Rabia's Kitchen: Fish baked in Banana Leaf (with warm spinach, red pepper & onion salad)

The husband and I were watching an episode of MasterChef India on Youtube one evening when he turned to me and said, ‘you’ve never cooked with banana leaves’. Imagine my surprise and delight when I came across a bundle of banana leaves in the supermarket a few days later. When he arrived at the dining table that evening he was blown away – but not as much as me! I used the internet to research the bit about soaking the leaves in boiling water and the rest of this recipe was all down to being guided by my gut (as usual)!!

We wiped our leaves clean and there was a bonus - no washing up!

Fish baked in Banana Leaf

(served with warm spinach, red pepper & onion salad)

Serves: 2

Preparation & Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Baked Fish Ingredients:

4 large banana leaves (two for baking, two for placemats)

Pan of boiling water
1 piece of red snapper fillet & 1 piece of hamour fillet (any type of fish fillet should do)
1 spring onion
1 green chilli
Juice of ½ a lime
2 tbs coconut oil
2 cloves garlic
½ red pepper deseeded & chopped
6 curry leaves washed then torn in half

Warm Spinach, Red Pepper & Onion Salad Ingredients:

1 bundle/bunch of spinach leaves washed and roughly chopped (sorry I forgot to make a note of the actual measurement!)

½ red pepper, deseeded and sliced
½ onion, sliced
6 curry leaves washed & torn
2 tbs oil
Pinch salt

Preparation:

1. Set aside two banana leaves which can be cut to size and used later as placemats. Soak the other two banana leaves in boiling water for approx 30 seconds. This makes the leaves more flexible and retain their glossy green shine (source: internet!). Remove from water and drip dry. Bring over to the surface where you’ll be preparing the fish.

2. Score cuts into both sides of fish and set aside. Also set aside the curry leaves.

3. Finely chop or blitz the remaining Baked Fish ingredients listed above into a salsa. Set aside.

4. Place your piece of fish in the centre of the leaf and apply the salsa mixture to both sides. Place some torn pieces of curry leaves in the scored cuts.

5. Carefully fold over the leaf and roll the edges creating a seal around the fish. Use toothpicks to secure the edges.

6. Repeat above for the second piece of fish.

7. Line a baking tray with foil. (This is make washing up a lot easier in case a lot of juices escape the banana leaf parcels!) Place your parcels of fish on the tray and bake for 15 minutes in the oven on Gas Mark 6 / 200°c / 400F.

8. Meanwhile you can prepare the warm salad to accompany the fish once it’s baked.

Preparation:

8a. Heat the oil in a pan. Once heated, add the curry leaves and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the red pepper and further sauté for 5 minutes.