Patra-Ni-Macchi

Curry-Palooza #6

Camille of Croque-Camille chose the recipe for this month's Curry-Palooza. She picked Patra-Ni-Macha from the lovely blog, Quick Indian Cooking.

We loved this dish! However, I admit I strayed from the given recipe because it called for an entire bunch of cilantro. And I just don't enjoy that herb. I used parsley instead. And because parsley is so much more subtle in flavor, I searched out some other recipes for the same dish. As a result, I added 6 cloves of garlic rather than 3. I also added 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, 1 teaspoon toasted and ground cumin, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to the chutney paste. 

I also saw mention of brushing ghee onto the delicate banana leaves to help keep them from splitting.  I thought  that was a good idea, because the banana leaves are very fragile.  And so I did.

Wash the fish and cut into serving sized pieces, as desired. Cut a piece of banana leaf-those things are huge--into a size that will gift wrap your piece of fish.  You don't need to secure them, just place them seam side down onto a steamer pan. 




Banana Leaf Wrapped Fish



The Color Changes After Steaming

Enjoy with rice, lemon wedges, tomato, and cucumber.

I love this monthly Curry-Palooza event. Not only am I learning more about Indian cookery, I am learning more about the varying cultures within India. Last month's dish was a Bengali dish, and this one is a signature dish of the Parsi peoples in Mumbai. I have been taking some time to learn what that means. I think it is important to understand the beliefs and customs of other cultures. Now, more than ever. Do you?

One of the co-founders of our little group, Grapefruit of Needful Things, couldn't cook along with us this month. Here are the other posts:

More Please by Margie

Croque-Camille

I see that Indian Cuisine is gaining in popularity, so I hope you will consider cooking along with us. Just let any of us know and you're in. No cliques here. And you will even get to choose a recipe!