Tandoori Fish

Tandoori anything is always a big treat! And at the end of a busy day there is nothing like this fish!

Fig. 1. Tandoori Fish

Sometimes I feel like all of the day is spent battling with paperwork. Fill this form, organize this that and something else, check on payments, make copies for your record, copies for someone else's record... Uff! Lately at least a lot of things can be done online. But even the online paperwork is not all that simple.

I was very excited to find that some forms I needed to fill could be filled online. I went, yay!! And then realized, never rejoice too soon. The one form was broken up into a series of 15 webpages! And you had to go fill-nextpage, fill-nextpage, through all 15. And then there was no option to save in the middle! What's more, by the curse of some crazy Rishi, the site would time-out in 15 minutes regardless of whether you are actively online filling the form or idling away from the screen with some chai-pani!!

When I was only on page 5.. the site starts giving me a warning.. "Your session will expire in 5 minutes." And I go Holy Rangoli!! 5 minutes for the remaining 10 pages!! I had no chance.. I totally couldn't make it. The session expired around page 8. And I had to start all over again!! Boy, was I mad!!

And when I am mad, I get even!! I had to do it again! And the second time around, I was prepared! If they were gonna play this new kind of speed game, I would play it too.. but Indiana Jones ishtyle! I got up, and found myself a hat, rubbed my trusty typing-finger on the collar.. (don't laugh.. I'm sure some of you out there type with only one finger too!) I set my stopwatch to buzz every 60 seconds, and.. GO!

This time I zippetty-zipped through the form and hit submit with perfect timing... and also saved my hat from being left behind! Haa! Speed demon!!

Needless to say, I soon heard back from the form-people. My submission was "invalid" it seems. They claim I have submitted the incorrect form!

Jealous.. that's what I think they are!

After all that excitement who wouldn't be rrravenous for dinner? Fortunately the fish was already marinated. All I had to do was bake! Such is the beauty of the refrigerator.. Anybody up for a refrigerator story? Maybe next time.. ;)
 
Ingredients:
Thick yogurt - 3 or 4 tablespoons
Tandoori Masala - 2 teaspoons(Any Everest or MDH or such boxed masala works fine.)
Cumin seed powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander seed powder - 1 teaspoon
Red chili powder - to taste
Salt - to taste
Fish - Tilapia, about 3 fillets. Can use any other fish.
Green or red bell peppers, onions, cooked peeled potatoes - any quantity, chop large and mix with some salt or extra marinade.
Lime/lemon juice - 1 teaspoon or so to squeeze on the hot cooked fish.

Procedure:
1) Wash and poke slits into the fish and cut it up into medium sized pieces.
2) Mix together the marinade of thick yogurt, tandoori masala, cumin seed powder, coriander seed powder, red chili powder and salt. Add fish to the marinade. Leave overnight in the refrigerator.
3) I like a few veggies like bell peppers, onions and cooked, peeled potatoes chopped into large pieces and dunked in some of the marinade or just salt and pepper. Then I line them at the bottom of a baking pan and lay the fish on top.
4) And bake this for about 25-30 minutes at 350 degree F. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice on the fish just before serving.

Tip: Sometimes I lightly sprinkle some rice flour on the fish just before baking. Gives it a thin crust. Totally optional.

Serve with some pulav and coriander chutney on the side. Can also be made in a similar manner with chicken, meat or paneer.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by!