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6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

½ cup tomato sauce

3 tablespoons chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro); reserve a bit for garnishing (as substitute, use regular parsley or fresh dill)

¾ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

⅛–½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400°.

Wash the fish thoroughly in cold running water and pat dry, inside and out.

Place the onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and 4 tablespoons of water in the container of an electric blender. Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.

Heat oil in 8–10-inch skillet over medium flame, put in the whole cumin seeds, and as soon as they darken add the paste from the blender. Fry, stirring, for 5 or 6 minutes. Now add the tomato sauce and Chinese parsley. Cook, stirring, another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, cloves, and lemon juice, stir, and leave to cool slightly. (Check the salt in the paste. Remember it has to be enough to season all of the fish.)

Cut 4 diagonal slits, at the same angle as the gills, on each side of the fish. Distribute paste inside fish, over fish, and inside the slits. Place fish on baking platter or on baking tray covered with aluminum foil, and bake 40 to 50 minutes, basting every 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the Yellow Rice.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1½ cups long-grain rice

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. When hot, add cumin seeds. Stir a few seconds or until cumin seeds begin to darken. Add rice and turmeric. Mix and stir, fry for a minute, lower heat a bit if necessary. Add 2¼ cups water and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, turn heat down very low, and cook, without lifting lid, for 30 minutes.

To serve: It is much easier if your baking dish is also your serving platter. This way there is less danger of breaking the fish. If you do need to move it, however, be very, very careful during the transfer. You can arrange the rice around the fish if the platter is large enough. If not, serve the rice separately and garnish your fish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with a green salad and sweet tomato chutney.

Sea bass in green chutney

SERVES 2

Here is my version of a very popular dish in which the pomfret is smothered in green chutney and then cooked in banana leaves. Having no banana leaves handy, I use the prosaic but serviceable mainstay of the American kitchen—aluminum foil. It seems to work.

1 sea bass, 1½–2 pounds (with head and tail on, but otherwise cleaned)

A piece of fresh ginger, 1 inch long and 1 inch wide, peeled and coarsely chopped

5 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

½ teaspoon whole black mustard seeds

2 whole hot dried red peppers (optional)

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cup chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

Clean and wash fish thoroughly under cold running water. Pat dry, inside and out.

Preheat oven to 400°

Place the ginger and garlic in the container of an electric blender, along with 3 tablespoons of water. Blend at a high speed until you have a smooth paste.

Heat oil in 8–10-inch skillet over medium-high flame, and add the mustard seeds. Within a few seconds, they will begin to expand and pop. Add the red peppers, and stir them once. Pour in the paste from the blender, add the turmeric, and fry, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

Pour contents of skillet into the blender. Add the Chinese parsley, lemon juice, and salt. Blend at high speed until you again have a smooth paste, adding up to 2 tablespoons of water if necessary.

Line a large baking dish with a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, large enough to fold over the fish. Cover the fish with the green paste, inside and out.