The love that Bengalis have for Fish Fry is real. Its a thing that is unexplainable. Delicate white fish wrapped in a blanket of spiced marinade and rolled in crunchy breadcrumbs is a great snack and very popular in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the ultimate Bong food. Ideally the fish fry is served with ‘kasundi’ which is a pungent and spicy mustard paste/sauce but I didn’t have any and honestly this didn’t last long it was so good @sarchakra
PREP TIME: 20 mins plus marination
COOK TIME: 30 mins
YIELDS: Makes 10
Ingredients
- Fish filet 5 (use bhetki, tilapia or any boneless white fish)
- Onion 1, small, chopped
- Ginger 1 inch
- Garlic 3-4 cloves
- Salt to taste
- Sugar 1 tsp
- Red chilies 2-3
- Green chilies 2-3
- Black pepper 3 tbsp, divided
- Coriander leaf a handful
- Eggs 2
- Panko breadcrumbs as needed
- Plain flour 1 cup
Method
- Cut each fish filet into halves. Marinate fish in salt, 1 tbsp pepper and lemon juice overnight.
- In a food processor combine onion, ginger, garlic, salt, 1 tbsp pepper, sugar, red chilies and green chilies. Use a little water to make a paste. Squeeze lemon juice into the mix and stir. Put the fish into this mixture. Set aside for at least an hour.
- Season Panko breadcrumbs with salt and 1 tbsp pepper.
- Put flour on a plate an season it with salt.
- Beat eggs in a bowl.
- Take out the fish pieces from the marinating paste and coat with flour on both sides. When all the fish is done don’t throw away the marinating liquid and spices. Pour that into the beaten eggs to make a batter.
- Dip the fish into the egg mixture and coat with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Pat the breadcrumbs to coat into a thick layer. Repeat for the rest.
- Heat oil. Fry the battered fish till crunchy and golden on both sides. Drain on kitchen towels.
Notes
Marinating the fish in lemon juice gets rid of any ‘fishy’ smell and the lemon juice also acts as a natural tenderizer making the fish wonderfully soft.
Traditionally the battered fish is deep fried in a large pan of oil. I didn’t use a ton of oil for this but it tastes amazing nonetheless.
I used the fried fish to make some sliders for my son. I slathered some sriracha mayonnaise on one side and put a fish filet and topped that with some crunchy lettuce. It was just perfect.
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