Spicy Malabar style King fish fry Jo's way!

 

It's one of my favourite fish recipe. This dish was born out of sheer boredom! Actually wanted to make steamed fish using green masala but I couldn't get good banana leaves. Besides I was tired of my usual dishes. Wanted little twist, so decided try this recipe using lots of curry leaves.

An experiment that turned out to be a perfect main course and a winner at many dinners!

 Ingredients:

1. 500 grams King Fish steaks ( About 5-6 )
2. ½ cup coconut or Vegetable Oil for shallow frying

For the Masala*:

 

1. 1-2 sambar onions
2. 10 Kashmiri or Byadagi Chillies
3. 1 teaspoon black pepper corn
4. 1 small marble sized ball of tamarind
5. 15 cloves garlic
6. 2 tablespoon rice flour
7. 1 teaspoon turmeric
8. salt to taste
9. 2 spring curry leaves

For Garnish:

• Juice of a lemon
• Onion Slices
• 2 spring curry leaves

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients listed under masala* to a smooth paste in a blender adding half a cup of water. Make a really smooth paste and set aside.
• Wash and clean the king fish steaks and apply the masala* paste on the fish making sure to rub it well on both the sides well with the hands. Let it marinate for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Heat vegetable oil in a non stick pan until really hot. Add 2 spring curry leaves and wait till it gets crisp. Take it out and drain on a paper towel.
•  When the oil is hot, gently place the fish pieces and fry for 1.5 - 2 minutes on one side. After 1.5 - 2 minutes, carefully flip the fish and cook on the other side for another 1.5 - 2 minutes or  Cook till you get a lovely golden brown color on both the sides.
• Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.Garnish with fried and crushed curry leaves and squeeze some lemon juice on the fish and serve hot with some sliced onions.

Tips:

• Place only a few pieces of fish in the pan at one time so that they are not crowded. Frying too many at one time cools the oil down too much, causing the fish to absorb more oil. Fry consistent size pieces together so they cook evenly. 
•  Fish steaks or fillets should not be thicker than 1 1/2 inches. Slice any pieces over 1 1/2 inches thick into thinner fillets. When frying, cook pieces with similar thickness together so that they cook evenly.
• You can use any fish of your choice.