MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Punjabi Fried Fish
Categories: Indian, Seafood
Yield: 2 Servings

MMMMM--------------------------MARINADE-------------------------------
1 lb Fish
1/2 ts Turmeric powder
1 1/2 ts Garlic; minced
1 ts Fresh ginger; minced
3/4 ts Red chilli powder;
- adjust to tolerance
1/4 ts Garam masala
1/2 tb Fresh lemon juice
1/2 ts Mustard oil
1 pn Salt; generous

MMMMM--------------------------COATING-------------------------------
3 tb Rice flour
1/4 Besan (chickpea flour)
1 ts Chaat masala
Salt; to taste

MMMMM-------------------------FOR FRYING------------------------------
Mustard oil or high smoke
- point oil; for frying
1/2 ts Methi dana (fenugreek
- seeds)

MMMMM------------------------FOR SERVING-----------------------------
Chaat masala
Onion slices
Lemon wedges

Fish marinated in fragrant spices and fried in a gluten free flour
mixture of rice and chickpea flours.

Clean and descale the fish pieces or ask your butcher to do it. Wash
under a stream of water and pat them dry with a paper towel. In a
flat dish, layer the pieces and add all the ingredients listed under
marination. Rub everything with your hands to coat the fish and
refrigerate for 1 hour.

15 minutes before ready to fry, take out the fish from the
refrigerator and let sit on the kitchen counter. In a bowl, combine
the rice flour, besan, and chaat masala. Taste a pinch of this
mixture before adding additional salt since chaat masala is quite
salty, then adjust the salt to taste.

Set 2" mustard oil (or whichever oil your are using) in a
heavy-bottomed, wide pot or skillet (I use my 10" cast iron) to heat
up on medium flame. While the oil is heating, add the flour mixture
to the marinated fish pieces. Mix with hands such that the flour
sticks to the fish. Add a light splash of water if needed. We do not
want a wet batter. We do not want a thick flour batter to coat the
fish, instead just a uneven coat ing of flour on the fish, similar to
coating chicken when deep frying.

Once the oil is hot, about 325?F, add fenugreek seeds to it. Let the
seeds crackle. Gently set the coated fish pieces the into hot oil and
fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until medium golden brown in
color. This time will be more in case you are using whole fish. Do
not fry on very high or very low heat else the fish will get soggy or
remain raw inside. Drain on paper towel and when the fish is still
hot, sprinkle more chaat masala. Discard the oil.

Serve immediately with onion slices and lemon wedges and green
chutney or any sauce of choice.

Notes:

You could use whole small fish (like pomfret, golden pompano, trout,
mackerel) or freshwater fish like rohu, katla (indian varieties) or
boneless fish fillets (catfish, tilapia, cod, mahi-mahi) in this
recipe. When using a whole fish, make incisions before you marinate.

Chaat Masala is a hot & tangy blend of spices which is easily
available in Indian & Pakistani stores. If you do not have it, skip
and add a little cayenne and crushed black pepper to the flour mix.

You could squirt lemon juice for tang once you have finished frying
the fish.

Many times, I use the same recipe to fry up fillets and stuff them
inside tortillas or roti with coleslaw and serve as fish tacos.

Recipe by sanjuro

Recipe FROM: <gopher://sdf.org/0/users/sanjuro/indian-food/
punjabi-fried-fish.txt>

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