Cook this: Red gurnard in banana leaf from Chetna's Healthy Indian - National Post

Our cookbook of the week is Chetna’s Healthy Indian by Chetna Makan, who rose to fame as a Great British Bake Off semifinalist. Tomorrow, we’ll feature an interview with its author.

To try another recipe from the book, check out: Paneer and cavolo nero saag, and black lentils with red kidney beans.

Chetna Makan first encountered this punchy fish dish while researching her second book – Chai, Chaat & Chutney (Mitchell Beazley, 2017) – in Calcutta. Fish steaks are topped with a coconut spice paste, wrapped in banana leaves (or parchment paper) and steamed. Makan opts for red gurnard but any firm white fish will do.

Serve the fish – still swathed in banana leaf – with rice or as the star of a larger spread. Makan recommends her green bean, coconut and tamarind salad, butternut squash, chickpea and spinach soup, and eggplant pickle (all recipes are in Chetna’s Healthy Indian) as complementary accompaniments.

In her third cookbook, Chetna’s Healthy Indian, Chetna Makan shares 80 wholesome, feasible and flavourful recipes. Mitchell Beazley

RED GURNARD IN BANANA LEAF

1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp white poppy seeds
4 tbsp water, for soaking
1 small green chili, roughly chopped
50 g (1 3/4 oz) fresh coconut, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
6 tbsp natural yogurt
1 tsp mustard oil
1 large banana leaf (see note)
1 red gurnard (or other firm white fish), roughly 500 g (1 lb 2 oz), deheaded, gutted, scaled and cut into 2.5-cm (1-inch) steaks
Lime wedges, to garnish

Step 1

Soak the mustard and poppy seeds in the measured soaking water for 1 hour before cooking.

Step 2

Tip the seeds and soaking water into a food processor. Add the green chili, fresh coconut, salt and turmeric and blitz the mixture to a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the yogurt and oil.

Step 3

Tear the banana leaf into pieces that are large enough to wrap up each fish steak – you should have enough ingredients for at least 2 parcels per person. Place 1 fish steak on the centre of 1 piece of banana leaf, cover it with a spoonful of the coconut spice paste, then turn it over and cover the other side with more paste. Wrap up the fish in the banana leaf and secure the parcel with kitchen string. Repeat with the remaining fish steaks and spice paste.

Step 4

Sit the fish parcels in a steamer basket over a pan of boiling water and cook for 6–7 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. (If using parchment paper to wrap the fish, steam for around 10–12 minutes. If baking the parcels, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and bake for 10–12 minutes.) Serve immediately with lime wedges to garnish.

Note: If you have trouble finding banana leaves, cook the fish in exactly the same way, but wrapped up in parchment paper.

Serves: 2

Excerpted from Chetna’s Healthy Indian: Everyday Family Meals Effortlessly Good for You by Chetna Makan. Copyright © Chetna Makan 2019. Photography by Nassima Rothacker. Published in 2019 by Mitchell Beazley, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher.

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https://nationalpost.com/life/food/cook-this-red-gurnard-in-banana-leaf-from-chetnas-healthy-indian 2019-04-24 13:00:00Z