Masala Fish Fry

My favourite accompaniment with a plate of rice and dahl.

My grandmom, Dolly or Dolly Mumma as I fondly called her was a complete lover of fish. For her, a meal was never complete without a small piece of fish on the side. It didn’t have to be anything fancy like pomfret – even a small bangda fish (mackarel) or a fillet of Surmai (king fish) would do.

Even when she got older and lost all her teeth, she would secretly request her grandkids to get her a piece of fish to have with her rice and dal. We had to somehow feed it to her without her children (our parents) finding out because they had forbidden her from having fish in the fear of her swallowing a bone.

The quickest way to satiate her craving was to quickly fry some fish for her.

While there's growing awareness of Indian fish dishes like the Prawn curry or Patra ni Machchi, no one talks about the humble Masala Fish Fry. Marinated in a simple mix of turmeric and red chili powder and fried quickly in ghee, Masala Fish Fry can jazz up any dish in my opinion. I have it with dahl, boring weekday vegetables or my curry.

Or, if you’re feeling indulgent you could even just have two fillets of fish with some fresh roti, just the way Parsi caterers would do at a wedding for Parsi kids that are still developing their uh, “meaty” palate.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy Tareli Machchi (fish fry) is with plain rice and dal. The kick of spice and the creaminess of the ghee complements the blandness of the dal well and makes what many may think of as an ordinary meal, extraordinary!

In the recipe below I've used Trevally but this works with salmon, snapper, king fish or even some frozen prawns!