Bhetki Fry / Bhetki maacher fry

Bhekti Fry or rather commonly known as fish fry among bengalees is a favorite among all. From old to young, from kids to adults, almost everyone likes fish fry. It is basically pure bhetki fillet that are marinated for hours and then coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried.

Attend any Bengali wedding ceremony or any other occasion and fish fry will be there. People will just hog on it. I myself have always love this item. I don’t know why it took me so long to post about fish fry.

There is another version of fish fry, known as fish batter fry. Here the only difference is the batter and the coating. I love fish fry more. It is more of the American version of fish and chips. At Bengali households you eat it with plain daal and hot boiled rice or polau or even plain French fries and tartar sauce. Your wish. But do try this at home. You can try this with other variety of fish fillet like Pomphret, Sardines, etc, but I would suggest that go for Bhetki fillet. You will love it.

One important point – start the preparation a day early. You need enough time to let the fillets marinate. If you want to eat them for dinner, marinate them the night before for best results.

Ingredients:

• Bhekti fillets – 10 to 12 thin slices

• Onion – 1 (grind to a fine paste)

• Ginger paste – I tsp

• Garlic paste – 3 tsp

• Egg – 1

• Pepper powder – 2 tsp

• Oregano seasoning – 2 tsp (you can use pizza seasoning as well. This is purely optional)

• Sugar – ½ tsp

• Green chilies – finely chopped

• Lemon juice / vinegar – 2 – 3 tsp

• Coriander leaves – finely chopped

• Salt to taste

• Breadcrumbs & semolina – Remember you need double coating so keep enough handy.

• Oil for frying

How to prepare:

Wash and clean the bhetki fillets and pat dry with a paper towel. Now add lemon / vinegar juice and salt. In a separate bowl beat egg and mix pepper powder, green chilies, ginger-garlic paste, onion paste, sugar, oregano seasoning and coriander leaves. Pour the entire mixture into the bhetki fillets and mix well. Marinate overnight and put it in the refrigerator. You can put a cling wrap so that the flavors stay locked.

Next day morning take out marinated fish fillet. Pour breadcrumbs on a flat dish. Add semolina as 4:1 ratio. For best results add 2 tsps of semolina only. Mix well. add a bit of salt.

Take each fillet along with the coriander leaves, green chilies, and other ingredients and put them on the breadcrumb mixture. Put on both sides. With the flat of your palm press each fillet on the breadcrumbs so that they stick to the fillet well. On a flat plate place each coated fillet one by one.

Once all are coated well, refrigerate again.

Just before you want to serve, take out the fillets. Take some more breadcrumbs (this time no need to mix semolina).

Heat white oil in a frying pan. Oil should be enough to fry the fillet properly. Once the oil is hot enough to fry, take one fillet, gently pat on each side of the fillet with breadcrumb and slowly slip it into the oil.

Let it fry on one side and then slowly turn it into the other side. Wait till it is golden brown in color on both sides. Place the fillet on a paper towel to drain out the excess oil.

Serve hot, with hot rice and daal, or polau. Best had just like that with crispy fried potato fries and tartar sauce.