A Meen Pie

What caught my attention in this article that I found while scouring for Kerala-style fish dishes was the tempting, refreshing picture. I bookmarked the page right away. I knew I’d recreate that pie at least once.
   

My Sunday Fish Pie

Sundays in my house normally mean indulgence – sleep, food, mall-hopping. Today's theme was food. After a sumptuous lunch and a few hours of non-stop chattering, I knew that I needed to stimulate my slumbering self. So, I got some Bluefin Trevally (Vatta in Malayalam; Hammaam in Arabic) from my fish monger and got started with my version of the fish pie.
  

I did not depart much from the original recipe. I omitted the peas and parsley (nobody wants to eat greens on Sundays). I added a little garam masala as suggested in the article. I did not add the eggs because I did not have any. The best part of this dish is that I got an excuse to make my mashed potatoes...Yum!

Fish Pie

Ingredients:

Any big fish – ¼ kg (cooked in a little water, turmeric, and salt)

Onion – 1, finely chopped

Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp

Paprika – ½ tsp

Chili powder – ½ tsp

Ground pepper – ½ tsp

Oil – 2 tsp

Spring onions – ½ cup, chopped +1 tbsp for garnishing, finely chopped

White sauce – 1 cup, thickened

Mashed potatoes – about 12-15 ice cream scoops (here's the recipe)

Method:

1. Flake the cooked fish.
2. Saute the onions in a little oil.
3. Add the ginger-garlic paste when the onions turn translucent.
4. Once the raw smell of the ginger and garlic disappears, add the powders. Saute for about 30 seconds.
5. Add the fish and spring onions, and saute for about a minute.
6. Add the white sauce, and combine well.

Assembling the pie:

1. Grease a baking dish, and spread the fish mixture evenly over the base of the baking dish.
2. Layer the mash over the fish. You can scoop the mashed potato over the fish for even layering and added effect. 
3. Bake the fish pie at 375°F/190°C/Gas 5 till the potato starts turning brown.
4. Garnish with spring onions. Serve hot.

The fish pie was out of the oven around dinner time. The only delay in digging in was the time I spent clicking these pictures, sub-standard as they are.
I also managed to click a picture during the dinner dash. Since there are many fish lovers in the family and even more mash fans, the pie disappeared within minutes. It kind of reminded me of a cartoon where Jerry wipes out an entire table full of food.

Life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks. ~ Marilyn Wann