Vekti Fish Paturi

For Bengalis Paturi is a well known and popular recipe. My mother is expart in cooking this recipe. This fish recipe best goes with Vetki, Hilsa or Prawn, wrapped by banana leaves. For Hilsha, the fish needs to be boneless or you can say the thorn of the fish needs to be taken out. Today I will give you the guideline for preparing the "VETKI FISH PATURI". Follow the same way to prepare HIlsa or Prawn paturi.

VETKI FISH PATURI

Servings: 5/6

Ingredients:

Vetki fish fillets – 1 kilogram, cut into 10/12 pieces

Coconut – 1 cup, grated

White Mustard seeds (sarso) – 50 gms

Red Mustard seeds – 50 gms

Poppy seed (posto) – 100 gms

Cashew nuts – 50 gms

Black pepper – 1 tbsp

Black Cumin seeds (kalonji) – 1 pinch

Turmeric powder – ½ tbsp

Oil – 4/5 tbsp

Green chill – 10, seedless

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Banana leaf – 10/12 pieces (6” x 10” size each or your preferred size)

Salt – as per taste

Sugar – ½  tbsp

Thread to tie banana leaves

Preparation:

Marinate the Vetki fish with turmeric powder, salt and lemon Juice for 15 minutes.

Prepare the paste of the following ingredients:

red and white mustard seeds

poppy seeds

cashew nuts and

green chili separately.

Now, take a bowl and put all the paste, add black pepper, black cumin seeds, salt and oil (3 tbsp). Mix well with the marinated fish and keep it for 1 hour.

Put all the pieces of banana Leaves in the boiling water so that it can easily be molded. Take out the leaves and let them cool and dry.

Take a piece of banana leaf, grease the glossy side of the leaf with oil, pour 1 tbsp. of paste mixture on the middle of the leaf, place the fish on it and put more paste mixture on the top of the fish so that the fish piece is fully covered with the paste mixture. Add some oil on it.

Fold the banana leaf to wrap the content from all sides like as parcel and tie it with the thread. Similarly follow the same thing to prepare all the fish pieces.

Heat a nonstick pan after greasing it with little bit of oil, place the pieces on it. Cover the pan with an airtight lid and cook the pieces in medium flame 15 minutes each side.