Bengali Fish Fry (Kolkata Style)

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History of Bengali Fish Fry Recipe

When British rule in India inherited Calcutta (Kolkata) as the capital of the country, the fish fry acquired a reputation for its delicious taste. Indian products and ingredients were not enough to produce the same Western flavor, so the cooks began mixing, twisting, and seasoning Western recipes. British officers who worked on preparing delicacies for them were instructed to imitate European and British dishes popular with the British.

Here is the way to make these at home. Enjoy this simple recipe and try it in your kitchen and bring the taste and flavor straight from the shop to the kitchen.

This is usually served with a full coarse meal or snacks with dips or kasundi (Bengali sauce).

The snack was born in this way and was served as a snack in many places in India, such as Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, to name a few. Recently, cafes have played an important role in popularizing such delicacies among the masses. Especially coffee house fish fry is very popular in college street in Kolkata.

About Bengali Fish Fry Recipe 

Bengal believes that the authentic taste of fish fry comes only from bhetki fillets and this is the main ingredient in this recipe. Authentic Bengali fish fry is a fillet that is basically boneless. In this fish fry recipe, it is used to marinate it nicely in breadcrumbs and then fry. This recipe of crispy fish cutlets has been called roast fish since time immemorial.

This recipe is part of a successful experiment in Bengal cuisine and is popular with fish lovers. Personally, I believe that the main reason for experimenting with this fish recipe is that it tastes so much better than the traditional Bengali bhetki sweet fish known as barramundi also.

Bhetki (or other white fish) is marinated in a green paste mainly with green chilly, coriander, and mint leaves then covered with breadcrumbs and fried until golden brown before serving. Mainly served with tartar sauce.

Kolkata Fish Fry has its root in Bengal’s history. Firm, brittle-covered bhetki fish filets taste addictive on each nibble, serve hot with tartar sauce, plunges, or mustard kasundi.

 

Check Bengali Fish Fry Video Recipe: 

Ingredients 

Fish – You will require boneless basa, bhetki, or barramundi fillets fresh or frozen to make this recipe.

Marination – Ingredients used in this marination give a very aromatic flavor to this bhetki fillet. I have used Gandhoraj lemon for that fragrance of traditional Bengali fish fry. Then again I have used plain lemon juice, black pepper green chilly coriander paste, ginger, and garlic paste for marination.

Use green chilly paste according to the spice level you need in your fish fry.

Batter – Marinated bhetki fillets are coated in thick batter before frying. This makes the fish fry very crispy from the outside.

You can use rice flour and cornflour too to make it even more crispy (optional).

Bread crumbs – At long last, you will require bread crumbs to cover the fish. bread crumbs will keep the batter to hold the shape and make the fish fry much crispier from outside.

How to make Bengali Fish Fry Recipe step by step with photo:

1. Take bhetki fillet wash it thoroughly and then add 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp gandhoraj lemon juice and marinate all sides. Keep it for 15 minutes.

2. Make a thick paste with 4 green chilies and 2 cups of green coriander leaves chopped.

3. In a bowl add ginger paste, garlic paste, green chilly coriander paste, coriander leaves chopped, black pepper powder, all-purpose flour, lemon juice, kasundi or mustard, eggs, and salt. Whisk everything well. 

4. Now take all the fillets one by one and marinate in the batter. Cover and keep the marination in the fridge to rest for 2-3 hours.

5. After 3 hours take the marination out from the fridge and On an open surface take bread crumbs coat all of the fillets nicely from all sides with your dry hand. If you want you can add salt and black pepper powder to the breadcrumb and mix (optional).

6. Gently press it on a flat surface and give it a rectangular shape with the help of a hand and knife carefully.

7. Then in medium hot oil fry each side of them for 2-3 minutes.

8. When they will become nicely golden in color take out from oil.

9. Your fish fry is ready to serve. Serve this hot with kasundi.

 Important suggestion to keep in mind

• The best fish to use in this recipe is bhetki fillet, cod, haddock, and basa. or salmon.
• Use medium hot oil to fry these fillets.
• Shape the fillet with the help of a knife on a flat surface.
• You can spice up the level according to your taste.
• Use only fresh fish fillet in this recipe
• You can use rice flour and cornflour along with all-purpose flour but that’s optional.
• At least marinate for 3 hours in the fridge for the best flavors to get absorbed in the fillets.

Storage Suggestion 

You can freeze uncooked coated fish fillets in the fridge and when you want to eat them you can fry them instantly. Freeze them completely and then transfer them in freezer bags and then you can freeze them for 12 months easily.

Make a point to defrost these before you profoundly fry them to eat. When you defrost them, you need to utilize it promptly, you can’t freeze them once more. 

Serving Suggestions

You can serve them with Tarter sauce or dips. But if you have kasundi (mustard sauce) I will recommend having it with it for that heavenly taste.

You can have these fried with a full coarse Bengali meal or with an evening tea.

Can we prepare it ahead of time?

Marinate them ahead and store them in the fridge for 3 hours. whenever you want to have it take them out coat them with bread crumbs and then deep fry them.

Serve them with dips or kasundi.

Can we bake them?

If you want a healthy version of this fish fry then you can bake them as they will be equally delicious. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil (or oil of your choice) and place the baking sheet in the oven.

Hold a metal rack over the top of the baking sheet and spray some oil on it. Keep the fish fillets coated with breadcrumbs on the rack and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until the fish is tender and golden brown, about 5 – 7 minutes. Open and close the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until it is golden brown.

If necessary, add more cooking spray to the second side and brush over so that they cook evenly on both sides. Add more oil and cook for another 5-7 minutes or fry on the first side until golden brown and on each side for about 10-15 minutes.

Can we prepare on Air- fryer?

This is how it works in a deep fryer: preheat the fryer for about 5 minutes, open the fryer and add 2 fish fillets to the basket.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 390°F (200°C) in an air fryer. When the fish fillets are 8-10 minutes cooked, open the air fryer and flip them over. Continue cooking.

This will be actually great to have these fillets without a drop of oil. You can always spray or brush some olive oil or oil of your choice if you feel like it.

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Note: A rough estimate of nutrition is provided.
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