Sindhi style Grilled Fish
Ingredients
- 1 whole trout approximately 700 gms
- 3-4 tbsp spice blend
- Vegetable oil for grilling
- Salt to season
- Coriander leaves; finely chopped for garnish
- Lemon wedges to serve
Spice blend:
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp green fennel seeds
- ½ inch cinnamon bark
- 4 dry red chillies
- 2 dried bay leaf
- 2 tsp amchoor dry mango powder
- 1 tsp ajwain carrom seeds
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp besan gram flour
- Juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Clean the fish well; remove the insides leaving the head and tail intact. Score on both sides.
- To prepare the spice blend, dry roast the coriander seeds and fennel seeds till fragrant and aromatic. Allow to cool.
- Grind the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, bay leaf, dry red chillies, cinnamon and ajwain to a fine powder.
- To this add amchoor, garlic cloves, turmeric powder, besan, lemon juice and enough water to grind to a thick paste like consistency.
- Season the fish with salt and rub the spice blend all over, especially the insides of the fish. Marinate for at least 4 hours or as long as possible (keep refrigerated).
- Allow to come to room temperature before grilling.
- Pre heat the oven to 200°C. Line an oven proof tray with baking paper and place the fish. Drizzle lightly with oil and grill for 25 minutes. Remove and turn the fish over; drizzle lightly with oil again and grill till done.
- Serve warm garnished with coriander leaves and lemon wedges on the side.
Notes
Makes extra spice blend; store the remaining in an airtight container, keeps well for at least a month in the freezer.
A whole fish that’s approximately 700gms takes about 40-45 minutes to grill perfectly. But this depends on the type of oven and settings, so check occasionally to ensure that the fish has cooked well. Alternatively, the fish can also be shallow fried.