My Maiden Culinary Post- Baked Pomfret with Mint Stuffing

This is my first culinary post folks and I am hoping all of you will encourage my maiden effort.!

I have been inspired to dish out this post by a few of my friends and fellow bloggers who post recipes on a regular basis. And whenever I happen to view their blog posts, I plan to pen down my own culinary escapades (which are a plenty as I love cooking). But usually in my house, the dish is consumed and burped down before it can be arranged and photographed!!!  And my blog post is forgotten till the next time I read another interesting recipe.

I am even more thrilled about this post as it is a fish- recipe. Seafood including fish is not my strong point in either cooking or eating.  I belong to North India where non-vegetarian food is limited mainly to chicken and lamb. But my husband, an Oriya relishes fish and my kids also love the texture and simple flavours of fish such as salmon, cod and pomfret. So I decided to give this dish a try. I was also inspired by a similar dish I ate at an Indian restaurant in Singapore which looked great and tasted even better.

Fresh out of the Oven

Ingredients

4 Medium Black or White Pomfret - cleaned, washed with the head removed.

For the marinade:

Mint - 2 bunches
Coriander - 1 bunch
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger - 3/ 4 strips
Green Chili- 2 medium
Cumin Seeds roasted - handful
Lemon Juice - of half a lemon
Tomato -1 medium
Oil- 2 tablespoons
Salt - as per taste

Process:

• Blend all the ingredients of the marinade together, using little water. 
• Stuff the pomfrets with as much marinade as possible and rub the rest of the marinade on all sides of the fish. 
• Marinate for at least 2 hours. 
• For best results wrap the pomfrets in  banana leaves or aluminium foil.
• Bake the fish with the wrapping in a convection oven/ combination oven at 200 degree centigrade for 15- 20 minutes till properly cooked. 
• For browning, open the foil and grill the fish on a baking rack or tray in the oven. (A barbecue grill or over-the -hob grill plate can also be used.)
• Turn the fish over for uniform browning. (5- 10 minutes on each side should be enough). Grilling for longer will dry the fish.
• For extra crispiness, brush the fish with oil before grilling.
• Garnish the dish hot with onion, tomato, lemon rings and bell peppers. 
• Serve hot with rice or chapatti. 

Serves 4- 6.

Total preparation time : 20 mins.
Total cooking time : 40 mins

This dish was cooked to perfection using the Sharp Healslo Super-steam convection oven and microwave.

The Final Product

Hope you enjoyed this recipe.  Do give me your feedback if you try the dish at home. Till then, happy cooking !!