Pesto Fish

"This recipe is part of a collection for my father, who is a heart patient and loves interesting food. So,not only is it really healthy, but as its marinated and grilled with pesto sauce, its a treat which ticks all the right boxes..."

Ingredients:

• 6 white fish fillets (around 300 grams)
• 3 tbsp pesto 
• 6 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp lime zest
• 3 tbsp olives (sliced)
• 1 tbsp chilly flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 - 2 tbsp brine from the olives
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients excepting the fish and the brine
2. Add as much brine as is required to make a sticky coating
3. Coat the fish on all sides with pesto mixture, cover the fish with cling film and leave it in the fridge for between 1 - 3 hours.
4. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees C
5.  Lightly oil a baking tray and layer the fish
6. Bake the fish for 10 - 12 minutes till they are brown and crispy ( in the middle shelf)
7. Eat hot sprinkled with some lime juice

Notes:

• Do leave the fish with the pesto coating for at least 1 hour, as then it absorbs all the flavours.
• I use whole wheat bread crumbs, fresh or dried, either will work well.

Steamed fish

" A subtle steam fish recipe, which I make, whenever I am sure that my fish is really really fresh. Its light and the juices are so yummy that we have to portion them out equally to avoid any friction. Best eaten with steamed or boiled rice accompanied with stir fried vegetables"

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg fish whole (or Fillets)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 spring onion (Green and white)
• 1 1/2 inc piece of ginger
• 2 red chillies
• 2 tbsp soya sauce (Dark or light)
• 2 tbsp rice wine

Method: 

1. If you are using whole fish, scour the fish on 1 side making 3 diagonal cuts and a pocket on the other side
2.  Make a marinade of salt, sesame oil and the 2 tbsp of light soya sauce and marinate the fish for 30 minutes
3. Finely shread the spring onion,ginger and the red chilly
4. In the plate which you are going to use for steaming, layer some of the spring onion,ginger and red chilly mixture, place the marinated fish over it
5. Divide the remaining spring onion,ginger and red chilly mixture, stuffing some in the pockets and the balance on top of the fish
6. Mix together the 2 tbsp soya sauce and 2 tbsp rice wine with the left over marinade and pour over the fish
7. Steam the fish on medium heat preferably in a bamboo steamer, for 7-10 minutes till done

Notes:

• Use any small sized fish, so that the fish is flavoured well ( grouper, red snapper, pomfret all work well)
• Make this fish recipe only if you have fresh fish
• You could use 2 bamboo steamers, one on top of the other, if the fish quantity does not fit in one layer. Do switch the steamers, upper one down and vice-versa half way through cooking time

Spicy Fried Fish

"This is an authentic  Konkan style ( Sea-side belt of Maharashtra/ Goa in India)  fried fish recipe, which while it sounds spicy, it uses chilies more for color than spice, and you could use as much of the spice paste as you think you can handle. My kids just love this one ..."

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• Spice paste
• 50 grams dried red chilly(kashmiri or any other chili - high on color-low on spice)
• 20 grams (1 1/2 tbsp) ginger and garlic paste
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 4 palm size pomfret fish (around 200 grams each - whole with shallow cuts on both sides ) 
• 6 tbsp semolina
• 1 lime

Method:

Spice paste

1. Soak the dried red chilies for 10 minutes in 4 tbsp of water
2. Make a paste of all the 5 spice paste ingredients along with the chilly water (add more water if needed to make a thick paste)
3. Use 1 heaped tbsp of spice paste to marinate each pomfret fish, making sure the paste is rubbed in well into all the shallow cuts
4. Coat the fish in semolina, and leave for at least 10 minutes outside or upto 2 hours in the refrigerator.
5. Shallow fry till golden and crisp and eat immediately after sprinkling some lime juice 

Tip:

• The spice paste ingredients make enough to fill a 200 ml bottle and can be refrigerated against further use
• 1 tbsp of spice paste can be used to marinate between 100 and 200 grams of fish as per taste
• Instead of whole pomfret fish, you could use any other firm white fish - whole or fillets