Oven Baked Fish

Ingredients

Fish Pieces - 10 Nos.
Fish Fry Masala - 2 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric (optional) - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To Taste
Lemon Juice - About 10 drops

Method

Marinating:

1. Wash the fish pieces really well. Drain the water completely.
2. Take the fish pieces in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients to the fish pieces.
3. Mix them well. Check for salt.
4. Keep in the freezer for an hour OR refrigerate 2 - 3 hrs.

Baking in the Oven:

1. Pre - heat the oven to 400 F.
2. Grease a baking tray with oil (Olive oil / any refined oil)
3. Arrange the fish pieces on the baking tray.
4. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower- most tray.
5. Flip over the fish pieces and bake for another 20 min.
6. Turn the oven to BROIL mode and broil the fish for 2 -3 min.
7. Serve as an appetizer OR enjoy as a side with rice and fish kuzhumbhu / sambhar / paruppu kuzhumbhu / dhal or any variety rice.

Note

1. Every oven is different. So baking time may change a bit by + / - 5 min.
2. If the fish pieces are thin, then 20 + 20 minutes should be fine for baking. If the pieces are thick, then 10 more minutes is needed for perfect cooking.
3. The Fish Fry masala can be replaced by 1 tbsp of red chilli powder.
4. In case, after 10 min of baking, if the baking tray has water oozed out from the fish, do the following: take all the fish pieces in a bowl, pour out the water in the sink, add little salt and chilli powder (to compensate for their loss in the water) arrange them back in the tray and continue baking.

Fish Kuzhambhu

Ingredients

Fish pieces - 6 to 8 Nos.(Any choice of fish)
Tamarind - 1 1/2 pods
Coconut - 1/4 of a whole coconut
Red chillies - 2
Cumin - 1/4 sp
Big onion - 1/2 (or) equivalent small onions
Coriander powder - 1 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp
Salt - To taste
Tomato - 1
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) - 1/4 sp
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Grind coconut, red chillies and cumin to a fine paste along with necessary water.
2. To this, add big onion and grind to a fine paste.
3. Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 min and extract tamarind juice.
4. Cut the fish pieces and keep them aside.
5. In a pan, add the grind masala, tamarind extract, the masala powders,salt and tomato (cut into four) along with necessary water to cook the masala.
6. When the masala is half cooked, turn the stove to a low - medium heat (else fish pieces will get dissolved in the kuzhambhu) and add the fish pieces one by one.
7. When the kuzhambhu is 3/4th done, do the seasoning and add to the kuzhambhu.
8. Let this simmer for about 5 - 10 min in a low heat till the required consistency is reached.
9. Serve with white rice. Goes very well with Idli. Can also be taken with dosa occasionally.

Note

1. Fish kuzhambhu is generally prepared with more sourness & tartness compared to other kuzhambhu varieties. Hence the tamarind quantity can be increased to 2 pods (if desired).
2. Fish kuzhambhu tastes better if kept in the same pan in which it was prepared, till the time of serving.
3. Tastes excellent when eaten later than taken immediately after preparation.(i.e) tastes excellent for dinner than that for lunch.
4. Tastes extremely awesome if prepared in a sand pot.