Fried Catfish Middle Eastern Style

You will know from this blog that fish and catfish, in particular, are featured.  Searching always for new catfish recipes, this one is adapted from a recipe called Lahori Fish.  Lahore is a city in Pakistan.  It is not specifically for catfish, yet this recipe is delicious using my favorite river food.  You may find some new seasonings and ingredients in this recipe you might not have in your pantry, like gram flour (made from chickpeas), chaat masala and carom seeds.  No worries.  You can find them in Indian markets or online.

The fish is marinated in and covered with a thick  batter of gram flour (Besan) and spiced with carom seeds (Ajwain) and chaat masala, another spice mixture..

Ingredients

    * 1 kg, (about 2.2 lbs) catfish nuggets or fillet, cut into medium sized fillets/chunks)
    * bread crumbs
    * oil for frying

 

  * Batter:

    * 1/2 cup gram flour (Besan)
    * 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
    * 1 tsp red Chilli powder
    * 1 tsp crushed red chillies
    * 1 tbsp crushed whole coriander
    * 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    * 1/2 tsp carom seeds (Ajwain)
    * 2 tbsp white vinegar
    * salt to taste
    * water, as required

Directions

    * Combine all ingredients for the batter with enough water to make a thick paste.
    * Apply this well on the fish.  Marinate for couple of hours so that some marinade is absorbed by the fish.
    * Now lightly coat with bread crumbs and set aside for 15 minutes.
    * Deep fry the fish, in batches, in hot oil until golden brown.
    * Drain and sprinkle fish with lemon juice and Chaat Masala.
    * Serve hot with salad and lemon wedges.