I grew up next to the sea, where the fishermen cast off the unwanted pieces of catch and left it for the dogs and birds. A friend, who lived in the North of India, would reach Bombay, and put his nose up in the air, would take deep breaths with a grin on his face. He said that the salt in the air invigorated him. Next time when I came back to Bombay from a trip, I did the same thing. That’s when I knew what he was talking about, and that’s also when I realised that I cannot live away from the sea for too long.
The balmy salty air, the smell of drying fish, the clash of the waves, the grains of sand under my feet, the sea which answers your questions if you ask them of her. This is home, and that’s the reason why the smell of fish never offended me.
I am primarily a vegetarian. But I had to post this recipe for my meat loving readers.
Fried Fish
I have a friend. Actually, she is my best pal, and her husband is an amazing cook. I believe his mutton dish (which he slow cooks for hours) have actually made people lick their fingers till they had sores.
Finger licking good
They had invited our entire gang (our kids are high school mates). All our friends had gone deathly quiet while eating his fish. Other than looking up to take another piece, (and fresh, hot ones were being served continuously), I could not meet any of their eyes, or talk to any of them. “Such was the taste”, they said later. “We forgot you guys (who did not eat fish!) existed!”
Fried Fish – Indian Style
I was thrilled to see so many people sniffing (it can be spicy) yet stuffing their mouths with fish after fish. (Needless to say, they were all rolled home – no one could walk!)
The foodie in me was very excited, and on my recent visit to Bangalore (where my friend has shifted, much to my continued disgust!) I decided to get her to make some fish, so that I could take some pics and rob her recipe 😉
She has an amazing house, opening on two levels, to two different gardens. I clicked the pictures under the shade of a tree.
The recipe is disturbingly simple. The trick she says is, to marinate it for days and days. They wash the fish, then marinate it, put it next to each other in a dish, cling wrap it and leave it in the freezer for as long as they can. A minimum of 4 days to a maximum of 10 days or more. The longer it marinates, the better it tastes.
Yummy Indian Style masala fried fish
They mostly like to use Surmai, (Kingfish) as it has only one central bone. If Surmai is not available, they go for Pomfret. Indigenous fish like Surmai, Pomfret, lend better to this very Indian, desi recipe.
They buy a huge fish (when its Surmai), and cut slices, no thicker than half an inch. It is immediately washed, marinated and frozen, once it got home. When they want to fry it, they take it out of the freezer section and pop it into the normal refrigerated section for appx 2 hours. Once thawed it can be fried anytime you require. All it takes is a frying pan and some olive oil. The marinade splatters all over, while cooking, It’s a mess to clean up, so you can put a lid on the fish, while it cooks, then take it off and make it more crisp, at a later stage.
fried fish
Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the hot fillet, and eat it with freshly cut onions and green chillies. Pop a beer!! The combinations is amazing.
Cheers!!
- 1 slice Surmai / Pomfret Fillet
- 100 ml oil for frying
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 tspn red chilly powder
- 1 tspn Turmeric
- 1 +1/4 tspn vinegar
- fridge to freeze the fish
- cling flim
- lid to cover the fish while cooking
- Non stick Pan
- If using a Surmai, cut into half inch thick slices. If its a Pomfret, debone. Wash the fish slice. Wipe dry using a paper towel.
- Mix the salt, turmeric powder and red chillies with the vinegar and make a thick paste. Put the vinegar a little at a time. The paste should not get runny.
- Marinate both sides of the fish. The marinade on both sides should be thickly applied.
- Keep next to each other in a dish. Fish should not be kept on top of each other as the marinade will get stuck to each other. Cover with cling film.
- Freeze the marinated fish for a minimum of 4 days.
- Thaw fish in normal refrigerated section for appx 2 hours.
- Add oil to the non stick pan.
- Let it heat, but should not smoke.
- Slide a slice of the fish, and cover with lid. While cooking the marinade splashes all over, so its better to cover with a lid.
- After 5 odd minutes, open the lid and turn over the fish, so that the other side cooks.
- After another 5 minutes, take off the lid and fry the fish on both sides till it gets a little crisp and brown.
- The marinade will now look brown / black.
- Fry as crisp as you like. The marinade has cooked, so if you want it less crisp its okay to take it off the fire.
- Serve hot, with lime, onions and green chillies. And Oh!! Open a beer!!
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