Amritsari Fish Fry Recipe is a crisp, golden, deep fried fish preparation from Punjab. The land of Dal Makhani and Tandoori Chicken has a fondness for fried fish as well, Amritsari Fish Fry is the not so secret Punjabi style deep fried fish recipe. Fish Fry is our everyday comfort food when the spine-chilling winter breeze quietly creeps into the house as the sun set down. The family gathers around the fireplace and desperately crave for fried bites to accompany the bottle of good old rum or brandy. The crunchy uppermost layer of the fried fish is the envelope for the mouth-melting texture inside. Few basic ingredients and spices smeared over the fresh catch of the day, deep-fried, accompanied by a bottle of the favorite alcohol and the evening dinner table is all set to host the hungry goblins.
The late evening walks to the farmer’s market twice in a week to pick our fish catch, arguing with the fishmonger to settle the best deal, hand-picking those perfect fillets and later slicing each into bite-size pieces is an enriching experience. Such simple transports of delight can be experienced in a slow-paced countryside lifestyle only. Coming back to the fish, surmai (king mackerel) or any other oily, tender fish is a good choice for Amritsari Fish Fry .
With a sprinkle of Chaat Masala and a drizzle of lemon juice, Amritsari Fish Fry is all decked up to be gobbled. A refreshing mint, coriander chutney on the side to dip in the hot fried fish is an additional perk on the dining table. Though I feel the fried fish in itself is bursting with delicate flavors and hardly needs any accompaniments on the side.
Ingredients
- ▢ 500 gram king fish surmai fillets cut into small pieces
- ▢ 1 Cup gram flour besan
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 2 teaspoon wheat flour
- ▢ Juice of 1 lemon
- ▢ Salt to taste
- ▢ Oil to deep fry the fish
Ingredients to be grind
- ▢ 1 teaspoon carom seeds ajwain
- ▢ 6 - 8 garlic cloves
- ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Ingredients to serve
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ▢ Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- To make the Amritsari Fish Fry, first clean, rinse and pat dry the fish pieces.
- Sprinkle wheat flour over the fish pieces and gently mix to coat pieces with flour. Let the fish pieces sit coated with flour for 5 - 10 minutes. Then rinse again and pat dry with a napkin. This step helps removing strong fish odor. This step if totally optional.
- In mortar and pestle make paste of carom seeds, coriander seeds and garlic.
- Add gram flour, salt, spice paste, lemon juice, turmeric and chili powder over the fish pieces.
- Stir to combine so that each fish piece is evenly coated with the spice mixture. Set aside for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat sufficient oil in a deep fry pan over medium heat to fry the fish pieces.
- Deep fry fish pieces in hot oil till crisp and golden from all sides.
- Drain fried fish pieces and place on an oil absorbent paper. Alternatively, you can grill the fish pieces as well in the oven, air fryer or grill pan.
- Serve Amritsari Fish Fry warm, sprinkled with chaat masala, lemon juice and chutney.
Recipe Notes:
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Amritsari Fish Fry Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 gram king fish surmai fillets cut into small pieces
- 1 Cup gram flour besan
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon wheat flour
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
- Oil to deep fry the fish
Ingredients to be grind
- 1 teaspoon carom seeds ajwain
- 6 - 8 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Ingredients to serve
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- To make the Amritsari Fish Fry, first clean, rinse and pat dry the fish pieces.
- Sprinkle wheat flour over the fish pieces and gently mix to coat pieces with flour. Let the fish pieces sit coated with flour for 5 - 10 minutes. Then rinse again and pat dry with a napkin. This step helps removing strong fish odor. This step if totally optional.
- In mortar and pestle make paste of carom seeds, coriander seeds and garlic.
- Add gram flour, salt, spice paste, lemon juice, turmeric and chili powder over the fish pieces.
- Stir to combine so that each fish piece is evenly coated with the spice mixture. Set aside for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat sufficient oil in a deep fry pan over medium heat to fry the fish pieces.
- Deep fry fish pieces in hot oil till crisp and golden from all sides.
- Drain fried fish pieces and place on an oil absorbent paper. Alternatively, you can grill the fish pieces as well in the oven, air fryer or grill pan.
- Serve Amritsari Fish Fry warm, sprinkled with chaat masala, lemon juice and chutney.
Notes
Kumaoni Bada, as we Kumaoni pronounce it, is a crispy, flavorsome, gluten-free, and vegan split black urad dal fritter. Seasoned with plenty of fresh coriander, green chilli, turmeric, red chilli and a generous amount of asafoetida to get the sought after taste of the Pahadi bada.
History Of Pahadi Bada…
Many might argue that Kumaoni Bada Recipe is no different from medu vada or for saying any other vada recipe. And they are not totally wrong when comparing the two recipes, as the process of making is almost similar.
For making medu vada we use skinless white urad dal whereas for pahadi bada we use split urad dal with half-black skin attached.
Also, the medieval period saw an influx of high-caste migrants into the Himalayan foothills from Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bengal and other parts of India. Each brought with them a treasure of food heritage from their native region.
With time, all these distinctive food cultures blended with the local Kumaoni cuisine. Hence, you could find traces of other regional cuisines in Kumaoni Cuisine .
The Making Of Kumaoni Bada…
The urad dal bada is a quintessential part of Kumaoni ceremonious food. Whether it is our harvesting festival ‘Harela’, Hindu New Year ‘Sankranti’, the month of ‘Shradh’ or auspicious affair like welcoming newly born in the family, on each occasion dal bada (Vada) graces the festive food platter.
The ladies of the house are responsible for making the bada and then offering the first five pieces of it to the deity of the family.
For years, I have watched my mother, aunts, and great-grandmother grind dal for the vada in a hefty stone mortar and pestle. It was not the time when electric mixers were new to Indian kitchens. My great grandmother believed that grinding dal in a stone mortar adds to the taste of the vada.
Traditionally, the soaked split urad dal is ground in a stone mortar and pestle to get the fine paste for the vada. Then whisked manually till it is light and airy, perfect to make vada.
The same split urad dal is used to make – shahi urad dal or Sankranti special urad dal khichdi .
A few years back only my mother started using a mixer for grinding vada dal. She is not happy about it but with passing age grinding dal manually is an uphill task.
The taste of pahadi bada made with dal ground in a mixer whisked with hand blender could not be compared with the one laced with hours of hard work. Still, it is good to see the tradition of making dal bada on every important Kumaoni affair has not died yet.
More Kumaoni Recipes For You:
Kumaoni Aloo Ke Gutke
Pahadi Kheera Raita
Pahadi Gahat Dal
Pahadi Lai Ki Sabzi
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Ingredients
- ▢ 1 Cup split black urad dal chilka urad
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
- ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ 1 – 2 green chili fine chopped
- ▢ half a bunch of coriander finely chopped
- ▢ Mustard oil to deep fry the vadas
- ▢ Salt to taste
Instructions
- To make the Kumaoni Bada, rinse and soak dal overnight in enough water or for at-leat 6 hours.
- Next morning you will notice the the black peel of the dal start leaving the white skin underneath.
- Rub the dal in small batches in between your palms to remove the black peel. Each time drain the black peel.
- After 2 – 3 times you will end up with majorly white skinned dal with few black peel here and there.
- Let the dal sit in colander for 10 – 15 minutes for excess water to drain off.
- Now grind the dal in small batches in the mixer. Make sure not to use any water while grinding the dal.
- To get the smooth paste you need to stir the dal few times while grinding. Grind, turn off the mixer, stir and then grind. Repeat the process till you get thick, smooth dal paste.
- Transfer to a clean, large bowl.
- The trick to make crisp, fluffy vada is to whisk the dal till it is light and airy.
- You can whisk the dal using electric hand blender or manually. The traditional way it is done manually. A continuous whisking of 10 – 15 is good enough to incorporate air in the dal.
- Add hing, chopped coriander, green chili, spices and salt in the dal paste. Stir to combine.
- Heat mustard oil in a wide deep frying pan over medium heat.
- To shape the vadas, keep water in a small bowl next to dal paste.
- Soak your fingers of both the hands in water and pinch a lemon size portion of dal paste. Hold it over your one hand fingers and flatten it using the other hand wet fingers.
- Make a hole in the centre of the flattened vada.
- Gently slip it on to the pan of hot oil to deep fry. For safety reasons, it is best to slide the shaped vada from the sides of the pan.
- Deep fry the vada over medium high heat till deep golden, crisp from both the sides.
- Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel. Serve Kumaoni Bada warm.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
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