Pomfret hara bhara

Stuffed grilled pomfret

It has become a tradition in my house to make stuffed pomfret on new year’s eve. Since this dish has become popular in my household, I decided to make it once again. It does not take much time and is delicious.

I come from North India, which is far from the sea. Therefore fish eating is not much prevalent in this region. Good quality fish are not available the year round. Though fishing does take place in various water bodies of the region, but due to hot weather it is considered prudent not to eat fish during summer and rainy season. There is culture of eating fish only in winters.

Now with better transport, good network of fish traders and quality shops with good cold storage facility various types of fish are available the year round. Thus dishes featuring fish and sea food are gaining popularity here.

I used silver pomfrets, that were not very big in size. For the stuffing, I prepared green sauce using cilantro and mint leaves. This time I cooked them on griddle, but we can easily bake them in oven.

Prep time: 20 minutes  Cooking time: 15 minutes  servings: 4

Ingredients

Pomfrets of around 200 gms — 3 nos.

ginger — 1 inch

garlic — 4 to 5 cloves

cilantro leaves (coriander) a small bunch (1 cup)

mint leaves — 1/2 cup

coconut shredded — 1/2 cup

white vinegar 2 table spoons

green chillies — 2

cumin seeds — 1 table spoon

salt to taste

cooking oil– 2 table spoons

Directions

1. Clean the pomfret and make slits on them.
2. Mix all other ingredients except for oil, and grind them coarsely. Apply this paste on the fish, taking care to apply it in slits too. Marinade the fish in this paste for at least one hour.
3. Heat oil on a griddle, and slow cook the pomfret on it. It will take around 5-6 minutes. Time will vary according to the temperature of the griddle. When done from one side, flip the fish and cook it from other side too. Likewise cook all the fishes.

Serve hot with green salad, and lemon slices. My family loves to munch on potato fries with it.

You can check some more dishes from the main course from this site such as spinach and corn curry or chana masala.

Step by step demonstration of how to make stuffed  pomfret is given below:

1. I made a green paste out of cilantro, mint leaves, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, shredded coconut, salt, and vinegar.

2. I cleaned the pomfret and made slits.

3. I then applied the paste inside the slits, and covered the pomfret from both sides with the paste. Then I shallow fried the fish from both sides in a griddle.

My stuffed pomfret is ready. I decorated it with lettuce and potato fingers.