Baked Ilish (microwave) - My take on Bhapa Ilish



I remember this one time, my Chotokaka (uncle) had packed beautiful pieces of the fish in an ice box for me to bring down to Pune as he was not convinced I would get anything of that sort here. I belong to a small town called Chandannagar, not very far from Kolkata. Carrying my luggage, my heavy heart, the Ilish along with recipes I landed here. My tryst with Ilish began since. 
No, I don't bring Ilish from Chandannagar any more,  obviously because I found my Macher Dokan(fish shop) where I can converse in Bengali and check for fresh gills and fish eggs before making the buy for the day. 

I've turned out to be an experimentalist since that first time. Trying to churn out something of my own, adding and deleting from the existing pages. My take on Baked Hilsa is one such experiment which turned out pretty well and would make me wanna flaunt to my guests.
Hope you like what you read (and see)
Let's get baking...

What we need:
4 pieces of Ilish cut with love
1 and half teaspoon of Mustard seeds
4 teaspoons of Poppy Seeds
4-5 Green Chillies
Half cup of grated coconut, I used dry grounded coconut available at any supermarket
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 cup cream curd (the one thats not too sour)
Mustard Oil
Salt




How we do it:

* Caress the fish. No, wait I'm not kidding. Caress the fish with salt and turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of mustard oil and keep aside.

*In your mixer pour in the mustard seeds, poppy seeds, 3 green chillies, grated coconut, curd, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and 1 tablespoons of mustard oil. Give it a nice twist. You must taste the mix of salt and heat and adjust, as this will be your gravy after its baked.

*Massage your baking dish with 1 teaspoon of oil preferably one with a wide bottom to cook evenly. Now gently lower down the fish pieces and add the mix onto the fish to coat evenly. Top it with 2 slit green chillies and drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of mustard oil on the final setting. Let it sit for 20 mins.

*Bake for 15 mins at 170 degrees in a preheated oven.  Do not open the oven door for at least 10 mins.

Enjoy with piping hot rice. Its literally a melt in the mouth. :)

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