Baked Fish In Banana Leaf

Baked Fish Masala in Banana Leaf is an Indian style fish dish, very flavourful and keeps the fish moist and soft. I made this as one of the dished for Father's Day dinner and it was enjoyed by all. I saved this recipe from online some time ago and only now managed to try it out.

Ingredients:

1 large pomfret, cut into big slices - I used 6 slices, baked in 2 batches
2 banana leaf and aluminium foil to wrap

- Rub fish slices with some turmeric, salt, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice and set aside.

Masala:

2 big onions, sliced thinly
2 big tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/3 cup grated coconut
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
3 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
olive oil for cooking
salt to taste
mustard seeds and curry leaves

Heat olive oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Next add onion and grated coconut. Saute till onion become soft. Then add ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are soft.
Add chilli powder, garam masala, black pepper, cook well. Then add mint and coriander leaves and salt to taste. Cook covered with some water sprinkled (if needed) till no raw smell. Turn off fire. Let it cool.
Once cool blend the masala to a paste.


- Heat oven to 200C.
- Take a banana leaf and heat it a bit over direct flame so it doesn;'t tear.

Now place masala in a layer on the leaf, arrange 3 fish slices on top of masala and cover the fish with more masala. Fold leaf to form a parcel and now cover the parcel with a layer of aluminium foil.

Bake for about 30 mins at 200C.

Meanwhile make another parcel using the balance masala and fish slices.

This dish best to be served hot with white rice.

Aglio Olio with Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Salmon

I've been a fan of angel hair pasta since the first time I tried it and it's also super quick to cook with unlike spaghetti or fettuccine. I choose to cook with it for quick weeknight dinners. This is one recipe I tried yesterday for dinner, as I had this pack of Italian spices from a dear friend of mine who visited Italy recently and I was eager to try it out.

Verdict : The spice was fragrant, smelled spicy ;) and went well to give a great flavour to the pasta. I was careful on the amount I added as I don't want it to be too spicy and inedible.
Overall a lovely meal which even my 2yo enjoyed despite it being spicy. She's a fan of anything noodles / pasta. Only change I would make in the future will be doubling the amount of mushrooms and tomatoes.
I have edited the recipe with more mushrooms and tomatoes so you can follow as it is.

The dish

Spices from Italy

A:
Angel hair pasta (cooked al dente in a pot of boiling water with a dash of olive oil) - enough for 3 persons
This pasta cooks in less than 5 minutes so you need to watch it while it cooks to get the perfect texture.

Drain and set aside.

B:
1 big salmon fillet, cut into bite size pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
ground black pepper
salt
dried oregano / italian herbs

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, saute the garlic, then add the salmon and seasonings, mix and once salmon is cooked, take and keep aside.

C:
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 button mushrooms, sliced
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
5-6 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp Dried mixed Italian herbs
Dry chilli flakes (according to level of spiciness you prefer)
salt

In a big pan, heat olive oil and saute the garlic, add in the mushrooms and tomatoes.
Add herbs, chilli flakes, salt.
Combine well till mushrooms cooked. Adjust seasonings to taste if needed.
Now, add in the cooked pasta to the pan and mix it all together till pasta coated well.

Serve hot topped with the cooked salmon.