These Fish Pakora are crispy from outside, soft and tender from inside. Perfectly spiced and flavoured! Serve it as a appetizer with any dip, coriander chutney, mint chutney or sauce. It also goes well as a side in a meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 225 grams (½ lb) boneless skinless white fish fillet or slices ((like cod or any other))
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ((or 1 green chili fine chopped or paste))
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (minced/pressed)
  • 1½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder ((or paprika, reduce for kids & low heat option))
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt ((adjust to taste))
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain, crushed))
  • 2 tablespoons mint leaves (or coriander leaves or curry leaves chopped)
  • ⅓ cup besan ((gram flour))
  • 2½ tablespoon rice flour (or cornstarch)
  • 1½ tablespoon oil ((or ½ egg white))
  • ¼ cup water ((use only as needed))
  • Oil to deep fry ((high heat oil, about 1 cup))
  • Chaat masala (to serve)

Method

  1. To make sure your fish fillet does not have tiny bones, run your fingers across the fillet, if found remove them. Slice to 1 inch cubes or thin 2 inch long strips. Run your fingers again to make sure there are no bones left.
  2. Add them to a mixing bowl, add half of the salt, lemon juice, turmeric, black pepper, ginger and garlic. Mix well. Cover and keep aside for no longer than 5 mins. Crush the carom seeds to a coarse powder, with a rolling pin or in a mortar pestle.
  3. Add oil/egg, carom seeds, chili powder, garam masala, mint/curry leaves, gram flour, rice flour/cornstarch and mix well. Add only a few tablespoons of water and mix to coat the fish well with batter.
  4. The batter must coat and stay on the fish. You don’t want to make a runny batter. (check pictures in the post)
  5. Meanwhile on a medium flame, heat oil in a heavy bottom deep pan.
  6. To test if the oil is hot, drop a little pakora batter to the hot oil. It should sizzle and rise up to the surface slowly without turning brown. (Your thermometer should read 350F/ 170 C)
  7. Gently slide the fish pieces into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd. Avoid disturbing them for at least 2 mins. Stir and fry them on a medium heat until golden and crisp. The cook time depends on the thickness of the fish, mine took about 4 to 5 mins.
  8. Transfer to a cooling rack. Fry the remaining pieces on a medium heat. Sprinkle little chaat masala, if you want. Serve fish pakora with mint or coriander chutney or your favorite dip. Have some cut onions and lemon wedges on the side.

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.