Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Fish fry (Tirunelveli style)

Fish market is one of the center of attraction for me always. While hubby gets satisfied with some chicken or the much hyped King fish (rarely), I fill my shopping bag with fresh and different fishes. Analyzing those heaps of fish and choosing gives me a kind of satisfaction. The strange thing is hubby gives priority to the beauty of the fish than anything else. So he loves just the dinner plate size slices of king fish or the cute Red snapper (sankara / romeo), butter fish (karapudi), silver pomfret (vaaval)etc. I just blindly allow him to choose 'cos I know that is the only way to make someone eat fish:)
This is the story behind my pomfret fish recipes and no wonder they taste amazing always.

Even though we all fry the fish in a more similar way, the masala added here makes a difference. While talking with my friend Gita , I found that she also follows the same recipe , which she got from her grandma who lived there years ago and that made us realize that this masal belongs to Tirunelveli. See how the simple masal makes us analyze the generations.I too wanted to post my home town version and so here is it for you to enjoy.



You are seeing the pomfret fish fry served with lemon wedges along with fish kulambu and crab masala, in out of focus:)

Ingredients:
Pomfret fish - 6 slices (1 lb)
salt - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
tumeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp

lemon - 1

To grind:
Shallot onion (sambar vengayam)- 4
Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Oil (to deep fry) - 200 ml (1 cup)
(I used corn oil here).

Method:
Wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into thin slices (as shown in photo).

Apply little turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.

Grind the onion, coconut and cumin to a fine paste.

Mix the ground masala with the powders and salt given above.
Squeeze 1/4 lemon to the masala if you need a crispier fish fry.
Otherwise don't add lemon juice now.Lemon makes the fish stiff , removes bad odor and discourages breaking of fish while frying.

Gently rub the masala over the fish slices(dab some masala inside the fish too)and marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a broad based wok .Put the pieces one or two at a time and fry both sides crispy.

Fish fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with any rice. The suitable combinations are sambar rice , rasam rice or meen kulambu rice.

26 comments:

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

That's so delicious and mouth-watering :)

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow, thats kool..you get pompfret fish here...and love all the seafood delicacies...very appetizing spread, infact.

gtyuk said...

indha meri dishes yellaam varissayaa vachittu koduma panreenga Vicky!!!
kannukku yetnadhu vaayikku yetta maattudhey!!! :)

fish kozhambu, crab masala and those crisply fried pomfret, Mmmmm, that's a royal malabar treat!!!!
this thirunelveli version must surely make a differnece compared to the usual way I fry; coconut and shallots masala give a unique flavor to the dish, kalakareenga ponga!!!!

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy fry...my grandma used to make this type of fry...i posted it long time as masala fish fry...

Sushma Mallya said...

wow its mouthwatering,its been long since i had fried fish...looks too tempting viki

Soma Pradhan said...

Lovely FIsh Fry

Trendsetters said...

very delicious looking fry

Nandinis food said...

It's flying..uh..frying fish! I want to bite off the pieces now! Red Snapper = Romeo? LOL! Who is the Juliet? XD

Tina said...

Nice presentation...Fish fry looks yummy.

Rina said...

Yum yum vaaval fry dear..

Padma said...

Looks so crispy and very tempting... My hubbies fav...

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Simply delicious Fry...Very Nicely Presented as well...

Deepa

Unknown said...

The picture amde me drool! Nice recipe.

Indian food recipes said...

Perfectly fried pom fry!nice recipe n xllnt presentation

Priya Suresh said...

Adding coconut sounds truly divine to the fish fry...crispy fry looks fantastic and mouthwatering here...

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Fish fry looks so good Viki. Crispy and spicy!

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Looks tempting.......

Aparna said...

wow will try this style next time..

Ash said...

Hey Viki,

That is a tempting fish fry.... I love everything being fishy sometimes.... Nimbu Gaadke... Hmm... Yummy!!!!!

And Thanks for all the love u shared on me & my post deary... It surely meant a lot...to read it.. I was touched..... Loved those kind words.. It surely made my day..... Lots of hugs in return...)))))))) for all my life....

Lots of love & CHEERS!!!!

Ash....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Malar said...

ahhhhh...that looks awesome

Siddhi Shirsat said...

wow viki very crispy n yummy promfet fry...nice recipe, vl try

Gita Jaishankar said...

Viki come on dear...you are tempting me so much with that platter...orey kalakal dishes da...fish fry looks so good :)

Sarah Naveen said...

awesome!!!! nice recipe..looks superb dear..

Cham said...

The masala u used is very different. I should love this one with coconut!

Devasena Hariharan said...

mouth watering Viki...

Nice to read that ur hubby goes by the fish appearance(hee hee)..

We too follow a similar pattern-add onions, pepper and garlic to the fish.

Adding cumin and coconut is new to me...

Where;s ur crab masala receipe... I will droole.........

Sashi said...

you have nice taste Vicky !! always come across tasty mouth watering dishes in ur blog !! Yummy fish fry !!

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