Fish Archives - Aayi's Recipes

Spicy Fish Fry

5 Comments / Fish, NonVeg, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

Being from the coastal region, fish was a big part of our food. While growing up, aayi would make the traditional fish dishes like this fish fry, tepla ambat, alle kande ambat, dhoddak etc. But over the years, thanks to TV and internet, our food has been influenced by other cuisines too. This spicy fish fry is one such dish I make very often now.

Whenever we go out to eat in Bangalore, my brother orders masala fry. He also figured out a recipe for that. This spicy fish fry is inspired by that. Then I started adding few curry leaves to it, inspired by Kerala style fish fry. Over the years, I tried many different masalas and realized what we liked the most was the very basic masala that aayi uses. I just skip the rava coating, add few curry leaves and it tastes just out of this world. I have tried this with many different varieties of fish – salmon, tilapia, king fish, pomfret etc. It really works well with any big fish fillet. I prepared this when I was in India couple of months ago. Aayi told me she also makes it same way – may be a mother-daughter thing :).

Spicy Fish Fry

Fried fish with aromatic curry leaves

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings 4

Ingredients

4 big fish fillets king fish, pomfret, salmon or tilapia
1 tbl spn tamarind do not use extract, it does not make thick paste
4-5 big garlic cloves if using smaller variety available in India, use about 8-10
1 tea spn chilli powder use more if you can handle the heat
7-8 curry leaves
Oil
Salt

Instructions

Make a thick paste of tamarind, garlic, chilli powder and salt.
Apply the paste to fish pieces and leave it for atleast 30mins.
Heat a tava and spread a little oil.
Cut curry leaves in few pieces.
Spread half of the leaves on the tava.
Keep the marinated fish on the curry leaves.
Spread remaining leaves on the top.
Fry from both sides till the fish is cooked through.
Serve hot with lemon and onion rings.

Lady Fish Gravy (Nagli Ambat)

9 Comments / Fish, Konkani Recipes / By Varada

Nagli or Kane or Lady fish is abundantly available in the river near our home. So we get very fresh ones in the market. It is considered as one of the “clean fishes” as it does not have too many bones. It is easy for digestion, so when we introduce fish to babys, we start with nagli. We make few different dishes with this fish. This Nagli Ambat is one of them.

Pictorial:
Clean fish.

Make coconut paste. Fry onion.

When they turn brownish, add coconut paste and then fish.

Lady Fish Gravy (Nagli Ambat)

Nagli Ambat is a gravy prepared by cooking lady fish in a coconut gravy.

4.75 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings 3 -4

Ingredients

7-8 pieces of lady fish/nagli
1/2 cup onion
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
4-5 red chillies
A piece of tamarind
1/4 tea spn turmeric
1 tea spn coriander seeds
2 green chillies
Oil
Salt

Instructions

Remove scales of lady fish and clean the fish.
Heat a little oil and fry coriander seeds, turmeric.
Grind them with coconut, tamarind and red chillies to a smooth paste.
Heat oil and fry onion till they are brownish.
Add the coconut paste, green chillies slit into two pieces and salt.
Add little water to make it a thick gravy.
Slowly slide in the fish and cook till they are done.
Serve hot with rice.

Notes

Instead of cooking the coconut paste first and then adding fish, fish can be added to onions and fried for few minutes and then coconut paste is added. This gives a slightly different taste. Be very careful with the fish if this is followed. The fish is very delicate and can break down if it is mixed much

Grilled Salmon

9 Comments / Fish, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

Since my childhood, our staple comboÂ for lunch and dinner at home, usually has been rice and some kind of gravy/dal with one or more sidedishes. However it has gradually changed in the last 5 years or so. It sometimes amazes me. As much as I love my comfort food, I get pretty bored soon. I crave for something different very often. Considering Ishaan and V also have developed same liking, it has gotten easier for me. These days we have dinners where I just make bread/pizza/soup or grilled fish and we all enjoy it.

I have been making this grilled salmon every week, recently. It is very easy to put together. We like salmon when it is marinated well. I have seen chefs on TV apply some kind of marinade to it and immediately grill it, but this never works for us. We like it when salmon has completely soaked the marinade. So after applying all the spices, I leave it in fridge for a minimum of 5-6 hours, sometimes overnight. If I am in a hurry to make this, I cut the fish into bite size pieces, and then only 1-2 hours of marination time works. The really useful cast iron grill pan comes in handy for this one.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb salmon
1 tbl spn lemon juice
1/2 tea spn cumin powder
1/2 tea spn coriander powder
1 tea spn chilli powder
Salt

Method:
Apply cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, salt and lemon juice to salmon and leave it aside for atleast 5-6hrs (or overnight). Cut it into bite size pieces if you want to cut down the marination time to 1-2hrs.
Grill it till done.

Serves : 2
Preparation time : 20mins

Fried Salmon With Green Masala

18 Comments / Baby/Kid friendly, Fish, Starters / By Shilpa

This is another of those salmon experiments we liked. Recently we started buying Salmon from Costco. It is quite cheaper there compared to Whole Foods (where we do all our grocery shopping). I buy a big piece, cut into smaller pieces and freeze them into individual bags. Some days I just make this dish and a salad for dinner.

Aayi prepares this green fish using Mackerel (bangda) or king fish (Ishwan/Visonu/Surmai) or some other fish available in India. I add a little bit of mint if I have it on hand. This is Ishaan’s favorite fish dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb salmon
6-7 strands of coriander leaves
7-8 leaves of mint (optional)
2 green chillies
1 tea spn chopped ginger
1 tea spn chopped garlic
2 tbl spns lemon juice
Oil
2 tbl spn rice flour
1 tbl spn sooji
Salt

Method:
Cut Salmon in 2 x 2 inch pieces.Â Make a smooth paste of coriander leaves(you can also include a handful of mint leaves), green chillies, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, salt. Apply the paste to fish pieces and leave it refrigerator for few hours.
Heat a tava and spread some oil. On a plate, mix rice flour and sooji. Roll the fish pieces in rice flour-sooji mixture. Shallow fry on hot tava till the fish is cooked through.
Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Serves: 2-3
Preparation time : 20mins

Pictorial:

Spicy Salmon Kababs

18 Comments / Baby/Kid friendly, Fish, Healthy Options, NonVeg, Simple and Easy, Starters / By Shilpa

I have been trying to include more fish and chicken in our diet. It took a while for us to get used to the smelly fish – salmon. Since this is one of the healthiest fishes available in the market here, I try to make something with it atleast once a week. Recently I tried 2 types of kababs with them. I think they looked kinda cool. So Ishaan was ready to try these. The pieces get marinated very well as they are cut into small pieces.

Ingredients:
1 lb salmon cut into 2×2 inch pieces
1 tbl spn chopped coriander leaves
Lemon wedges

Marinade : Make a smooth paste of following
1/2 cup thick yogurt
1 tea spn ginger
1 tea spn garlic
1 tea spn chilli powder
A pinch turmeric
1/2 tea spn coriander powder
1/2 tea spn cumin powder
1/2 tea spn amchoor powder
Salt

Method:
Apply the marinade to salmon pieces. Add the coriander leaves. Leave it aside for atleast 2hrs.
Arrange the pieces on skewers. Grill them till done. I use my cast iron grill pan for grilling.
Serve hot with lemon. Serve it as a starter or as a main dish with some rice and a simple dal.

Serves : 2-3
Preparation time : 30mins

Pictorial:

Dried Fish Gravy (Bhobshe / Dhandshe Ambat)

9 Comments / Fish, Konkani Recipes / By Varada

We were not fish eaters until two generations back. Now, even though we like fish, we never liked the dried fish because of distinct and strong smell. Dried mackerel, shark, prawns etc are very popular among people here. Few years ago, somebody told me that dried dhandshi or bhobshi (Konkani names for two varieties of small fishes) could be stored for rainy season to be used for curry when fresh fish is not available. I tried it once and all of us liked the curry with mangos in summer. We usually remove the heads and tails before storing them, this helps reducing the smell a bit.

Ingredients:
1 cup dhandshi or bhobshi or any other small dried fish (heads and tails removed )
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
7-8 red chillies
1 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 cup chopped onion
5-6 ripe mangoes (I use local variety)
Oil
Salt

Method:
Wash the dried fish in water and immerse them in water for about fifteen minutes.
Heat a little oil and add coriander seeds. Grind coconut with red chillies and fried coriander seeds to a smooth paste.
Fry the chopped onion with oil till the pieces get brown in colour. Add the water immersed fish (after squeezing out the water) to the fried onion and add one cup of water, cook. Add the mangos (after removing the skin) and cook for two more minutes. Add the ground masala and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 20mins

Pictorial:

Baked Fish With Ajwain

17 Comments / Fish, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

We visited California during Christmas vacation. The main focus of our trip this time was meeting our friends. Apart from enjoying a lot in their company, I also learnt many things from each one of them. Everyone treated us with such delicious homemade food.

This particular dish was served to us at our friends Mehnaz and Hardeep’s home. They made this delicious baked fish with salmon. When I tasted this first,I immediately noticed a very pleasant spice which I never use in fish dishes. They said it was ajwain. I could not stop going for seconds and thirds. I normally prefer eating fish with rice/rotis, so when they served as starter, I had my own doubts. But V and I loved this dish. When I came back, I made this with tilapia (because that is what I had in my freezer). I am sure this will taste great with any other fishes.

If you do not have oven, heat a tava and shallow fry the pieces.

The measurements given in this recipe are approximates, use all ingredients according to your own taste.

Ingredients:
2 big fish fillets
1 tea spn chilli powder
A pinch turmeric
1/2 tea spn garam masala
1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tea spn amchoor powder
1/4 tea spn ajwain(carom seeds)
Salt

Method:
Apply all the ingredients to fish pieces and leave it aside for 30mins.
Preheat oven at 300F. Bake the fish till done.
Serve hot with or without lemon.

Serves : 2
Perparation time : 5mins + baking time.

Pictorial:

Grilled Spinach Salmon

22 Comments / Fish / By Shilpa

Finally we have started using salmon regularly. I have been cooking it with slight modifications every time. We love grilled salmon with different spices. This is one such recipe I tried recently. It tasted great.

Ingredients:
18oz salmon fillet
Olive oil

Spinach paste (Make a paste of following) –
3/4 cup chopped spinach
1 tea spn ginger
1 tea spn garlic
4 green chillies
3 cloves
1″ cinnamon
1 tbl spn lemon juice
Salt

Method:
Apply the paste to salmon piece and keep it aside for about an hour.
Heat a grill pan (or outdoor grill), spread some olive oil. Grill the salmon till done (I remove the skin after one side is done, like I did for this recipe).
Serve hot.

Serves : 1-2
Preparation time : 20mins

Pictorial:

Salmon Gravy

18 Comments / Fish / By Shilpa

I am using salmon a lot these days, because of the high Omega-3 content in this fish. Usually I bake it or make some spicy dry dish, something we both really enjoy. This time, I wanted to try it in this spicy gravy. This was inspired by a fish gravy I tasted at an Indian restaurant here 2 years ago. I have not seen this recently on their menu. We had a very satisfying lunch with rice and this gravy.

Ingredients:
1 big salmon fillet (about 18oz)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 big tomatoes – blanched, peeled and pureed
1 tea spn ginger
1 tea spn garlic
1 tea spn chilli powder + 1/2 tea spn to spread on fish
2 tbl spns chopped coriander leaves
1 tea spn cumin seeds
Oil
Salt
Spice powder(Do not roast. Grind to a coarse powder):
1 tea spn coriander seeds
3 cloves
1″ cinnamon

Method:
Spread salt and chilli powder on salmon.
Heat tava and keep the spiced part down on tava. After 1-2min, turn upside down. Leave for 1 more minute. Turn again. Now slowly pull out the skin. Spread some more chilli powder and salt on this side. Let the fish get done from both sides. Take off heat and cut it into about 1X1 inch pieces.
Heat oil. Add cumin seeds. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Fry till they turn brownish. Add the tomato puree, spice powder and salt. Cook till the gravy thickens a bit.
Slowly slide the fish pieces into gravy. Let it cook for about 1-2mins. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Serves :2
Preparation time : 30mins

Pictorial –

Easy Spicy Salmon

28 Comments / Fish, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

It has been a very long time we ate any fish. So last weekend, I bought a beautiful salmon piece. I normally stay away from this fish due to its strong smell. If at all I buy it, my favorite dish to make is Sig’s Roasted Salmon Steaks with on a bed of potatoes, leeks and fennel. I have tried this so many times now and this alone makes a filling meal. Thanks Sig for a lovely recipe.

This time though, I wanted to try something different. I also wanted it to be a simple recipe. It came out extremely delicious. Curry leaves give a very nice flavor and aroma to the fish, which covers up salmon smell. I used very simple spices that we use for fish fry.

Ingredients:
1 salmon fillet (about 6oz piece)
1 tea spn fresh ginger paste
1 tea spn fresh garlic paste
1 tea spn red chilli powder
7-8 curry leaves
1/2 cup onion
1/2 tea spn tamarind extract
Oil
Salt

Method:
Wash salmon. Apply ginger-garlic, red chilli powder and salt to the fish. (I put everything in a ziploc bag and shake it till the fish is coated well with the spices). Keep it refrigerated for atleast an hour.
Heat oil and add finely chopped onion. Fry till they turn brownish. Add tamarind extract and a little salt (the fish has salt, so add only a little).
Keep the salmon piece on the onions. Add the curry leaves. If required add 1-2 tea spns water. With a spoon, take out some of the onion mixture and put it on salmon piece so that fish absorbs all flavor. Cover and cook.l done. After few minutes very gently turn the fish (only if required).
Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Serves : 1
Preparation time : 20mins