Try me from Recipe Basket.......: Fish Roast wrap with masalas(Meen pollichathu)

Description:
A famous Kerala delicacy that is normally cooked in banana leaves. The fish is coated with spicy masala and wrapped in banana leaves for cooking. I used aluminium foil to cook this dish because I can`t find raw banana leaves at my place :(.

Ingredients:
1. Tilapia fillets - 2 or 3(You can use fish like pearl spot/Karimeen, pomfret etc)
2. Onion - 1(big)
3. Tomato - 1(big)
4. Coconut milk - 1/2cup or 5 to 6tspn
5. Chilli powder - 1tspn
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2tspn
7. Coriander powder - 1.5 tspn
8. Pepper powder - 1tspn
9. Ginger
10. Garlic
11. Cumin seeds - 1tspn
12. Mustard seeds
13. Aluminium foil/Raw banana leaves
14. Lemon
15. Curry leaves
16. Oil
17. Salt to taste

Procedure:
Clean and wash the fish. You can use whole fish or cut pieces for this recipe. Take a bowl and add little turmeric powder, chilli powder, pepper powder and salt. Squeeze in the lemon juice too and mix to make a paste. Coat the fish with this paste and let it marinate for sometime. Take the onions and tomatoes, chop them into small pieces. Crush the ginger and garlic. Take a wok/skillet and splutter mustard, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Next add the onions and saute till the onions starts to get transparent. Add the remaining spices ie turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder. Mix properly and cook for few seconds. Next add the tomatoes, crushed ginger/garlic and cook till the tomatoes becomes mushy. Finally add the coconut milk and cook for minutes. Check for salt. If the gravy is too mushy remove the lid and cook till the excess water disappears. Set aside to cool down.

Take a skillet/frying pan and pour little oil. Drop the marinated fish into it and cook for 1 minute both the sides. Take out the fish and place on a tissue paper. Allow to cool down. Tear a square shape aluminium foil and place some masala first then the fish on top and finally some more masala on top of the fish. Carefully wrap the fish and all the sides should be properly sealed not allowing any steam to escape when we cook it. Repeat same for all the fillets.

Take a pan/skillet that have flat bottom and place these wraps. Don`t overcrowd the pan. Incase you have more wraps then cook in batches. Let them cook for 10-12 minutes each on sides. Cook on low/medium flame. Cooking time varies according to the size of the fish. I used Tilapia and they cook very fast. If you are using some big fleshy fish please cook for more time. Once one side is done turn over and cook the other side.