Bhetki macher Paturi/ Barramundi fish in mustard sauce

Bhetki macher paturi is yet another signature dish of Bengali cuisine. The word paturi means “leaf”. In this dish Bhetki/ barramundi fish is slow-cooked wrapped in banana leaves. This is where the dish gets its name from. The banana leaves infuse their aroma to the paturi and the result is mesmerizing. The key to making the best paturi is good marination of the fish.

I have used bhetki to prepare this paturi. But you can make paturi using hilsa, chingri or even rohu. There are two ways of making paturi. One is steaming the fish and another way is cooking the fish on a pan. Here I have prepared the paturi using steaming method. However, if you are looking for a method to cook it on the pan, you should follow the instructions as given below and for cooking on the pan, you should follow the instructions of chhanar Paturi. I have steamed my paturis here in a bamboo steamer, but you can steam them in any perforated vessel.

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Bhetki Paturi

Bhetki in banana leaf parcels-an age old recipe of Bengali cuisine

Course Main Course

Cuisine Bengali

Keyword bhetkipaturi, kolapataepaturi, machherpaturi, paturi

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Resting time (marination+mustard soaking) 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 6 regular pieces of bhetki fish fillet
• 1½ tablespoons of white mustard seeds
• 1½ tablespoons of black mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
• 3 tablespoons of mustard oil
• 6 green chilies (according to your choice)
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (I have used Gondhoraj Lebu)
• ⅓ cup 1/3  cup of coconut powder (narkol kora)
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 150g of of hung curd
• 1-2 banana leaves for wrapping
• Thread to tie the wraps

Instructions

• Soak the yellow and brown mustard seeds and the poppy seeds for about half an hour.
• Clean the bhetki/barramundi pieces and pat them dry.
• Rub ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt and leave them for half an hour.
• Meanwhile, make a paste of the yellow and brown mustard seeds along with poppy seeds, salt and green chilies and let them rest for about 30 minutes. Letting the mustard paste rest with salt removes the bitterness of mustard paste.
• To the paste, add ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder, hung curd and coconut powder, mustard oil.
• Now add the paste to the bhetki/ barramundi fish and marinade the fish for about 30mins- 2 hours.
• Take the banana leaves, cut them to 6”/6” pieces and clean them properly.
• Take a tawa and roast the banana leaves on very low flame for about 30 seconds.
• To the banana leaves, add one spoon of marinade and then add one piece of fish.
• Now add little more of the marinade on top of the fish. Place a green chili on top of the fish.
• Wrap the fish with banana leaves and close  the parcel with a thread.
• Wrap the fish properly such that the marinade does not come out of the parcel.
• There are two ways of making paturi you can either steam them or cook them in a pan. In this recipe I will go with the steaming method. While I have used a bamboo steamer to steam the paturis, you can also steam them in any perforated vessel.
• In a pot of boiling water, place your steamer on the boiling water. Now, steam the paturis in single layer for about 10-15minutes.
• Serve the paturis hot with steaming rice, musur daal, lonka, lebu on the side.

If you are looking for a method to cook them on the pan, please follow my procedure for chhanar paturi. Also for step-by-step instructions to prepare paturi, you can follow the preparation of chhanar paturi.

Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries, you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com