Tilapia fish fry - Indian style

10:58 PM Unknown 1 Comments

Fish is something I've eaten a lot growing up. Sea food basically. My father is in the sea food business and so, it was available in abundance :) My mom apparently never liked sea food that much. Look who she ended up with ;) He he .. And hence, my mom makes amazing fish dishes. Especially her fish sambar. Its to die for!! Literally !!
But today, I'm saving this space for another recipe. Tilapia fish fry, Indian Style!
Its very simple. It just needs a few ingredients that you'd find in your everyday desi pantry. There is however one ingredient which might be tough to get your hands on!
Another thing that I must mention is that I follow a very thorough cleaning method. Learnt it from mommy of course! You can follow this for any fish cleaning process. But, I've added an additional step in it based on my research online.  Recipe as follows.

Ingredients:

  • 0.9 lbs of Tilapia fish (this was about 2 fillets)
  • Marinade:
    • Half lime (The one I used was pretty big. So I used half of it)
    • 2 tsp of red chilli powder.
    • 1/2 tsp of ginger garlic paste
    • Salt as needed. 
    • A pinch of Kalpasi (This gives an amazing flavor!! #secretIngredient but optional)
    • A pinch of garam masala
    • 2 tbsp oil (or as needed)

My trustee Kalpasi

  • To clean the fish:
    • Lemon / vinegar, as needed.
    • Salt
    • Turmeric
  • To garnish
    • Juice of Lime
Method:
  • Cleaning the fish.
    • Wash the fish fillets with plain water and to that, add lime/ vinegar, salt and turmeric to it and let it sit for 10 to 15 mins. 
    • Note: Adding salt to the fish while cleaning will get rid of the bad fishy smell. But add less of it. If not your fish will taste salty. Watch out the amount of salt you add in the marinade later. 
    • Wash the fish with plain water just before marinading.
Fish cleaning!

  • Meanwhile, Mix all the ingredients in the marinade and set aside. 
  • Use oil as necessary for the marinade, avoiding water. The reason being, while shallow frying, oil will splutter.
  • Let the fish marinade for at least 15 mins. Overnight is even better. 

  • And now, add some oil in a skillet, and shallow fry the fish.

  • Cook for about three mins on each side. Poke in the thicket part to check if its cooked thoroughly. You wouldn't want to eat raw fish !! 

  • After its done, squeeze some lime onto it and serve hot!


Note:
  • This recipe is a little over the top with spice for I love spicy fish!. Please feel free to cut down on it. 
  • Dagad phool/ kalpasi is a lichen that is used mainly in chettinad cuisine. This gives your dish the edge over others. I use it in all meat dishes (well, almost all). A little goes a long way.
Please try this recipe and let us know if you have any questions or suggestions on how you prepare this differently!l 

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