Rolled pearl spot fish

Pearl spot fish are indigenous to the waters of Kerala, southwest of India. This is Luke Nguyen's modern take on the fish, stuffed with Kerala aromatics, rolled up in a banana leaf and char grilled, served with red curry sauce.

• serves

  1

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Kochi, Kerala and Kerala Backwaters

episode • Luke Nguyen's India • 

travel • 

49m

PG

episode • Luke Nguyen's India • 

travel • 

49m

PG

Ingredients

• 1 pearl spot fish, or pearl perch
• Sea salt flakes, to taste
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 cm piece ginger, peeled
• 1 small green chilli
• 1 red Asian shallot
• 6 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat a charcoal grill or barbecue to medium  - high.
2. Butterfly the fish, then open up and carefully remove the bones. Sprinkle the flesh side with sea salt flakes.
3. Place the garlic, ginger, chilli and shallot in a mortar and pestle and pound into a paste.
4. Spread the paste all over the flesh side of the fish, then place half curry leaf sprigs lengthways along the fish. Roll the fish up into a roulade, then tie in intervals using banana leaf stems or kitchen string.
5. Tie the remaining curry leaves at one end to make a small brush. Dip the end into the coconut oil, then brush the oil all over the fish. Season the outside of the fish with salt.
6. Grill the fish roulade for 5 minutes on each side or until lightly charred on the outside and just cooked on the inside. Make sure the heat isn’t too high or the delicate fish may burn.
7. Once the fish is nicely charred, remove from the heat to rest before cutting off the ties.
8. Place on a serving plate with a generous dollop of red coconut curry gravy. Garnish with fried curry leaves and serve immediately.

Note

• Luke serves his stuffed fish with curry leaves and a red coconut curry gravy to garnish. The recipe was not provided in the series.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Kochi, Kerala and Kerala Backwaters

episode • Luke Nguyen's India • 

travel • 

49m

PG

episode • Luke Nguyen's India • 

travel • 

49m

PG