Fish & Chips, My Way!!!

Fish and chips!!!!#$@%$#^%$^@!!! Really, what is this combination??

I have tried my best to like these both together, but somehow, I aint able to.  Whether it is in form of an overly greasy, eggy and deep fried Leopold version or in my somewhat healthy tawa-grilled version, both haven’t really got me to fancy this odd combination of a dish!! So, I am basically keeping these two dishes different.

First up, my Fishy Bharwan Grilled:  whole soft sea pomfret which is first marinated and then stuffed with a fresh herb filling mixture. This dish is awesome on its own. I serve it with a nice dollop of seasoned curd or raita.

For the potato dish, I chose a relatively healthy option of baking Cottage Fries. Though hubby enjoyed the chips, I didn’t. The effort to get it crispy is a bit too much and obviously, time consuming. As I didn’t like it, I am not sharing the recipe here. I will be working on a new faster recipe for crispy chips and get it out here pretty soon. But in case you wanna know this particular recipe, leave a comment down below!     

Fishy Bharwan Grilled

Ingredients:

2 Cleaned & dried whole Pomfret, which is cut length wise to make a pocket.

A big bunch of fresh herbs of your choice, I always use Cilantro

Green chillies to taste

3-4 small cloves of garlic

A small piece of ginger (about an inch)

Green mango paste (optional) to taste

1 tbsp brown sugar or I used plain sugarcane jaggery

Semolina, enough to coat the fishes well

Salt, pepper and turmeric powder to taste

2 tbsp Oil

Method:

Firstly, marinade your fish in some salt, pepper & turmeric and let it stand. Salt drives out the water, so to keep your dish less soggy, put it upon a wirerack with a dish at the bottom to collect the fishy water.

Now put all ingredients, except oil, semolina and fish, in a blender or a food processor, and process it to a tick paste. Taste and season well.

In the pocket of the marinating fish, stuff in the fresh filling mix.

Dip these filled fishes in a bowl with semolina and coat well. The moisture on the skin will be enough for the semolina to stick.

Preheat your tawa or grill pan.

The biggest rule in grilling is to never oil the pan, but the meat that will go on the pan. Oil the fishes well on one side and put that side down on the hot pan.

Let it sizzle for a while (3 to 5 minutes, depending on the fish’s size) undisturbed, on a medium to low heat. Don’t try to move it around, or the cooked side will break away from the fish and you will have a very tasty fish keema (mince) to enjoy, but not an elegant whole fish to serve.

After a while when the sizzling lessens significantly; oil the other side of the fish and carefully turn to let it cook on that side. Fish cooks pretty fast so keep an eye, and keep the flame on medium low. Once cooked to your liking, switch off the heat and let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.

A wedge of lemon and seasoned-flavoured savoury curd for the fish, along with a side of crunchy salad... A beautiful meal made in minutes!!

Cheers!!