and let the mixture marinate for 1 hour.
Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel , or kadhai. Add the potatoes and fish and let it all cook on a low flame. Initially toss the mixture (instead of stirring), to ensure that the oil spreads through the entire mixture. (The pieces of fish break very easily if stirred.)
Cover and cook till the potatoes are done. Staunchly resist the temptation to open the lid and stir.

While serving take care that the fish pieces do not break.
Serve hot. Do not reheat.

Next fish online:
Pomfret

Ref:Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2006.FishBase.
World Wide Web electronic publication.
www.fishbase.org, version (05/2006).

Surmai- Italian style

Surmai Italian Style

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked spinach made from 2 bundles of spinach
1+1/2 tsp Salt
10 Peppercorns powdered in a mortar
3 tbsp olive oil
11/2 kg whole surmai/ king fish cut into 3/4 inch thick steaks
5 spring onions chopped with greens
7 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbsps Fresh Basil, shredded

Clean 2 bundles of spinach.Chop coarsely.Put into a heavy bottomed pan, cover and cook on a low fire for ten minutes till done. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground pepper and mix.Take a baking dish and sprinkle with1 tbsp olive oil . Make a layer of the spinach .
Wash the surmai steaks and place on the spinach. Sprinkle the rest of the oil, the chopped spring onion and garlic and shredded basil over the fish. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cook in a hot oven, about 400 degrees, for 15 minutes till the fish changes colour and just begins to flake.
Delicious with steamed,salted green beans seasoned with nutmeg , slices of raw tomato and crusty bread .

Surmai has a texture somewhat like tuna but is less dry and much more tasty.It is perfect for western dishes where the natural flavour requires few enhancements.

Laid Back Balchao at Bob's Inn

It is not even a month since I came back from a short break in Goa and it seems like time to return. To the sun, the sand , the sea and mostly the food.

When in Goa I tend to stick to what they do best...sea food. I ate every variation of prawn and fish dishes that they had to serve.I haven't had time to post all the wonderful things we ate there so here I continue.....

One day was spent in the North near Candolim where we had a pleasant meal at Bob's Inn.

A bit more expensive than the seaside shacks,it has a maze of small tents and huts attached to each other to make up the restaurant.There are several cosy areas, where one can have a private lunch and spend several hours in the welcoming shade, while quaffing Kingfisher beer. Which ,by the way, goes very well with the Prawn Balchao we had there.

Goan Prawn Balchao
Ingredients for a generous 4 helpings:

Make a paste of the following:

1 pod of garlic, peeled.
3 "fresh ginger, cleaned and grated
15 whole dried red chillies
4" dalchini / cinnamon
15 green elaichi/ cardomom
15 lavang / cloves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds
1/2 cup malt vinegar.

1 kg prawns, shell, devein and wash well.
Vegetable Oil
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup tomatoes chopped
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves (or a tbsp dried leaves)
2 tsp sugar
Salt

Heat oil and deep fry the prawns for a few minutes...not more than 3 -4 minutes, till they change colour. Take out and set aside.
Remove some of the oil and leaving about three tbsps fry the onions until well browned.
Now add the chopped tomatoes and stir well till softened. Add the paste and saute till the oil seperates from the paste.It gets a light shine.
Return the prawns to the kadhai,/pan add curry leaves and sugar, stirring well. Now add salt to taste.
Serve with steamed rice . This tastes delicious with chapathi or any crusty bread as well.

Goan Gobbro Curry- Rock Fish Curry

The fisherwomen were out this morning sitting in the shed constructed by the Chicolna panchayat.The catch seems very small but the best has already gone, taken by the bigger buyers as soon as the boats come in, in an on-the-spot auction on the beach.What little left is sold by the women to the local people in a couple of hours.

Tiny Pomfret, a handful of miniscule Mackerel,and Gobbro a type of Rockfish. Gobbro is a larger fish and very popular on this side of Goa.Claudi makes a great fish curry from Rock fish at his laid back restaurant, a hundred yards from where we stay.It is an open air, circular, structure made of the red laterite stone so typical of all Goan houses.Even at the height of summer it stays cool at Claudi's.

He is well known among Vasco residents and Goans come from the local area to eat here. Lunch is a laid back affair with the waiters and owner watching cricket and football matches avidly on the T.V, their attention diverted to the customer for just as long as it takes to serve them.If no matches are going on, it is seriously quiet at Claudi's.

Give the Chinese and Tandoori fare, which are also on the menu, a miss, and stick to fish or prawn curry.

Here is a nice recipe for Gobbro Curry

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Kg Rock fish cut into slices
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 green chillies,slit and deseeded (optional)
• Tamarind Pulp. Made from tamarind the size of a walnut soaked in 1/2 cup of water, or a few kokum .
• Salt to taste

Grind the following ingredients in a blender with a little water till very smooth:

• 12 cloves lasun/ garlic
• 2 tsp dhania /coriander seeds
• 6 dried red Kashmiri chillies
• 10 peppercorns
• 1/4 -1/2 fresh coconut,grated
• 1 tsp haldi /turmeric powder

This curry can be a thin or thick one depending on the amount of coconut used. Put the chopped onion,green chillies and ground masala puree in a pan with 2 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn heat to medium low and cook for about 30 minutes,Sieve the tamarind soaked in water through a strainer . Add the pulp to the mixture 15 minutes into cooking. Add the sliced fish,and bring to the boil again,reduce heat and simmer.Cook for 5 minutes.Add salt to taste. Serve with parboiled or brown rice.

Meal for 2 at Claudi 's with a bottle of Kingfisher Beer each- Rs 200

Claudi
Palimand
Bogmalo
Goa

Back to Bogmalo

Even as we drove the short distance from the airport to Bogmalo I could feel myself relaxing. Memories of the last visit here were enough to do that. Within ten minutes, unpacked and sipping a cup of nice hot tea made by Mrs Rodrigues, the landlady and I am now already to forget the world beyond the village.

The pigs wandered in the scrubby back yard, and the chickens were running around.A pleasant smell of dry burning coconut shells scented the air and wisps of smoke crept over the red tiled huts.As dusk gathered, I could see the toddy tappers perched high in the surrounding coconut trees gathering the day's yield in their black pots.Some were already nimbly climbing down and wending their way along the darkening village road to fill the large vat at the local toddy maker.

Everything was winding down from slow to slower and I was already looking forward to dinner at John's, a shack on the beach where the owner, John, of course, has become famous for his food among the locals on this side of Goa.

People come all the way from Vasco for both lunch and dinner and he remains a firm favourite with many regulars.Sitting out at small tables placed on the sand many of the clients are Goan families, or groups of people from local offices out for the evening.

It is not too hot right now and a cool breeze came in from the sea. Groups of people were still wandering on the beach in the dark and kids were playing .You know you are in Goa when you see kids are playing , not cricket but football. That seems to come with their Portuguese history and young people follow Real Madrid with a passion usually reserved, in the rest of India, for Tendulkar and Co.
It was Karaoke night at Johns and strains of the Eagles, Abba and many '70's tunes filled the air.We sat down and ordered the usual....ice cold Kingfisher beer and Chilli Calamari . The service is leisurely and we had a slow and super dinner.

Here is a recipe for Chilli Calamari.

Ingredients:
2 small squid about 8" long, cleaned and washed.
5 dried red chillies
12 cloves of garlic finely chopped.
3 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil.
Salt
Pepper

Slice the squid into circles of about 1/2 thick. Heat the oil and fry the red chillies and garlic till light brown. Add squid and saute for about 7 minutes till opaque. Add salt and pepper to taste. This tastes wonderful with cold beer on a hot day.

Variations on a Theme-Patrani Machhi

When the Zoroastrians, who were fleeing from persecution in Iran, landed in Navsari , centuries ago , a large number settled in Gujarat itself, and their descendants are now known as the Parsis.

Several became shipbuilders (Wadias) or shipchandlers, and worked in small business and trade, in the port towns of Gujarat.They did well during colonial rule and, under the patronage of the British, several of the community rose to become well known businessmen.(Besides the famous Tata and Godrej, there was Readymoney, Screwvala,( yes I know, poor chap) Sodabottlelightbulbwala, and many others  who became known by the names of their businesses.)

When the first permanent British Cantonment was set up in Pune, Parsi merchants ,who followed the British army where they camped, to supply them with everything from soap to candles, came along with them.

One of them, Dhanjishah Wadia, constructed the first cement road in Pune in honour of the proposed visit of royalty from Britain...The Prince of Wales drive.Perhaps it is the only road in good repair in town today ?

Pune became the place, after Bombay, where the largest number of Parsis settled. And with them came their cuisine some of it with Persian roots and some a strange mix of Iran and England (chips and boiled eggs with biryani).

Parsis are famously known for their enjoyment of life and have a saying:

"Khanar pinar ne khodai apnar."  God gives in abundance to those who eat and drink. And it seems to be true for this fun loving and generous community, so much a part of the Poona landscape.

One of their most famous and mouthwatering dishes is Patrani Machhi, which literally means fish in leaves, and in this case refers to pomfret wrapped in a banana leaf.It is an absolute standard on every Parsi festive menu and must come from the community"s seafaring and coastal days.

Pomfret is a slim, pale grey to white, flat fish ranging in size from 14"   to 5 " and has a delicate flavour.Patrani Macchi calls for it to be filleted and stuffed, then parcelled in banana leaf and steamed.

Here is my take on the recipe... a whole lot quicker and with a more substantial fish -Surmai or King Fish. Surmai has one central bone and is a bit more oily than pomfret . This leads a more succulent result after baking  without wrapping, compared to pomfret.

• 2  steaks, 1/2 " thick, of a large (8" across)Surmai / King Fish.  Each about 1/2 kg in weight .
• 1 large bunch of hara dhania/coriander cleaned and chopped.
• 1 onion chopped.
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 green chillies
• 1 tsp jeera /cumin powder
• 1 tbsp dhania/ corainder powder
• 1/2 tsp haldi / turmeric
• 1/4 coconut grated (optional)
• 2 tblsp lime juice.

Throw all the ingredients into a blender with three tablespoons of water and puree till very smooth. Wash fish slices and put into a ovenproof baking dish . Pour a tablespoon of olive oil or any other vegetable oil over each slice of fish.Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and add salt to taste. Slather the fish with the green chutney to which two tablepoons of lime have been added. Let stand for a half an hour or more, turning once in between so the fiah can soak up the marinade.

Surmai Patrani Machhi Style

Bake in a preheated oven (about 350 degrees ) for 20-25 minutes till done.The fish should flake when tested with a fork  but should NOT be dry.

It is as  tasty as outstanding as the real Parsi thing. Promise.