Tandoori Fish Fry (Tandoori Macchi)

Tandoori Macchi has been a pleasant winter discovery for me. While my husband is a strong carnivore (using it for the sheer lack of any other term), I prefer to hyper-analyse and be educated about everything that goes down my throat. Which takes my meat research a step further. Of all the meats I eat, Chicken and Fish are my preferred ones. Throw a choice, I prefer to stick to the safest lean fat - Fish. I have mentioned earlier on this blog that both of us detest Fish curries in any form. Having said that it leaves us with very less choices albeit just a single one - frying fish with all different spice powder combinations and relinquish the taste. Replicate if happy with the trials.

I have a huge concern with Chicken which we buy from the local grocery. I spend minutes and a sometimes very long time pondering and ruminating over the labels - growth hormone free, no steroids used, chicken fed on healthy edible elements and not just left over animal trash. We are what we eat - my father reiterated the statement time and again when I was a child owing to my fussy eating habits! This is the quote which has grown on me over a period of time & I cherish it now as better sense had prevailed! End result being - eat what you like and if sceptic sense of judgement persists, abhor the food group till you find healthy cuts and convincing produce. Finally, more often than not I restrict myself to the easiest and safest choice - Fish. Part of fishy fascination explains the fact that I detest cleaning meat, the less disturbing scenes I see while cleaning meat, the more motivated I am to cook, feed and be fed if I am lucky!

During one of my daily jabber conversations, one of my cousin informed me that she was making Tandoori Macchi. The convo was quick and I could not get time to ask for the recipe. This was many months ago. Few weeks back, I bought Fish and wanted to try something new and refreshing. I used store bought Tandoori masala and some spice powders to bring about the fish flavour. Traditionally, this version of Fish needs to be cooked in a traditional clay oven called - Tandoor mostly found in Northern regions of India and in specialty hotels & restaurants; the temperature is almost at 900 F in a Tandoor, and is certainly higher than that of conventional ovens at home but the taste is very earthy and crispy. I skipped using the oven and opted for a hot stove top griddle instead. We both like Tandoor or any kind of grilled food. This recipe is an ode to that taste and flavour which one can find only in specific restaurants in South Asia.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Marinade time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:
Fish fillet (boneless) - 6-10 pieces
Tandoori Masala - 2 tablespoon
Lime juice - 1 tablespoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam Masala powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Black Pepper (whole & crushed) - 1/2 teaspoon
Semolina (Sooji) - 4-6 tablespoon

Oil - for frying + marinade
Salt

Method:
Clean the fish fillet and use centre cut portions; this ensures that all the fish pieces getting cooked evenly. Thaw at room temperature if frozen and let rest in warm water for few minutes for a quick thaw. Wash the fish in multiple change of water till clean. Take care not to cook the fish in the bargain. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Cut them into 2" bite sizes.
Add all the spice powders mentioned, mix well with hands. Add lime juice towards the end. If you prefer eating fish with lime juice drizzled, then pour half of the quantity in the marinade and preserve rest for serving. The marinade will form a thick red paste on the surface of fish. Add a tablespoon of oil to the marinade. This prevents the fish from drying up while frying & keeps it moist. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes have elapsed, heat a shallow pan, dredge the pieces one by one in Sooji, shallow fry on both the sides for few minutes till they are fork tender. Drizzle oil on the sides to cook the fish. Fish cooks very fast so keep a watchful eye. Once done, serve with a drizzle of lime juice. I did not add the juice since I had added enough to the fish marinade. This fish fry is very spicy and tasty. Reduce spice quantity as per taste and preference.

Fish Fry With Green Masala & Black Pepper

On a rare occasion, husband requested me to make Fish Fry. This time around, I wanted to try something different so I experimented Fish Fry with Green Masala and Black Pepper. I also used lime juice to tenderise the meat. The resultant, Fish Fry was well received and appreciated. One can opt for - Fish Naked Fry which is fish smeared with the masala directly going on the pan for shallow fry or Fish Rawa Fry which is fish smeared with masala and rolled in seasoned Rawa, and then shallow fried. Adding freshly crushed whole black Pepper added a different depth to the fish. If one has Hirwa Thecha made before hand, that paste can also be used thereby saving some time. Adding lime juice, made the fish fillet juicy and tender. We both liked this variety of Fish Fry and plan to make more often!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Marinade for: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Fish fillet (skinless and boneless) - 8-12 pieces

Whole Black Pepper corns - 8-10

Lime juice - 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon

Sooji or Rawa - 1-1/2 cup

Red Chilli powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Salt

Oil

Green Masala -

Ginger - 1" piece

Garlic - 4 pods

Coriander leaves - 5-8 strands

Mint leaves - a fistful of tender leaves

Green Chillies - 2

Method:

Thaw the fish if using frozen ones at room temperature. For a quick thaw - immerse in warm water and bring to room temperature. Wash in multiple change of water till clear. Pat dry all the pieces with kitchen paper towel. Transfer to a clean mixing dish. Season with salt and freshly crushed whole black pepper corns. I use my regular pestle and mortar to crush the seeds. Mix and leave aside. Grind all the ingredients of Green Masala to a wet paste with less or no water. Smear this paste liberally on the fish on either sides. Add 1 tablespoon lime juice. Mix gently and leave to steep for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes has elapsed, roll the fish pieces in Rawa (seasoned with a hint of red chilli powder and salt) and shallow fry on both the sides for around 5-8 minutes each. Once the crust is golden, turn off the flame. Drizzle some lime juice and serve hot with white Rice and Daal.

Fish Cutlet

Recently, I bought Tilapia Fish Fillet and stumbled upon this wonderful recipe provided by My Dhaba - Chef VK Narayanan. The recipe is certainly a keeper. I made Fish Cutlet along with few extra ingredients put together, elevated the spice portions to make the meat tasty, made few changes to the binding agents to hold the Cutlet.

I wanted to try a different approach in terms of cooking the fish. Chef VKN's recipe approaches the recipe with flaky cooked fish which was a wonderful discovery for me. Thanks Chef VK Narayanan! It was truly a pleasure eating bites of the Fish Cutlet. The flavour was restaurant style and I loved the specific details cited and narrated in the recipe.

An ode to a recipe which I adore + some pantry cleanup calls for my entry to Nupur's BB4 Edition.

Recipe Source: Adapted from My Dhaba - Chef VK Narayanan

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Yield: 9-12 Cutlets

Ingredients:

Fish fillet - 3 ~ 3 cups of poached fillet: I used Tilapia skinless, boneless fillet.

Potatoes (boiled and mashed) - 3 cups

White chunks of White Bread - 1/2 cup

Onions (minced) - 1/2 cup

Ginger paste - 1 and 1/2 tablespoon

Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

Green Chillies (chpped) - 3

Garam Masala powder - 2 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Black Pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Ghee/ Oil - 2 tablespoon

Bread Crumb powder - 5-8 tablespoon

Milk - 2-3 tablespoon

Eggs - 2

Salt

Water

For Garnish:

Lemon Wedges

Sliced Onions

Method:

Boil Potatoes, mash and keep aside. Thaw the Fish fillet pieces at room temperature, wash thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel. Poach the fish pieces with little water, salt, ginger and turmeric powder, water should be just good enough to soak the fillets. The fillet will slowly turn flaky and begin to separate. Mash gently with a wooden spatula to separate the fillet pieces. Once the fillet turns completely flaky, turn off the flame and allow to cool. Drain out water and keep the fillet aside.

Mix the mashed Potatoes and all the spice powders. Add the poached fillet pieces. Mix well, add 1 tablespoon of melted ghee, add white bread chunks, adjust salt as per taste and keep aside. In a separate pan, lightly fry onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Once the onions wilt and herbs are lightly sauted turn off the flame. Add the potato-fish mix and give a gentle stir. Make palm sized oval individual portions, dip them in a mixture of egg-pepper powder and salt (all whisked together), roll them in bread crumbs. Double dip if you wish a thicker coating on the cutlet.

Pan roast them on a heated pan with oil/ghee slathered on the sides. Fish cooks very fast so keep a watchful eye and take care to fry them on low-to-medium flame.

Garnish with lime wedges and onion slices. Serve hot with ketchup or Mint Chutney. Drizzle some lime juice, chomp away some onions and take bites of this Cutlet.

Fish Fry in Red Paste ~ Goan Style

Fish Fry is a one of the prefered ways of cooking fish especially in western region of India where Fish is a significant part of any staple non-vegeterian diet. Coat them with Sooji or Semolina of choice with herbs and spices. Serve with a dash of lime juice and enjoy the delicate fillet melting in your mouth. This is my own interpretation of the Fish Fry in Red Paste I'd tasted long back. Unlike the conventional recipes, this one takes the longer route. Here, spices are ground, applied in abundance as a spice rub to the fish and pan-fried to the extent required.

Yield: 15-18 pieces from 3 fillets
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:
Fish fillet of choice ~ Tilapia - 3 fillets ~ approx. 15-18 bites
Red Chillies (Byadgi variety) - 3-5
Ginger (minced) - 1 teaspoon
Garlic (minced) - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder (optional) - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Black Pepper corn (whole) - 1/2 teaspoon
Brinda or Kokum shells or Sol/ Tamarind juice - 2-3 shells or 1 teaspoon
Sooji or Semolina - For coating the fish - 3-5 tablespoon
Oil - For frying

Method:
Lightly roast red chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and pepper corns with few teaspoons of oil. Allow to cool, grind to a fine paste, add ginger-garlic as well; grind with little or no water to a fine, smooth paste. End result would be a red paste, add red chilli powder if desired. Add salt and Kokum shells or Sol to the marinade. Soak the fish fillet, chopped into bite-sized pieces in this marinade and leave for 60 minutes.
Once done, coat the Fish pieces in Sooji and pan-fry using a frying pan with oil drizzled on sides for 10-15 minutes. Fish cooks faster so once done, poke a toothpick to check for doneness. Serve with lime wedges garnished on the side.

Fish Fry in Racheado Paste (Tilapia in Racheado Paste)

Goan Portuguese dishes are something I relish. I specially love the vast varieties of curry sauce, paste and traditional cuisine which have been passed on from generations to generations. Few of my favorite Goan-Portuguese Non-Vegeterian food items are Cafreal (very similar to Chicken Tandoori), Xacuti (Chicken or meat of choice cooked in green gravy which is spice and coconut based) and Racheado (red paste dominant with pepper, garlic and vinegar, applied to the meat as a stuffing and pan-fried). The curry pastes are spicy and hot. They have garlic, vinegar and spices as the main ingredient. Infact, these 3 ingredients form the base for most of the Goan-Portuguese dishes. Recently, I watched a TV show hosted by Madhur Jaffrey which showcased Goan-Portuguese delicacy, she aptly mentioned the origin of the word - Vindaloo in Portuguese which is a combination of vin + aloosh = vinegar (wine) + garlic (aloosh).

Traditionally, Fish Rachaedo is made as a red curry paste, applied first to the slits made on the fish, below the bone. Pomfret or Baangdaa is a local delicacy for Rachaedo in Goa. One of our close friends makes this amazingly well, when she cooks her kitchen wafts with aroma of Rachaedo masala everywhere. Pomfret/ Baangdaa Rachaedo is pan-fried wherein the Pomfret (whole fish) is cleaned, slits made below the bone, Racaedo masala stuffed, the fish is then dredged in a batter/ rava and shallow fried.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Fish fillet pieces - 15-20 pieces

Rice Rava - 5 tablespoons

Oil - For frying

For Rachaedo paste -

Onion - 1/2 Onion

Garlic - 5-6 pods

Ginger - 1 " piece

Red Chillies - 6-10

Pepper corns (whole) - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - as per taste

Vinegar - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Grind all of the above to a fine paste.

** This is very spicy paste, tone down as per choice **

Method:

Thaw the fish and get them to room temperature. Once thawed completely, wash the fillet well. Make bite sized pieces and apply the Rachaedo paste. Keep aside for 20 minutes.

Dredge each piece in rice flour and pan-fry with oil on the sides. Turn them over after 5 minutes and fry well till they crispy and the meat is well cooked. Serve hot with lime wedges.

Fish Curry (Aale Kande Ambat)

Aale in Konkani stands for Ginger and Kande stands for Onion. This popular dish - Aale Kande Ambat is prepared when there is Fish Fry as a side dish or much more simple - if you just want to have a Fish curry with Rice. I made this when I fried Fish. P and I personally do not like Fish curry so we made the gravy alone. But on a popular note, this is a famous Fish Curry recipe amongst Konkanis. This is the way it used to be prepared at my cousins place in Mangalore. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me.

The subtle flavours of Fish render a unique aroma to this dish though the base gravy for most of the South Canara cooking is always Red Chillies (Byadgi), Grated Coconut and Tamarind.

In my cousin's place in Goa and Mangalore, usually "Wooden Ladels" are used for Fish curry since they transfer the smell to steel utensils. You also get special Wooden Ladels which are made with Coconut shells and are found in abundance in markets in Goa and Mangalore. My aunts and cousins love these cute wooden ladels.

Serves: 2-3 individuals

Recipe adapted from the original recipe given by my cousin from Mangalore

Ingredients:

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Fish pieces - 4 to 6

Red Chillies - 4-5

Onion - 1/2 cup

Mustard seeds (optional) - 1/3 teaspoon ~ Just a sprinkle would do

Tamarind - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger - 1/2 " piece

Oil - For frying

Salt - As per taste

Water - For curry consistency

Method:

Grind red chillies, grated coconut and tamarind with part of the ginger to a fine paste. During the last round of blending add mustard seeds, this gives a good flavour to the curry (this is an optional process, but the flavours blend well and get a good aroma if mustard seeds are added).

In a saucepan, heat oil and fry onions and minced ginger. They need to be cooked more than the usual translucent color. Allow them to char a little (little brownish color). Add the ground mix to these and bring to boil. Add enough water, salt and Fish pieces. Bring to boil and cook till Fish is done. Fish color would no longer be pink once its cooked. Serve hot with rice and Fish Fry.

Suggestion: Fish cooks very fast, so it should be done within 10 minutes once gravy is added. Keep a careful watch or else Fish pieces could overcook causing shredding of meat pieces.

Tilapia Fish Fry (Tilapia Phodi)

Tilapia is one darling of a fish in US. Along with Salmon, this variety if fish is the one we cook most of the times. I cannot seem to get enough of this fish. In India, my favorites are King Fish (Anjal), Manjee (Pomfret), Kane (Lady Cat fish). Though I must say the taste of Fried Anjal is the closest to my heart. I also like the Fish Fry coated with rice batter comprising of red chillies, rice and little water. I sampled this at a friends place in Goa and was a total delight. But frying this fish requires a dextrous hand as the fish gets cooked very fast and the rice coating of batter also needs to cook in tandem. Must say, one of my Maushi makes the best spicy fish fry in Goa.

I tried my hand here for a simple fish fry which is hme style. Easy and something for which you don't have to try for the out-of-reach pantry ingredients.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes


Serves: 3 individuals



Ingredients:
Tilapia fish fillet - 5 pieces, sliced into 2" pieces
Red Chilli powder - 3 teaspoon
Crushed Garlic pods(minced) - 2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as per taste
Asafoetioda powder - 1/10 teaspoon
Egg (beaten with 3 T milk) - 1 egg
Bread crumbs powder - 6-8 Teaspoon
Oil - As per taste


Method:
Clean fish and slice into 2" fillets. If from freezer, allow to thaw for atleast 2-3 hours till its soft and supple. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida powder. Let the fish stay in the marinade for 1-2 hours.


During serving time, roll the fillets into beaten egg mix and bread crumbs mix once. If more breaded version is required you could repeat the procedure again. I stuck to single coat of egg and bread crumbs. Heat the pan with oil slathered over (atleast 3-4 t). Once pan is heated up. add the fish fillets one by one and let it fry on medium flame.



Turn over the fish and slather some more oil all over the pan. To check if fish is cooked, do the "fork-finish-test". Slip the fork through the fish, if the fork slips out of the meat smoothly, the meat is cooked, if not the meat is still not done and needs more roasting. Fish cooks faster, so ensure you do not overcook the meat.



Serve hot once done with Ale-Kande Ambat and Rice.