Patra ni macchi

This is a Parsi Indian gem, and the name means fish in a leaf parcel. I first ate it in Mumbai while being entertained by a merchant banker. Of his three chefs, one was solely to the cooking of local dishes. He used silver pomfret that tasted as .t leapt out of the Arabian Sea into its banana leaf package. Here, salmon is used instead of pomfret; the gutsy flavors really work well.

Place all the ingredients except the banana leaves and salmon in a food processor. Pulse to a fine paste. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Prepare the barbecue. While it is heating, make the parcels. Cut each banana leaf width ways into three and cut off the hard outside edge from each piece. Put the pieces of leaf and the edge strips in a bowl of hot water. Leave to soak for about 10 minutes. Drain, gently wipe off any white residue, and rinse the leaves and strips, and pour over boiling water to soften. Drain, and then place the leaves, smooth-side up, on a clean board.

Smear the top and bottom of each with the coconut paste. Place one fillet on each banana leaf. Bring the trimmed edge of the leaf over the salmon, and then fold in the sides. Finally, bring up the remaining edge to cover the salmon and make a neat parcel. Tie each parcel securely with a leaf strip.

Lay each parcel on a sheet of heavy-duty foil, bring up the edges and scrunch the tops together to seal. Once the flames have died down, position a lightly oiled grill rack over the coals to heat. When the coals are medium-hot, or with a moderate coating of ash, place the salmon parcels on the grill rack and cook for about 10 minutes, turning over once.

Place on individual plates and leave to stand for 2-3 minutes - the salmon will continue to cook for a bit in the residual heat of the parcel. Remove the foil, then carefully unwrap and eat the fish straight out of the parcel.

Serves 6
50g/2oz fresh coconut, skinned and finely grated or 65g/ 2 ½ oz/scant 1 cup desiccated (dry unsweetened shredded) coconut, soaked in 30ml/2 tbsp water
1 large lemon, skin, pith and seeds removed, roughly chopped
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
3 large fresh mild green chilies, seeded and chopped
50g/2oz fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
25g/1oz fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
5ml/1 tsp ground cumin
5ml/1 tsp sugar
2.5ml/ ½ tsp fenugreek seeds, finely ground
5ml/1 tsp salt
2 large, whole banana leaves
6 salmon fillets, total weight about 1.2kg/ 2 ½ lb, skinned