I haven’t cooked seafood in a long time, so when I got some fresh fish, I decided to make Fish fry today.
It takes about 8 - 10 minutes of cooking time, 5 minutes of prep time (considering you are starting off with cleaned fish) and a minimum of 30 minutes of marination time.
This recipe freezes well and there is no change in texture once it thaws. I like the convenience of freezing this recipe, so on the days, I don’t get fish from the market or don’t want to spend too much time cooking, the freezer is my go to.
Let’s start.
Ingredients
King Fish – 3 slices
Kashmiri Chili Powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
Ginger – about ½ inch (crushed)
Pepper Powder – ¼ teaspoon
Cumin Powder – ¼ teaspoon
Fennel Powder – ¼ teaspoon
Salt – ¼ teaspoon
Curry leaf – few for making the marinate and few for frying
Rice Powder – 1 teaspoon
Corn Starch – 1 teaspoon (Normally I do not use corn starch, but today I wanted a coating on the fish and that’s the reason I have used corn starch)
Juice of Half a lemon
Water (if needed) to make a paste
Oil for shallow frying – 1 and half to 2 tablespoon
Method
Wash the fish with salt, turmeric and ½ teaspoon of curd. Although I do not know why the fish is washed and prepped this way, I have no clue. I just know that my mum did it and I follow suit.
Make a paste of Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric, salt, crushed ginger, pepper powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, finely chopped curry leaves, rice powder, lemon juice. Add water if required to make a slightly thick paste.
Marinate the fish in this paste and keep aside for about 30 minutes.
Once the fish is marinated for 30 minutes, heat oil in a pan (coconut oil is my choice of fat).
Add the fish in the pan. Over a medium heat, flip sides every 2 minutes until the fish is cooked and gets a crispy crust. Add the curry leaves for the last 30 seconds of the frying process.
And that’s it.
Thank you for reading.
I cook every day. Well, almost every day. And there are days where I cook multiple recipes. Having said that, I am not an authentic or professional chef. Many of my recipes are experiments as I try to adapt and use the ingredients I already have.
My mantra is you should cook food just the way you like it. I don’t mean any disrespect to traditional methods of cooking or any cultures where the cuisine originates from. But I merely try to cook it with what I have and what is available to me and sometimes, I add ingredients that I want to use up.
All photos are my own.
All photos are shot on a mobile phone.