Grilled Trout in Banana Leaf

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Filed Under From the Grill, Garlic, Mains, Misc, Rosemary, Seafood

Cooking food wrapped in Banana leaves is an age old technique in Kerala. Our fish pollichathu is the most delicious form of fish that I’ve ever eaten! I wasn’t surprised to learn that the same technique is followed in other Asian countries too. Cooking this way keeps the food moist with all its natural juices collected inside the leaf packet. Also the banana leaf itself imparts its natural flavor and fragrance into the food.

Instead of a traditional fish Pollichathu recipe, I decided to make up my own marinade this time, and just made up stuff along the way. This is a versatile recipe, substitute with your favorite marinade.

BTW, it is tricky to get the banana leaf wrap right. So we wrapped the banana leaf packets in a layer of aluminum foil, just to keep it safe.

Here is a pic of it fresh from the grill, inside the banana leaves:

We had it with a side salad, and some Sauvignon Blanc, a great combo.

Ingredients

4 medium sized whole Trout cleaned (keep the head and tail if you want to take a picture afterwards or if you are serving to guests)
Butter /oil for brushing
Banana leaves - make sure the pieces are big enough to wrap the fish in.
For the marinade
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 7-8 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 6 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp paprika
- Salt to taste
For the stuffing
- thin round Onion slices - 8 pieces
- thin round lime slices - 8 pieces
- a few Slit green chili peppers
- thinly sliced ginger pieces - 8 pieces
- a few curry leaves

Method

Make a few gashes on both sides of the fish.
Blend all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender or spice grinder, to form a smooth paste.
Apply the paste liberally to the fish inside and out, including the gashes.
Marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours or more.
Clean the banana leaves, and sprinkle a little water. Keep the leaves in the microwave and heat on high for a minute. This will make sure that the leaves won’t break while wrapping.
Lay the banana leaf flat on a clean surface, shiny side down, and grease the other side with the butter/oil.
Lay the marinated fish in the middle of the leaf.
Stuff the fish with two each of onion , lime and ginger slices. Stuff the top gashes with slit chili peppers, also throw a few inside the fish. Put some curry leaves on top of the fish and wrap the banana leaves around the fish to enclose the fish completely. Use toothpicks to secure the packet.
Wrap the entire package in a sheet of aluminum foil.
Repeat the process to make four fish packets.
Keep the fish packets on a pre-heated grill with the folded side down and cook for about 10 minutes. Turn and cook for another 10 minutes on the other side.
Remove from the grill, and let it rest for couple of minutes. Open the packets carefully, there might be some steam accumulated inside.
Serve hot garnished with some lime wedges.

Verdict

The banana leaves imparted such aroma and flavor, the smell was out of this world! The fish was so moist and juicy. I thought the marinade was a little too subtle. Since trout is such a tasty fish, it was enough, but next time I would make a stronger marinade, and a little thicker too. I might add some coarse ground coconut for better texture.

The technique is surely a keeper, apart from the taste and the smell, the cleaning up part was the best! If you have ever grilled whole marinated fish directly, you know how much skin and spices stick on the grill! But in this case, absolutely no clean up at all!

Comments

26 Responses to “Grilled Trout in Banana Leaf”

Anh on August 6th, 2007 3:59 am

this dish must be lovely… In Vietnam, we use banana leaves to grill fish, too. I grew up with the fragrance of banana leaves… It’s so lovely, right?
sra on August 6th, 2007 4:09 am

“Stuff the top gashes with slit chili peppers, also throw a few inside the fish.” - Also throwing a few inside the fish (LOL, such politesse to the fish!) sounds exactly like me on a no-nonsense hurry-up-and-get-on-with-it day, which is most days! And wrapping the banana leaf in foil to be safe is also something I’d do!
musical on August 6th, 2007 6:07 am

Your pictures are gorgeous as ever, Sig!
Cinnamon on August 6th, 2007 6:37 am

Looks delicious Sig, is it similar to pathrani machi??
N on August 6th, 2007 7:28 am

wow this looks so yummy.. i made the same dish with karimeen when i was home in kerala for a vacation.. no luck in getting good fish in hyderabad where i work

good thing i came across ur blog
Jyothsna on August 6th, 2007 8:47 am

First Shn, now you…!!! I shouldn’t be visiting blogs when I’m starving!!
indosungod on August 6th, 2007 11:11 am

Sig that fish is a beauty. Did you catch the trout?

Yes wrapping the foil lets you enjoy more of the fish and don’t have to share some to the grill. But where do I get banana leaves. Hmm thinking.
Asha on August 6th, 2007 12:00 pm

YUM!! You have steam the banana leaves for a while to make it pliable to wrap.My grandma,being a pucca vegetarian makes sweet idlies in those leaves.Fish looks yum.Where is the Oriyan dish girl,Fish Do Piaza.
Richa on August 6th, 2007 12:32 pm

amazing pics, sig! I do remember watching something similar on foodtv, as u mentioned it must be popular in other cuisines as well.
Sandeepa on August 6th, 2007 1:36 pm

Beautiful pics and I am sure this tastes great with the banana leaves. Remember seeing this at Shn’s too
Mishmash ! on August 6th, 2007 1:37 pm

Sig, just when I am sitting here with my cereal bowl, u re presenting an item thats cooked in banana leaf and talking about the salad and the wine you had…this is called slow-murder !! I want a parcel now !!

Shn
Cynthia on August 6th, 2007 3:42 pm

Oh yeah baby, I can imagine how moist this fish is.

A tip you may like to try in order to get the banana leaf to wrap easily… singe it. On an open flame, quickly pass the leave over, this process make it pliable. We do it all the time down here as we cook some things wrapped in banana leaves too, such as conkies.
shilpa(Aayisrecipes) on August 6th, 2007 4:31 pm

I love these banana wrapped fishes. I made a masala fish yesterday, but wrapped in aluminum foil and baked it. But surely, with banana leaf, the taste comes out great.
Btw..where did u find the banana leaves? we get the frozen ones in Chinese store here but they smell real bad :(. I donno where else to look for them…
Poonam on August 7th, 2007 12:44 am

Hey, the picture is gorgeous!
Shantanu on August 7th, 2007 3:24 am

Looks good too! BTW, is it easy to find banana leaves in the US? This is just the kind of stuff I would have thought would be difficult to prepare there.
Sig on August 7th, 2007 4:59 am

Anh, wow… you must post the Vietnamese fish recipe… I’ve had the Malasian one… that is yummy too!

Sra, I was laughing out loud at the politesse part… Poor thing, I didn’t mean any disrespect to the brave soul that gave its life to be my dinner

Musie, thanks

Cinnamon, yep the technique is Patrani Machi, but I made the rest up… Now you reminded me, I have to try the real Patrani Machi recipe sometime…

N, aaa don’t remind me about Karimeen You lucky gal… don’t complain about the quality of fish at Hyderabad, at least you can go home whenever you get the craving, right? :)… Welcome to my blog..

Jyo, oh yeah, I went to Shn’s on a full tummy , but that didn’t help either…

Indo, lol…. did I catch the trout… I wish…. You can find banana leaves at Asian/Vietnamese markets, also at Whole foods sometimes…

asha, I took the shortcut and just microwaved the wet leaves to make it more wrappable I am still searching for a good Oriyan recipe :)…

Richa, I’ve had a Malasian version, and Anh here tells me there is a Vietnamese version too!! I’m sure other cuisines have it as well… it is so yummy!

sandeepa, oh yeah I remember Shn’s… she made the real authentic version. this is just another grilled fish

Shnanytime… invite me over for some of those yummy prawn fritters, and I will bring the wine

Cyn, thanks for the tip… I wll try that next time… we put the leaves in the microwave this time… moreover the banana leaves were frozen and not intact, so couldn’t get the wrap to fit well… hence the use of foil

Shilpa, masala fish sounds great… and yummy… next time I will try some authentic Indian masala for the banana leaves wrap… I got the frozen ones from the Asian market too… it wasn’t as good as the fresh ones, but after washing and wiping and grilling, it really gave the same smell as the fresh wraps! I’ve seen the fresh leaves at the Whole Foods Market here…

Poonam, thanks

Shantanu, thanks :)… Yep, banana leaves are available at the Asian markets here… and some natural food stores too …
N on August 7th, 2007 6:44 am

haha, yes a kottayam kutty, like you put it..
Pravs on August 7th, 2007 7:56 pm

Banana leaf wrapped will make the fish taste so delicious. Hey to work with banana leave, just hold it above the fire to get it midly wilted.
Padma on August 8th, 2007 1:54 am

Wow….must have tasted divine, trout in banana leaf…what a delicious combination. I need to catch hold of some fresh banana leaf now…what other fishes taste well with this? LMK and thanks for sharing, sig…
Sig on August 8th, 2007 5:29 am

Pravs, I put it in the Microwave, was too lazy to show it on the fire, but next time I’ll try that.

padma, You could try catfish or snapper too, even Tilapia is good for this.
Mona on August 8th, 2007 1:57 pm

Looks delicious Sig, i’m a fan of sea food, my hubby isnt though i look forward to bring a trout my home asap to try out ur recipe.

www.monaafzal.wordpress.com
Sukanya Ramkumar on August 8th, 2007 3:37 pm

Lovely pictures……Mouth watering fish recipe…..Looking amazing…..Nice recipe
sunita on August 8th, 2007 6:35 pm

I love trout…your recipe is a keeper…thanks
Sig on August 9th, 2007 4:37 am

Mona, Sukanya, Sunita, thank you for your wonderful words!
Bharathy on August 13th, 2007 7:07 am

This is our “pollikkal”..right??tempting me too much Sig..
nutboy38 on November 7th, 2007 2:19 am

Hello,

I am new to Hyderabad and I am originating from the east. Can u pls. guide me if there is any pond or river fish available in Hyderabad and where?