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Maas Pura

Fish rubbed with mustard paste, chilli and mustard oil, wrapped in banana leaf and roasted over embers. Smoky, juicy and steaming when you open the leaf.

Ingredients

• 600 g rohu fish steaks or 4 small whole fish (puthi, kawoi or small rohu), cleaned
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds, ground to a paste with 2 green chillies
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 green chillies, slit
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp mustard oil
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
• 4 banana leaf pieces, about 30 cm each
• salt to taste

Method

1. Wash the fish and make 2 to 3 shallow cuts on each piece or whole fish.
2. Mix mustard paste, garlic, turmeric, salt, 2 tbsp mustard oil and coriander. Rub this well into the fish, including the cuts. Keep for 20 minutes.
3. Pass the banana leaves quickly over a flame for a few seconds until they turn glossy and soft, so they fold without tearing.
4. Place the fish on a leaf, top with onion slices, slit green chillies and a drizzle of the remaining mustard oil. Fold into a tight parcel and tie with a strip of leaf or thread. Wrap in a second leaf.
5. Roast the parcels in hot embers of a wood or charcoal fire for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once or twice. Alternatively, cook on a covered tawa on low heat for 10 to 12 minutes per side.
6. The parcel is done when the outer leaf is charred and the fish flakes easily when checked.
7. Open at the table and serve hot with rice; pour the juices from the leaf over the rice.

Tip: Double-wrap the leaf so the outer one burns while the inner one keeps the juices in. Leftover maas pura mashed with onion and mustard oil becomes a lovely pitika.