Ingredients|
| 500g barramundi, sole or leatherjacket fillets, skinned |
| young banana leaves (or baking paper) |
| 1 teaspoon ground cumin |
| ½ teaspoon sugar |
| 150g grated coconut |
| 4 green chillies, seeded and chopped |
| 4 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves |
| a few mint leaves |
| 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped |
| one green unripe mango (or granny smith apple), diced |
| 3 tablespoons oil or ghee |
| 3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice |
| mint leaves to garnish |
| whole green chillies to garnish |
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| SERVES: 4 |
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Method|
| Wash the fish fillets, pat dry and cut into 8cm pieces. Cut the banana leaves into as many 23cm squares as there are pieces of fish. Soften the banana leaves by dipping them into a pan of very hot water. Wipe the pieces dry as they become pliant. If you can't get banana leaves use baking paper. |
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| Grind the cumin, sugar, coriander, coconut, chilli, mint, garlic and green mango to a paste in a food processor, blender or mortar and pestle. |
| Heat 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee in a frying pan and cook the paste over a low heat until aromatic. Season with salt. |
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| Place the banana leaf squares on a work surface. Apply the paste liberally to both sides of the fish pieces. Sprinkle some lime or lemon juice on the fish. Place a piece of fish on each banana leaf and wrap it up like a parcel, tying it up firmly with kitchen string. |
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| Using a large, heavy-based frying pan which has a lid, heat the remaining oil or ghee and shallow-fry the fish parcels together on one side. After about 5 minutes, turn the parcels over and fry for another 5 minutes. The leaves will darken and shrink. Cover the pan and cook for another 5 minutes. |
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| Open out each parcel on a plate. Garnish with mint leaves and green chilli 'flowers' (make slits down into the chilli from the top to the stem to form strips which fan out). |
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