Easy fish fry made in a pan with simple pantry ingredients like red chili powder, garam masala and lemon juice. Serve it on its own or with rice, rasam and stir fried veggies.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1
- Category: Side
- Cuisine: Andhra, South Indian
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil (or ghee)
- 250 grams (8 ounces) fish fillet (or steak)
- ¼ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice (or as needed)
- ¾ teaspoon ginger garlic paste ((or ½ tsp each fine grated))
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder ((cut down for kids or use black pepper for low heat))
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 sprig curry leaves ((optional or use 1 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves))
Method
- Mix the spices: Mix together chili powder, garam masala, salt, ginger garlic, turmeric and lemon juice in a small bowl. Taste test to check the spice and salt levels. Adjust as required. Pat dry the curry leaves or coriander leaves to avoid spaltters.
- Prep-up the fish: Pat dry the fish if required and apply the spice paste. Keep this aside for 10 minutes (no longer).
- Fry the fish: Heat a small pan with oil or ghee. When the oil turns hot enough, place the fish and let cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Gently turn it to the other side using a turner and add the curry leaves.
- Fry till it is cooked through completely. You know it is done when the fish flakes easily with the prick of a fork. The internal temperature should reach 145 F or 63 C in the thickest part of the fish.
- Serve fish fry with onion wedges.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.