Bengali Fish Fry / The Fish Cutlet

Even a few years ago when surprise guests arrived in home the instant rescue was the just out of the oil, a fresh batch of Fish Fries from the shop around the corner of our locality, which we call "para". Crispy brown crust and when you break them with your two fingers, first a hot air will hit your face and then you will see white fleshy fish giving you the final call of the stunning feast it can be for you. It was for those Fish Fries that I loved having guests in home. They were such delights then. It was almost eating the forbidden fruit, as we were only allowed to eat them rarely, that also during festivals like Durga Puja, as Maa did not like eating street foods.

Mostly my father or sister used to buy them if needed, and these flat, crispy, fried fillets of fish always came in “Thonga” or small paper bags. That thonga was put inside a plastic bag, which was then tied tightly so that the steam can not escape and they remain hot till we open them in our home. Inside that thonga, there used to be the fish fries and another small thonga, which had the salads. The salads included lots of onions, some cucumbers and some carrot rings. Well...now that the prices of onions are roaring high....I wonder what they are mixing with the salad now.

It turns out its not that tough to make a batch of fish fries in home. You just need some fish fillets to go with. And if you are short in breadcrumbs grind some toast biscuits to save you for the day. We do not get Bhetki here, and more or less all the sea fishes are kind of boneless.:) So making fillet is very easy. So I make fish fries, almost with any fish, on which I can get my hands laid on. But to be honest, Meru is the best replacement for me till date. It is almost identical with Bhetki in taste and texture.

Make sure that your fish fillets are not very thick. The thicker it is, the harder it will be for you to cook them. Marination is also important as it’s the only way that the fish can absorb in some flavours. Otherwise your fish fries may become dull.

(Update)Step by step process:

In a bowl mix the chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste, lime juice, salt and pepper and chopped coriander leaves with the eggs.

Dip the fish fillet into that egg mixture and make sure some of the onions and herbs remain on it.

Roll this fillet over the breadcrumbs.

Shallow fry them in medium hot oil in a frying pan and fry until golden brown and crisp from the outside.

Bengali Fish Fry aka Fish Cutlet

Makes 8-10 fish fries

Ingredients:

2 thin fish fillets, of which I could make 4 pieces from each fillet. (preferably bhetiki, but you can use any sea fish, like Meru, Swai and Tilapia)

½ of a small onion - finely chopped 

3 garlic cloves - paste 

½ inch stick of ginger - paste

Some fresh coriander leaves - finely chopped 

2 whole green chillies - finely chopped 

2 tsp kasundi

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

Salt

Pepper

2 eggs

2 cup of bread crumbs

Method:

Prepare a marinade using half of the ginger-garlic paste, lime juice, salt, pepper, kasundi and a little chopped coriander leaves.

Cut the fish fillets in square size according to your preference.

Put the fish fillets into the marinade and rub them over the fishes generously. Let the fish fillets marinate in this paste for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Once done, take two large bowls. In one, break and whisk the eggs with salt, pepper, chopped onions, green chillies, remaining ginger-garlic paste and remaining chopped coriander leaves. In the other put the bread crumbs. Mix salt and pepper with breadcrumbs. It is very necessary or otherwise your crust will be bland and tasteless.

Take one fish fillet piece and dip it into the whisked eggs, and make sure that some of the chopped onions and coriander leaves stick to the fish fillets. After this, roll them over the bread crumbs. Make sure that it is covered entirely with bread crumbs. Shake off the excess crumbs and the put it on a try / plate.

Follow this process for each of the fillet pieces and put them in a tray side by side and put the tray into the fridge for 1 hour.

After 1 hour take the tray out of the fridge.

Heat enough oil to deep fry in a frying pan and then deep fry the fish fillets one by one until they become golden brown from outside.

Place the fish fries on a tissue paper and the serve hot with your preferred sauce or chutney and chopped onions, cucumber, green chillies and some kasundi.