I was dabbling with the idea of preparing something interesting with fish for a while. As luck would have it, the other day I found a couple of Bhola Bhetki fishes (Indian Jewfish in English) lying in the market which looked pretty fresh and reignited the desire. Not really suitable for making into pieces and preparing fish curry, they were ideal for baking. Baked fishes, marinated with limited spices and herbs have always been a favourite. In fact, I have tried baked Salmon earlier and also shared in this blog (Baked Salmon). I also added a few vegetables like potato, carrots and green beans to make it a complete meal. A matter of 45 minutes or so and the fish in the oven turned golden with light, flavourful juicy gravy. It also took me few years back and reminded me of a delicious recipe of baked sea fish which I happened to try in the city square of Spilt, a beautiful island in Croatia, while it was raining heavily. Considering the humid weather right now, to avoid the heat of the kitchen, baking would be a perfect and relaxing idea to make a healthy meal. Try this out.

Ingredients to serve 2 :

1. Bhola Bhetki (Indian Jewfish) – 2 pieces (total weight 400 gms.)
2. Soft Butter (salted) – 2 tbspoon
3. Garlic – 2 big cloves
4. Ginger – ½ inch piece
5. Green chilli (chopped) – 2
6. Fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 tbspoon
7. Fresh lemon juice – 2 tbspoon
8. Potato – 1-2
9. Carrot – 1 (large)
10. Green beans – 6-8
11. Salt to taste
12. Black pepper powder or crushed – 2 teaspoon
13. Olive oil – 1 tbspoon

Procedure :

• Firstly clean the Bhola Bhetki fishes from inside and remove their fins. Do not cut the fishes into small pieces. Wash them 2-3 times with water.
• Then marinate the fishes with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper powder and 1 tbspoon lemon juice. Keep them aside for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile wash and peel the potatoes and carrot. Cut them into slices. Also cut the beans into medium size pieces.
• After that, take 2 tbspoon of soft butter in a small bowl. Finely grate garlic & ginger and add to the butter. Also add chopped green chilli, coriander leaves and remaining 1 tbspoon lemon juice into the butter. Mix all the ingredients well. This butter mixture will be used to stuff the fish.
• Now stuff the belly of the fishes with ⅔ rd of the butter mixture. Use remaining butter mixture to coat the fishes.
• Then take an oven-proof dish and grease with ½ tbspoon of olive oil. Put the vegetables into the dish. Add some salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper powder and remaining ½ tbspoon of olive oil to the vegetables. Toss the vegetables well with the added ingredients.
• Now place the fishes onto the vegetable bed. Cover the dish with an aluminium foil.
• Then bake the fish in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes at 250⁰C. After that remove the aluminium foil and again bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Take out the dish from the oven and serve hot.

Note :

1. Addition of vegetables is not mandatory. One can have only baked fish.
2. You can add any vegetables of your choice. Like mushroom, broccoli, bell peppers etc.
3. Baking time may increase or decrease depending on your oven type. Fishes are beaked easily. It is the vegetables which takes time to be cooked properly. So if you are in hurry then avoid adding vegetables.
4. Same recipe can be followed with Bhetki or Barramundi fish.