Fishy business
While non-vegetarians may differ over their choice of meats, hardly anyone has anything against fish. And since India is replete with coastal towns and communities that get fresh supply of fish from lakes and rivers, we have umpteen ways to cook it and have a more-than-usual open approach to fish recipes from other cultures.
Trinidad Fried Bake ‘n Fish
In the West Indies, especially in Trinidad, this is a very popular beach-side dish and anyone visiting the island will be offered a Bake ‘n’ Fish as soon as he or she visits a beach. It is basically fried dough and highly-seasoned fried fish served with a crispy salad (rocket goes well but since it is not readily available in India, we will go with coleslaw)
Also one can go wild with the sauces one wants to add to the fish, from tomato, hot garlic sauce to chilli sauce, just go ahead and experiment.
Traditionally shark is used but you can use any firm white fish like Red Snapper or King Fish
Ingredients
For the fried dough
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
Water
Oil for frying
For the Fish
400 gm fish fillets
2 lemons
Breadcrumb
Flour
2 tbsp minced chive and thyme
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying
Method
For the fried dough:
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder and add around two and a half cups of water to make a soft dough. Knead it like a normal roti dough and leave it to rise for around 40 minutes.
Divide the dough into six portions and roll out or flatten each portion to a diameter of five to six inches and ¼ inch thick. Shallow fry each dough in hot oil till brown, turning once. It will be like a thick paratha.
Drain on kitchen paper and keep aside.
For the fried fish
Marinate the fish in lime and salt for about 15 minutes.
Combine the chive, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and rub the mixture on the fish fillets. In succession, dip the fillets in flour, eggs and the breadcrumbs and shallow fry on both sides till brown.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the fried dough and coleslaw
Spinach and fish bake
This is one of those American recipes that have been handed down for generations.
Ingredients
300 gm spinach, washed and squeezed dry
1 cup Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
400 gm fillet of a firm
white fish
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 165° C. In a bowl, mix the spinach, 1/2 of the cheese, about five to six tbsp of bread crumbs and the egg. Spread the mixture onto the bottom of a small baking dish. Arrange the cod fillets on top of the spinach mixture and season with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining Cheddar cheese and bread crumbs.
Cover and bake for 20 minutes or till the fish is done. Serve with a salad.
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