culinary-food: PATRANI MACHCHI

Imagine a fish that is coated in coconut chutney, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, this dish is one of the hallmarks of Parsi cuisine - influenced by the fine blend of Gujarati and Persian cooking. No Parsi celebration is complete without their most famous and mouthwatering dish Patra ni Machhi, which literally means fish in leaves, and in this case refers to pomfret wrapped in a banana leaf. It is an absolute standard on every Parsi festive menu and must come from the community"s seafaring and coastal days.

Parsis are a community of Zoroastrians who made their home in the western borders of South Asia (Gujarat and Sindh in India) somewhere during the 10th century. Parsis are famously known for their enjoyment of life and have a saying:"Khanar pinar ne khodai apnar." God gives in abundance to those who eat and drink.But you don't have to been a Parsi to fall in love with a dish as flavorful and refreshing.

Though very similar to the Paturi or Patrapoda that we make minus the Mustard and plus a few other ingredients. To us the spice would be predominantly Mustard paste while to a Parsi it would be a green chutney consisting of predominantly coriander leaves, coconut. While the Paturi is made of Bhetki or Hilsa, the Patra ni Machchhi is made of Pomfret,Either a Bengali Paturi , Odia Patra Poda or a Parsi Patrani Machchhi...all these are subtly flavoured fish delicacies of their respective communities.

Coming back to the Patra ni Machchi, the preparation is made by marinating the fish in a coating of spicy green coconut chutney and wrapping it in banana leaves. The fish is steamed to ensure that the flavors and juices of the fish and chutney are sealed in the banana leaves packet.Going with the theme of Microwave Cooking for our 30^th Foodie Monday Blog Hop , nothing seems more appropriate than this Patra ni Macchi recipe which calls for it to be filleted and stuffed, then parcelled in banana leaf and steamed.

Now a days intense time pressures do not allow the slow way of cooking practiced in earlier days. One device that has defied the clock in the Kitchen is the microwave oven. Now is it possible to cook delicious Indian food in microwaves? Yes, it is very much possible to do your everyday cooking in Microwave. Unlike the conventional Indian food, microwave cooked food is low calorie. The process of cooking the food is clean and efficient. One can serve the food in the same vessel one cooked food in saving us a lot of chores and time.

Cuisine: Parsi

Prep time: 45 minutes

cook time:5 minutes

cooking Medium : Microwave Mode

Serves:2

Ingredients

2 whole Pomfret fish
salt
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup fresh coriander coarsely chopped
4 green chillies chopped
½ cup fresh grated coconut
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 to 8 large garlic cloves
1 teaspoon sugar
curry leaves( Optional)
2 nos of Banana leaves

Lets learn how to make this recipe of Patra ni Machchi:

Cut and clean the fish. you can make fillets out of it or can cook the whole fish. If using the whole fish make some cut in the body of the fish, so that the fish can absorb the marinade easily.

Sprinkle salt and half of the lemon juice over the fish and set aside for 30 minutes preferably in the refrigerator.

Grind the fresh coriander, green chillies, coconut, cumin seeds, garlic to a fine paste.Add salt, sugar and the remaining lemon juice and mix well.

Apply this marinade to the fish and set aside for at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Cut out the vein of the Banana leaf with a sharp knife after it is cleaned and washed. Fold it lightly and toss it around on the burner for a little while, till it starts to wilt a little. This will make sure that the Banana leaf is softer and easier to handle and not hard and brittle.

Place the marinated fish in the center of each banana leaf and smear rest of the chutney on them.Fold in the ends to make a parcel.

Place the fish parcels on a greased Microwave safe platter. Pour some water in another microwave safe dish which is larger than the one with the fish in it. Place the dish with fish parcel in them and microwave at 900W for five minutes.