Keralan Fish in a Parcel

Name: Keralan Fish in a Parcel
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: sea bream 4, each weighing about 400 g/14 oz; curry leaves from 2 sprigs, about 15 leaves; coconut oil 2 tbsp; lime wedges; red onion thinly sliced into rings; turmeric powder 1½ tsp; ginger root 4 cm/1½ in piece, finely chopped; green chilli ½, finely chopped; sea salt flakes 1 tsp; limes juice of 2; shallots 3–4, finely chopped; black peppercorns 1½ tbsp, crushed; cayenne pepper 1–2 tsp

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Pepper

By Christine McFadden

Published 2008

About

This dish is memorable for the heady, fiery fragrance which hits you as you open the steaming parcel. Let’s face it, pepper, ginger and chilli are a potent mix, so this is probably not for the faint-hearted. Plain rice and cold beer are what’s needed.

Ingredients

sea bream 4, each weighing about 400 g/14 oz
limes

Asia
India
Fish course
Pescatarian
Kerala
Gluten-free
Spicy

Method

Clean and scale the fish, leaving the heads on. Using a sharp knife, make a couple of diagonal slashes on each side of the fish. Put them in a dish large enough to take them in a single layer.

Combine the lime juice and sea salt flakes and pour over the fish, rubbing it all over the skin and into the slits. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes while you prepare the spice paste.

Put