Baked Sri Lankan-style sea bass
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 2
Create a showstopper fish supper with this whole sea bass covered in a spicy marinade and baked in banana leaf.
Ingredients
For the Sri Lanka roasted curry powder (or use 2–3 tbsp shop-bought)
- 4 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cardamom seeds
- 1 tsp cloves
- 5cm/2in cinnamon stick
- 10–15 dried red chilies
- ½ cup curry leaves
For the marinade
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and crushed
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- pinch salt
For the sea bass
- 1 whole sea bass, scaled and gutted
- 10 fresh curry leaves
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 3 green chilies, slit
- 1 ripe beef tomato, chopped
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 banana leaf
- lime wedges, to serve
Method
To make the curry powder, cook all of the ingredients in a dry frying pan until toasted. Leave to cool and then finely grind to a powder.
To make the marinade, mix 2–3 tablespoons roasted curry powder with the tamarind, turmeric, black pepper, garlic, ginger and coconut oil in a bowl to create a thick paste. Season with salt. Store any leftover curry powder in an airtight container.
To make the sea bass, score the fish deeply on both sides. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Rub half of the marinade generously inside the cavity of the fish and into the scores. Stuff the cavity with some of the curry leaves and a few onion slices.
Mix the remaining marinade with the remaining onions, green chilies, tomato, coconut oil and remaining curry leaves. Spread this mixture all over the fish.
Wrap the fish loosely in the banana leaf.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. For the last 8–10 minutes, open the leaf and increase the oven temperature to 240C/220C Fan/Gas 9 to crisp the top.
Leave to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the lime wedges.
