Kerala Fish Fry (Meen Varuthathu)

Fish fry is one of my favourite dishes!! But I don't make it that often because Reju is not a very great fan of fish. Normally during those 'rare' times I buy fish, I usually make Kerala Fish Curry (Meen Vevichathu). But the other day, when I was out shopping for groceries, I couldn't help but notice fresh Seer fish (Neymeen) at the fish stall and was so tempted to buy it. I didn't think twice, just bought it and had the fish stall fellow segregate the pieces for Fish curry and Fish fry. How could I resist something that looked so appealing!

This recipe is a very basic Fish fry recipe I got from my mother (Yes, my mama again, I trouble her almost everyday with frequent phone calls for her yummy recipes) You can play with the recipe as you like.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Seer Fish steaks - 1/2 kg (6 to 8 medium size pcs)

Tamarind (Kodampuli) - 1 piece soaked in 1 or 2 tbsp of water

Garlic (Crushed) - 10 cloves

Ginger (Crushed) 1/2 inch pc

OR

Ginger & Garlic paste - 3/4 tbsp

Pepper (Crushed coarsely) - 3/4 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 & 1/2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Vinegar/Lime juice - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves (Chopped fine) - few

Salt - to taste

Water - enough to make a paste (1 to 2 tsp approx)

Method

Wash and clean the fish and immerse it in tamarind water along with the tamarind piece and keep aside for 5 minutes. Then throw away the tamarind piece and wash the fish steaks well with water.

Mix together ginger & garlic paste, crushed pepper, kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric powder, vinegar/lime juice, curry leaves, salt and enough water to make a thick paste. Marinate the fish steaks with this paste and keep for half an hour. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the fish steaks.

Notes: I normally fry the fish on medium-low flame. Make sure the marinade is not too watery.

Serve with Rice.

Source: My Mama