Pompano (Pomfret) Fish Fry

It's been a while since my last post. I need to be more regular at this! I take pictures of the food I make and eat at restaurants all the time, in hope that I use them more regularly for my blog. :D

I've grown up eating fish, and thankfully so has the husband. And we are both crazy about fish fry. My mum, and my MIL make excellent fish fry, that's to die for!

It's only been 2 yrs since I started cooking fish. I initially started with Tilapia and Catfish fillets as I couldn't find any of the fish we typically ate back home in India. Which were mostly the Pomfret, Kingfish, Indian Anchovies and maybe King Mackeral. But one day I discovered Pompano (which belongs to the same family as the Pomfret and the taste is quite close to it) here in China Town and was super excited! Now we visit China Town very often and bring a few pounds worth of Pompano, which they cut and (superficially) clean as well. Yay!

My mom's recipe is really simple and yet tastes out of this world. I add a few extra ingredients to add some more flavor. Hubby absolutely loves it!

Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins (assuming you have cleaned the fish already!)
Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

Fish - 1lb, cleaned (you can use any fish you like, but this recipe uses thin cut slices of Pompano)

For the paste:
chilli powder - 2 to 3 tsps
pepper powder - 2 tsps
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp (optional)
lemon juice - 2 tsps
curry leaves - 4 (optional)
salt as per taste

To coat:
rice flour - 2 to 3 tsps
rava - 1 tsp

To shallow fry:
Oil - 2 to 3 tsps

Method

- Mix all the ingredients listed under paste. The lemon juice should be enough to form a uniform paste, but you can add a few drops of water, if needed.

- Coat your fish pieces evenly with this paste and keep aside for at least 30 mins to an hour.
- I typically marinade about 6 pieces at a time and leave them overnight in the fridge. I then cook 2 at a time, so we have it for a few meals.

- To cook the fish, heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame. You don't want the oil to be very hot.
- While the oil is heating, coat the fish on both sides with the rice flour & rava mixture. This helps in getting a crisp texture.
- Shallow fry the fish on each side, again on a medium flame. The cooking time will vary depending on the type and size of the fish. These pompano pieces take around 5 mins per side.

- Take out the pieces on a paper towel and get ready to pounce on them! :D

Note: Adjust the spice level as per your taste. I have a high threshold for spice, so I use quite a bit of chilli p. and pepper. It might take a few attempts to know what's the right balance of ingredients you need for a particular type of fish. So, keep trying, the results are absolutely worth it!