The Savory Simple Fish Fry ... Emti Hi Khaibaku

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Since the day that I left Cuttack (which is my second home town), there are a few occasions that I've had good fish fry. Cuttack is a city which is sandwiched between two huge rivers.. Mahanadi and Kathajodi. Thats why, the morning fresh fish that we get in Cuttack is unbeatably nice. Well, no one can say No to the outside business also, so we also used to get fish imported from outside states like Andhra Pradesh, which is kind of frozen and not so great.

 Well, I spoke too soon. My job and fate brought me to the United State of America, where getting fresh water fish is a far-fetched dream. The asian markets here sell good fish but they are all from the ocean. Well, anyways.... an Odiya.. no matter what.. needs fish. Else.. as they say in Hindi "Hamara khana hazam nahi hota" (We can not digest our food). For some time, we tried every kind of fish available in the market...Then we switched to frozen Rohu and Hilsa from the Bangla store... and after a lot of hit-and-trial finally one day, I brought Bass which I had heard is more-or-less like Rohu. 

 Well.. since I did not know much about the fish, I thought of trying only a simple fish fry to have with daal and rice. Fish fry is the simplest fish recipe (in my opinion) which needs only three ingredients except for the fish of course... Here goes the recipe and my idea of a beautiful picture.


 What I used:
  • 1 medium Sea Bass (around 2 Lbs) cut into thin slices. The asian market people clean and cut the fish for you.. so its super easy for people like me.
  • Salt to taste
  • Turmeric powder
  • Dash of lemon juice
  • Mustard oil to fry the fish... don't worry its shallow frying in an open pan.
Procedure:
  • Clean the fish pieces thoroughly with luke warm water.
  • Marinate fish with salt, turmeric and lemon juice.
  • Keep aside for 15 mins or so.
  • Heat an open face pan on medium heat.
  • When the pan is hot, add mustard oil.
  • When oil is hot, add the fish pieces carefully. Do not add more pieces at a time. Each piece needs its space to cook nicely and get a brown tan on it.
  • Fry the fish till one side is brown and then turn and fry the other side. Each side takes around 3 mins on medium heat (a setting of 5 on the big stove on the cooking range)

Fish fry can be eaten JLT (Just Like That) or with daal+rice or with my favorite "Pakhala Bhata". What is "Pakhala Bhata"? I will tell that some time later, when the time is right. Enjoy !!

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