Rajesh Karkera presents his late mother Shobha Karkera's recipe for Baked Fish In Green Masala.
"This is a simple yet satisfying baked fish recipe by my mom. Eating fish, especially in fried form, is what everyone loved in our household. Till mom decided that it was time to find a healthier choice to have with all the rice that we South Indians love to eat."
"Here is a foodie photo essay from 2014, that I shot when mom was making this baked surmai or king fish in green masala for friends visiting from Delhi."
Shobha, who passed away from cancer in November 2020, was lively, feisty and a person of many parts -- she worked in a bank while bringing up two children on her own after her husband died very early, she loved to cook and eat, she travelled extensively post-retirement and she was very fond of saris, collecting them and wearing them well.
Shobha's Fish Baked In Green Masala
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients.
- 1 kg surmai or king fish, sliced or whole according to preference
- Salt to taste, about 1 tsp + 1 tbsp salt to wash the fish
- 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- A lime-sized ball imli or tamarind, soaked
- 2 bunches/bundles fresh green dhania or coriander leaves or cilantro
- 3 green chillies
- 1-inch piece ginger
- 8-9 pods garlic
- Juice of 1 small lime
- 1 tbsp oil, preferably coconut oil
- 3 whole stalks of spring onions, greens only
- 1-2 banana leaves depending on the size of the fish
- Onion slices, for serving
Method In Pictures
- Firstly wash and keep aside the the spring onion greens.
These are most important for this recipe as the subtle flavour of the green stalks will percolate through the banana leaves into the fish.
- Wash the fish using salt, as you do so.
- Marinate the fish with the salt, turmeric, imli water; no need to marinate for more than 15 minutes.
- While the fish is marinating, grind the coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic for the green masala along with the lemon juice, oil.
Grind it into a thick paste; do not make it watery
- Now separate and cut the banana leaves along the centre, and heat them for 60 seconds over direct heat.
This makes the banana leaves soft, so you can wrap the fish pieces with them.
- Lay each piece of the warmed leaf on a large plate or flat surface and spread some of the green masala on it.
Layer one piece of the fish, as shown in the image above, and then add some more of the green masala on top.
- Cover the piece properly with the masala as shown.
- Wrap the fish well, by turning the leaf around it from both the sides, one side at at time.
- The wrapping is important so that the heat, which is cooking the fish, does not escape.
And finally, tie it up using the spring onion stalks.
The spring onion greens need to be nice and fresh, or else they will break and the banana wrapping will open and that will destroy the final flavour of the dish.
- Place the pieces in a large frying pan -- remember, this should not be a heated pan.
Add the pieces depending on the size of your pan.
Do not overcrowd the pan by placing one piece over the other. -- we are not steaming the fish, we are baking it.
Steamed fish has a different texture and taste, quite different from baked fish. - Cover the pan and let it cook over low to medium heat for 10 minutes on each side.
- Take the pieces out of the pan once done -- this is how they will look (see pic above).
Serve immediately with onion wedges.
- This is how the pieces will appear when you start opening the leaves carefully.
- This baked fish goes perfectly with rice.
There is no need for any additional curries and serve hot with steamed rice.
And for those who do not eat rice, it pairs well with chapatis and a lightly-cooked vegetable on the side too!
Rajesh's Note: Many use mint for making the green masala. But then the taste of the fish becomes completely minty. When we make this recipe at home, we avoid mint, unless we crave it on a particular day.
Shobha Karkera was an excellent cook.
© 2025