Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
½ kg fish (pieces or fillets)
Oil as needed
First marination
1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste or coarsely crushed
Lemon juice as needed
Salt as needed
¼ tsp turmeric
¾ tsp garam masala
½ tsp coriander powder (if garam masala is very strong)
½ tsp red chili powder
Second marination
1 ½ tbsp. rice flour
1 ½ tbsp. besan or chickpea flour or gram flour
Salt as needed
¼ to ½ tsp red chilli powder or paprika (adjust to suit your taste)
½ tsp saunf (or fennel seeds, skip if you don’t like)
½ tsp ajwain (or carom seeds, optional)
¼ tsp Kasuri methi or 1 sprig curry leaves chopped finely
How to make the recipe
Add the following ingredients to a plate. – salt, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder and lemon juice.
Mix all of these together to make a paste. Taste the marinade and adjust salt or spice as needed.
Wash fish fillets thoroughly. If using a fish like salmon, make slits in the fillet.
Apply this marinade to the fish pieces. If needed add 1 tsp of water to apply the paste well. Set this aside.
Powder ajwain and saunf together. Or crush them coarsely. Add this to another plate. You can also skip this. But these add aroma to the fish.
Add rice flour, besan, salt, red chili powder, saunf, ajwain and curry leaves. Mix all of these. Taste this and adjust salt or spice as needed.
Place the fish in flour mixture. Make sure flour coats well on to the fish on both the sides. Fish looks floury at this stage. Set this aside till the dry flour turns moist.
The moisture in the fish makes the flour damp and it sticks well to the fish. This takes around 10 to 15 minutes.
Heat a tawa. Add oil and spread it well. Heat it on a low flame. Fry till crusty on both the sides. Be gentle while flipping the fish otherwise the masala comes out. Fish can be pan fried or shallow fried both yield almost the same result.
Garnish with onion wedges and grated carrot. Serve with a meal or as an appetizer.
For grilling the fish.
After the second marination, Gently brush a generous amount of oil over the fillet. heat the oven at 170 C for 15 minutes and grill for about 25 minutes. You may need to grill for more or long depending on the thickness of the fillet or the variety of fish.
