Fish Fry

Fish Fry or Fish Finger is one of my favourite starters! And when I saw a 2.25 kg Bhetki on my weekend market trip, I ordered it to be cut into fillet.....

So here goes the recipe for Fish Fry.....Fish finger recipe would be the same....only difference is the starting point-instead of square or rectangular fillet, the fish has to be cut into thin strips of 3/4" x 3" dimension approximately....





Ingredients : What I used
Bhetki fillet - about 12 - 15 pieces of 2"x2.5" dimension (no hard and fast rule though!)


A. For marination
* Ginger paste : 1 tbsp
* Garlic paste : 1 tbsp
* Onion paste or juice of onion : 2 tbsp paste or 3-4 tbsp juice (I used paste)
* Green chilli paste - 1 tsp (optional)
* Coriander leaves - chopped fine (optional)
* Chilli flakes - 1 tsp (optional)
* Vinegar or lemon juice - 3-4 tbsp
* Freshly ground black pepper - 1 tsp
* Salt - to taste


B. For the coating :
*Arrowroot powder / Cornflour - 3-4 tbsp
*Bread crumbs : 2 cups OR Bread Slices (stale ones preferred) - 5-6 nos. (see below to check out how to prepare breadcrumbs @ home)


Procedure :
1. Marinate the washed and cleaned fish pieces in a mix of all ingredients at 'A'. I refrigerate the marinated fish in an airtight box overnight.




2. Prepare the breadcrumb as shown below ##

3. In a flat bottomed bowl, mix the arrowroot/cornflour with water to make a paste of thin consistency.

4. In a flat plate, take the bread crumb and make an even layer.

5. Take each marinated Fish piece, dip it into the thin batter of arrowroot/cornflour , immediately followed by rolling in the bread crumb to form an uniform coating. Repeat for all the fish pieces.

6. In a deep flat bottomed frying pan, take the oil, heat it and fry the bread crumb coated fish pieces. Take out the fish fries and place them on a kitchen tissue to soak off the excess oil.

7. Serve with Salads and/or Mustard sauce (Kashundi) or any other sauce of your liking!

# Preparing Bread Crumbs @ Home :
-Take the stale breads (Fresh bread contains lots of moisture and hence is not too suitable for making crumbs)
-Place them in a flat tray in the microwave oven. Heat it in microwave for 2 minutes on medium heat. After completion of 2 minutes, keep it in the microwave for another 2-3 minutes for the bread slices to harden.
-Take out the hardened bread slices, break them into small pieces and put them in a mixie/dry grinder.
-Just run it for 5-10 seconds, to get fresh bread crumbs instantly!