Pan fried fish fry is an aromatic seafood starter and a staple Indian non-vegetarian food that is crispy, juicy, and smells divine when prepared with the right ingredients. It also goes best with steamed rice along with fish curry or spiced tamarind and tomato soup(rasam). In south India, it is usually served in banana leaf which enhances the taste of the food.
In a bowl, add chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, oil, cornflour, salt, and squeezed lemon juice and mix everything well
Marinate the cleaned fish pieces with the above mixer and set them aside for 30 minutes
To Fry the Fish
In a pan pour oil and let it heat in medium flame. Add green chili, curry leaves, and chopped ginger garlic, or ginger garlic paste, sauté until it turns fragrant
Now place the fish pieces in the pan and shallow fry until it turns golden brown
Flip the fish pieces and wait for them to become golden brown as well
Remove the fish fry from the pan
To Serve
Serve the fish fry with warm rice or as an appetizer with sliced onions and lemon wedges
Notes
The fish used for this recipe here is red tilapia but it can also be prepared with red snapper, cat fish, salmon, king fish and sardines for the similar taste and flavor
Resting the marinated fish for at least 15 minutes helps the fishes to absorb the flavors of masala thoroughly which would enhance the taste and flavor
We have added corn flour to make the fish fry crispy, but if you would like to have the fry more crispier, then rice flour can be added along with the corn flour in the ratio of 1:1
Coconut oil has been used here for frying the fish which is widely used in Kerala cuisine to given an unique flavor to the dish, but it can also be replaced with mustard, sesame, canola, vegetable and corn oil to achieve the similar taste (avoid olive oil for frying which tends to over heat due to its low smoking point)
This recipe can be either pan fried or deep fried, both gives the similar result
Fish fry can be perfectly paired with rasam rice, sambhar rice, variety rice, one pot meals, non veg meals or even as a starter