This grilled whole fish just plain gets it!
There are of course many ways to cook a whole fish. In this post I will show you how to do it over fire. The grilled whole fish you see in the photo was cooked in tandoor on skewers but you could also cook the fish directly on the barbecue grate or in a fish basket. All of this methods get amazing results.
About this recipe.
Grilled whole fish is one of the most challenging things to cook in a tandoor oven. You need to skewer the fish just right but don’t worry there… I explain to you how to do that in the step by step photos below.
So if you have a tandoor oven, try this grilled whole fish in it.
I know that most people don’t have a tandoor oven so I used my new Doori tandoor oven which is less expensive than a clay tandoor and portable. Great for the beach!
If you intend on using your barbecue to cook this grilled whole fish recipe, that is easier and tastes about the same too.
How do you prepare this grilled whole fish?
No matter which cooking method you use, preparing the fish and marinade is the same.
If you want to cook this on your barbecue grate, I recommend looking at this recipe post where you do exactly that with step by step photographs.
To prepare the fish, scrape a sharp knife down the fish skin several times on each side to get all of the excess moisture out of the skin. This will help produce crispier, tastier skin when you serve it.
Score the fish on both sides about 5 to 10 times to help the fish cook through and to ensure the marinade gets right into the flesh of the fish.
How do you make the marinade?
Making the marinade is easy. Just whisk all of the ingredients together and apply inside and outside the fish. When and how you do this depends on if you are cooking this grilled whole fish on your barbecue or in a tandoor oven.
Whole fish marinated in tandoori spices is really fun to serve. It looks the part. I like to use sea bream or sea bass but you could really use the whole fish of your choice. I’ve even used this recipe with fresh water trout.
How do you cook the fish in a tandoor oven?
Cooking fish in a tandoor oven can be a little difficult at first. Once you do it a couple of times, it’s a breeze.
You need to skewer the fish either through the mouth, down the spine and out the tail end or in reverse, through the tail end, along the back bone and out the skull of the fish.
Running your skewer through the mouth is the easiest but I prefer to do it through the tail end so that the fish head is facing the coals. Either way, you need to ensure that the fish is secure on the skewer and place it in your tandoor oven at an angle which will make it more difficult for the fish to slide down.
Be careful! Be ready with a good heat proof glove or another skewer in case your fish begins to slide. With practice it won’t but you don’t want to lose any expensive fish in the meantime.
Cooking fish in a tandoor is of course very popular in India. Get it down and you will be happy you did.
How long can you store leftovers in the fridge?
This is a recipe that is best eaten on the day you make it. Freshness is always best. If you do have some of the meat left over, you can keep it in your fridge, wrapped tightly for about 3 days.
The leftover meat can be served on it’s own or warmed up and wrapped up in flatbread.
Step by step photographs.
Get all your ingredients together before you start.
Cut off the spicy fins on the top and sides of the fish. Then score the fish on both sides a few times.
Rub the marinade all over the exterior of the fish. You can let the fish marinate for 30 minutes or go straight to cooking.
Stick the skewer from the tail end, along the back bone and through the hard skull of the fish. You can also go through the mouth, along the backbone and out through the tail.
Skewer potatoes onto the skewer so that you can still see the end of the skewer. This will help ensure the fish doesn’t go into the fire if it happens to slide some.
Place the skewers in your preheated tandoor oven. You can also cook them this way over hot coals on your barbecue.
Let them cook at and angle until the skin is charred and the fish is completely cooked through.
Serve hot with flatbreads, salad and your choice of chutney and/or raita.
Look at how crispy the skin gets in the tandoor. This is so good.
Enjoy!
If you like this grilled whole fish tandoori style, you might like to try some of these seafood dishes too.
- Mediterranean Grilled Fish
- Tandoori Fish on the Barbecue
- Salmon Mean Molee – A delicious fish curry!
- Spicy Stuffed Crab
- Spicy Seafood Curry with Coconut
- Indian Pan Seared Halibut
- Indian Fish Fry
- Kedgeree Recipe
- Cod Curry With Coconut
- Tandoori Baked Salmon
- Easy Monkfish Curry
- Malabar Fish Curry
- Sri Lankan Fried Calamari
- Sri Lankan Prawn Curry
- Crab Curry Sri Lankan Style
- Vietnamese Grilled Scallops
- Vietnamese Cha Ca
- Ikan Bakar – Indonesian and Malaysian Grilled Fish
- Sambal Lala – Spicy Malaysian Clams
- Indonesian Blackened Grilled Fish
- Seafood Laksa
- Korean Blackened Salmon
- Indian Fish Pie
- Butter Egg Floss Prawns
- Prawn Puri
Have you tried this recipe for tandoori whole fish recipe?
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Tandoori Style Whole Fish
Ingredients
- 1 – 2 whole Bream or Bass
- 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
- 50ml white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 - 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tbsp tandoori masala paste or tandoor masala
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt, whisked until smooth
- 1 - 2 limes, quartered
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Slice off the spiky fins of the fish and then score the fish on both sides. Set aside.
- Place the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Rub the marinade inside the cavity and on the exterior of the fish. Be sure to get the marinade right into the slits you made on the sides.
- If cooking on a barbecue, see notes below. For cooking in a tandoor as I did, place about one charcoal basket full or more lump wood charcoal in the bottom of the tandoor. Light it and wait for the temperature to come up to about 300°C/400°F or higher.
- While the tandoor is heating up, skewer the fish through the tail end, along the back bone and out the skull of the fish. Make sure the fish is secure and then skewer a potato at the end. You do want to skewer the potato all the way through so that you can see about 2 inches of the pointy end of the skewer.
- When ready to cook, place the fish skewers into the tandoor oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until heated through and charred in places. Be careful when if you turn the fish during cooking and when you are bringing it out of the oven. If it looks like it is not secure on the skewer, where a heat proof glove or use another skewer to help lift the fish out.
- Season with more salt to taste if needed and serve with the lime wedges.
Notes
To cook this same recipe on your barbecue, I recommend using the same marinade and using the cooking techniques shown in this recipe.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 232Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 727mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 24g
Dave
Wednesday 14th of March 2012
Hi Dan,I will be trying this one tonight I have a sea bream in my fridge I bought yesterday.I was going to tandoori it but stumbled on this recipe when browsing your recipes,let you know how it went. Dave
Jo
Thursday 8th of March 2012
Does anyone know what the missing ingredient in dry spices is???