Fish Pakora

Fish Pakora are Indian style crispy fish fritters that are a staple in the restaurants and eateries. Boneless fish pieces are marinated with spices, coated with a gram flour batter and fried to crispy perfection. Pakora are an all-time favorite snack from the Indian sub-continent and this variation with fish is for the sea-food lovers. Serve these with any dip of your choice or with Mint chutney or Cilantro/coriander chutney.

About Fish Pakora

These perfectly spiced and flavored Fish Pakora are made with pantry staples and are ready under 25 mins. They are gluten-free and super easy to make. Fish being a delicate meat, does not require long marination. So we toss the pieces with little salt, lemon juice, turmeric, green chili, ginger, garlic and let rest just for about 5 mins.

This removes the raw fishy smell and flavors the fish. Lastly we coat them with gram flour (besan), rice flour or corn starch and a splash of water. While gram flour imparts a delicious nutty aroma, rice flour makes these crisp. Traditionally carom seeds are always used in pakoras as they aid digestion and impart a beautiful unique flavor.

For the fresh herbs, you may use fine chopped mint, coriander or curry leaves to your preference. I also use little garam masala and red chili powder for extra flavor. If you are making a larger batch you may use egg white but I substituted it with little oil. This extra fat prevents the fish from drying out.

Like any other fried fish recipe, this one too requires firm white fish like cod, haddock, tilapia, basa or halibut. I buy packaged fresh precut fish with the pine bones removed. It is essential to use boneless fish fillets cut to bite sized pieces or strips.

Photo Guide

Step-by-step Photo Instructions

Preparation

1. This recipe serves 2 to 3. Here are the ingredients you need:

• 225 grams (½ lb.) boneless skinless white firm fish fillet
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or 1 green chili (chopped or crushed)
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ginger grated
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced/pressed
• 1½ teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (reduce for kids or use paprika)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
• ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain, crushed)
• 2 tablespoons mint leaves or coriander leaves or curry leaves fine chopped
• ⅓ cup besan (gram flour)
• 2 ½ tablespoon rice flour or cornstarch
• 1½ tablespoon oil (or ½ egg white)

2. Run your fingers across the fillet to make sure it does not have tiny bones, if found pull them out with a pin bone tweezer. Slice to 1 inch cubes or thin 2 inch long strips. Run your fingers again to make sure there are no bones left. Add them to a mixing bowl along with half of the salt, lemon juice, turmeric, green chili/ pepper, ginger & garlic.

3. Mix well. Cover and keep aside for no longer than 5 mins.

4. Crush the carom seeds with a rolling pin or in a mortar pestle, until they begin to smell aromatic. Add oil/egg, carom seeds, chili powder, garam masala, mint/curry leaves, gram flour and rice flour/cornstarch.

5. Add only a few tablespoons of water and mix to coat the fish well.

6. The batter must coat and stay on the fish. Don’t make a runny batter.

Frying

7. Meanwhile on a medium flame, heat oil in a heavy bottom deep pan. To test, drop a small portion of 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).

8. Gently slide the fish pieces one after the other into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd. Avoid touching them for at least 2 mins.

9. Stir and fry them on a medium heat until golden and really crisp. The cook time depends on the thickness of the fish, mine took about 4 to 5 mins.

10. Remove to a cooling rack. To fry the next batch, make sure the oil is medium hot and not super hot. If you add them to very hot oil, they will brown without cooking the fish inside.

These Fish Pakora go well with a cup of Masala Chai on the side. Other options are to sprinkle little chaat masala and/or serve with Mint Chutney or Coriander Chutney or your favorite dip. Have some cut onions and lemon wedges on the side.

Expert Tips

• It is essential to crush the carom seeds else they turn crunchy and you may mistake them to be pin bones.
• Garam masala is used to cut down the fishy smell. You may omit if you don’t like or use another seasoning.
• Do not leave the marinated fish longer than 5 mins. Fish is a delicate meat and can turn mushy if left too long.
• It is essential to fry these on a medium heat. Frying on high heat will brown the pakoras on the outside without cooking the fish inside. Frying on a low flame can make them too greasy and the fish can dry out from inside.

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