Karwari Maach (Semolina Crusted Fish Fry)

One curious thing that I have observed during my stay here in Chennai is that there is a serious dearth of freshwater fishes. Being a Bengali, it's quite natural that we would be craving for freshwater fishes which were available more in other places in the country namely, Delhi , Mumbai and of course Kolkata. However , as they say if you can't change the place change as per the place. So by heeding this proverb, I have adapted my cooking by changing the type of fishes that I usually cook in other places. So without going many places to look for pompret,I have adapted frying Dart fish as a substitute and present it.

Since it has very fine bones so I stayed away from gravy option and deep fried it with a batter. I followed this recipe from a magazine called "Food Lovers" (Bangalore) and it came out fantastic although I know with Pomfret this would have been ideal. Karwari fish is cuisine of Karwar, is regarded as the administrative head quarters of Uttara Kannada, 100 kms from of Goa  which is famous for its rice flavour and unique taste. Also since last 2 weeks the weather is very pleasant which is helping in reducing the disappointment of not getting host of freshwater fishes and here I am replacing them with sea fishes. 

Ingredients:
900 gm Silver Pomfret, cleaned {I replaced with Dart fish variety so took 7 small fishes}
Oil for deep frying
8-9 tbsp Semolina 
2 tbsp Deghi Mirch powder
2.5 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
3-4 Lemons
2 springs Curry leaves
1 tsp Turmeric powder
60-70 gm Tamarind, soaked and pulp extracted

Method:
Take the fish and remove the fins and gut. Make 2-3 incisions on each side of the fish and let the excess water drained out. Make a slurry-like marinade of the ginger-garlic paste, deghi mirch powder, lemon juice, turmeric powder, throw in some curry leaves and tamarind pulp. Marinate the fish in this paste for 15-20 minutes. 

Take the fish and coat it with the semolina evenly for a crusty layer. Heat oil in a flat pan and temper it with curry leaves. Shallow fry the fish from both the sides on high flame. Serve this crispy tangy fried fish with some onions, rice and dal.

Sending this delicious fish fry to Runner Girl In the Kitchen's on going event "Only Cooking from Cookbooks", originally started by Pari of Foodelicious