Skip to main content

Tandoori marinated fish

There's no better way to cook fish than via Romy Gill's recipe for machi marinated tandoori masala
Sam A. Harris

I first cooked this recipe with the staff at a hotel in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, when I travelled there for a magazine feature. In India, most people would cook this recipe with pomfret, a type of butterfish, but I’ve made it with whole sea bass, red mullet and even a gurnard. To serve four, you’ll need four whole fish – although if you’re using sea bass you may only need two, depending on their size. Feel free to use fresh ginger and garlic – I just think that their ground alternatives work better in this particular recipe.


This recipe is an extract from Romy Gill’s India by Romy Gill

If you like this recipe, why not try some of our other aubergine recipes from the House & Garden archive?


What you'll need

Marble Mortar
8" Chef Knife, red/black
Stainless Steel Bowl, large
With stackable sieve

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

4 heaped tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp yoghurt
2 tbsp oil
4 small whole fish, such as sea bass, descaled and gutted

To serve

mooli raita (see page 244 of the book)
pudina aur dhanuja chutney (mint and coriander chutney – see page 238)
wraps (optional)
salad leaves (optional)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place all the ground spices, pepper, chilli powder, garlic granules, salt, lemon juice, yoghurt and 2 teaspoons of the oil in a bowl and mix well until combined.

    Step 2

    Slash the skin of the fish and smear liberally with the marinade. Leave to marinate for an hour in the fridge.

    Step 3

    When ready to cook, preheat the grill (broiler) to the highest temperature.

    Step 4

    Skewer the whole marinated fish lengthwise, drizzle rest of the oil and cook under the grill for 10–12 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time so that it cooks evenly on both sides.

    Step 5

    Enjoy with salads and with mooli (white radish) raita, and mint and coriander chutney.

    Step 6

    You can also serve the fish inside a wrap. Warm the wraps, spread them with the raita and chutney, add some salad leaves. Once the fish is cooked, take some of the flesh off the bones and place in the wrap, then roll up and eat.