Cooking an entire fish is pretty easy and can be done in an oven or on your barbecue grill. It hardly takes time as most of the work is done by the fishmonger. I discovered this spiced fish in a seafood restaurant in Qatar. And ever since I feasted on it I always wanted to prepare this. I searched for the recipe on various blog sites but none of them was close to what I had eaten at the restaurant. Then finally or by luck I should say I combined most of the recipes and came up with one good recipe that tasted exactly like the one I had eaten.

This Arabian Spiced baked fish can also be done during your barbeque picnics. The fish grilled directly on the charcoals gives a nice smoky flavor.

The ingredients required for this recipe is easy. It is a two step process. The first step is marinating the fish with spice powders like cumin, paprika, chilly powder and dried lemon powder. If you cant find one you can substitute it with lemon juice. The second step is adding another layer of marinade which consists of onions, tomatoes, garlic and capsicum cooked in a hot pan.

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Arabian Spiced Baked Fish

Ingredients

• White Fish- 1 kg (Sheri/ Hamour/ Sea bass ) butterfly cut.
• Cumin powder- 2 tsp
• Paprika powder- 2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Dried lemon powder- 1 tsp
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt- 1 tsp
• Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp

For the 2nd marinade

• Onion- 1, chopped
• Garlic Clove- 4, chopped
• Tomato- 2 medium, chopped
• Capsicum- 1/2, chopped
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Reserved spice paste
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Parsley- 1tbsp, chopped

Instructions

1. Get your fish cleaned and ask your fishmonger to cut open the fish (butterfly cut).
2. Sprinkle the outside of the fish with salt.
3. Mix all the spice powders with olive oil and lemon juice to form a liquid paste. Apply this paste on the outside and inside of the fish. You will be left with a little paste, keep it aside.
4. On a hot pan, add olive oil, onions, chopped garlic. Cook till the onions soften. Add tomatoes and capsicum and continue to cook till it softens and everything is combined into a paste. Allow it to cool.
5. Once the above sauce is cooled, add the reserved marinade and apply it on the inside of the fish.
6. Place some sliced lemons on top of the fish and sprinkle some chopped parsley. Transfer the fish onto a grilled rack.
7. Preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius for 15 min. Bake the fish for 50 to 60 min. Once baked remove the fish from the oven.
8. Serve the fish with yellow rice and some salad.