Palak Pathrani Machchi

 

'Pathrani Machchi' as it is popularly known is originally a Parsi and Bengali delicacy. It is a must-have on every Parsi table during their festival 'Navroz'.

 

Traditionally, it is fish wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. But, my experimental brains and passion to tweak traditional recipes and give it a twist led me to this dish and honestly speaking, it is better than the banana leaf version. Not only does the flavour of spinach contribute to the dish, but here, it can be consumed along with the fish. Yum Oh!

 

This dish essentially has three components- the fresh green masala, fresh pieces of fish and fresh spinach leaves. It is this freshness that makes every dish delicious...rather... "dollycious"!!

 

Serves: 2-3 persons 

 

Ingredients:

 

Note- Pathrani Machchi is made with fresh pomfret fish. It is sliced, marinated and wrapped in banana leaves. Here, I am using boneless fish so that it can be wrapped in the spinach easily and also eaten neatly as a starter (in one/two bites).

Boneless Fish (sole fillet/hammour/any white fish)   500 gms

 

Spinach leaves (Palak)                                                as required

 

For the green chutney:

 

Garlic cloves                              3-4 cloves

Ginger                                        1 inch piece

Coriander leaves (with stems)   1 bunch

Pudina leaves                             1/2 bunch

Grated coconut                           3/4 cup

Green chillies                             2 nos.

Coriander powder                      1 tsp

Pepper powder                           a pinch

Salt                                             to taste

Oil                                              to roast

 

 

 

Method:

• Wash the fish, pat it dry with a kitchen tissue, cut into fairly large chunks (approx 2 or 3 inch piece. The size of the pieces would also depend on the size of your palak leaf). Sprinkle with some salt and crushed black pepper and keep aside.

• Wash the palak leaves individually and make sure it has no dirt or sand on it. Cut off the stems and wipe the leaves dry. Keep aside.

 

 

• For the chutney- heat little oil in a pan and fry all the mentioned ingredients well, including the coriander powder, salt and pepper powder. Fry till the raw smell is gone and you get a nice aroma. Cool and grind this to a thick, coarse paste, but make sure the ginger-garlic are minced well and there are no pieces. Add very little water as possible or no water at all while grinding.

Note- Be careful with the salt because spinach leaves can be quite salty.

 
• Take out in a bowl.

 

 

• Next, on a plate, take a leaf of spinach, put a little bit of the paste on it (like a glue), place a piece of fish on it and put around a teaspoon or more of the paste on the piece of fish to coat it completely, without getting the palak leaf too wet.
 

 

 

• Next, carefully wrap the leaf over the fish. Almost like you are wrapping a gift or parcel.

 

• The wrapped fish will look like this.

 

 

• Similarly, prepare all your parcels and keep it in a single layer in a steamer.

• Steam for 20-25 minutes on medium heat.

• When you see that the spinach leaves have become soft, carefully insert a toothpick into one parcel to check if the fish inside it is cooked. If the toothpick inserts easily without any resistence, you know the fish is cooked.

• Using tongs, carefully lift each parcel and serve on a plate.

• You can either serve it wrapped, or unwrap it and serve.

 

Note- Because spinach leaves soften when cooked, do not use a toothpick to seal the parcel while wrapping. Just wrap it using a little bit of the chutney to seal it if required. However, if you are using a banana leaf, you may have to use a toothpick to seal the parcel.

 

 

Tweaking tips:

• The same recipe is used while wrapping the fish in the banana leaf. That becomes Pathrani Machchi.

• You can use small/medium/large sized prawns (shelled, de-veined and tail removed) instead of fish. Reduce the steaming time to 15-20 minutes in case of small prawns.

• If you are not a seafood lover (well..too bad for you I must say) you can still make this dish. Try using boneless chicken. Cut into chunks- sprinkle salt and pepper- steam or slightly fry in a pan (par cooked). Apply chutney and wrap it in the leaf and steam just like the above stages. Try it and let me know! ;)

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & keep it stylish!!