Amritsari Tali Machli

Amritsari Tali Machli is a popular Punjabi Fish fry. Instead of dredging the marinated fish fillets/steaks in rice flour or semolina like we do traditionally, the fish is dredged in the besan batter and then deep fried. Since I am not too much into deep frying, I use shallow fry method my "tali machli".


Amritsari Tali Machli
Fish Fry from Amritsar
Ingredients
4 fillets of boneless, skinless white fish like Tilapia
salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
A generous dash of black pepper
1 tsp mild chili powder or paprika
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric poweder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

Batter
3/4 cup besan/chickpea flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/8 tsp owa/ajwain
A pinch of baking soda
water as needed to make a thick batter

Frying
1/4 cup Oil for  shallow frying in the cast iron
or
oil as needed for deep frying

Garnish
A dash of chaat masala
A dash of amchoor powder

Suggested Accompaniment
Lime wedges
Ketchup
Mint chutney
Sliced onions


Method
1. Clean, rinse and drain the fish pieces. Pat dry using paper towel.
2. Add ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper, turmeric powder, asafoetida,  black pepper powder and chili powder. Cover and marinate for at least half an hour. Refrigerate till ready to use.
3. Meanwhile, prepare a thick batter of besan/chickpea flour, rice flour, turmeric powder, salt, ajwain, chili powder and ginger-garlic paste, adding water as needed. Make sure that there are no lumps. Add baking soda just before using the batter.
4. Heat oil for deep or shallow frying. Add a spoonful of hot oil in the batter. Whisk.
5. Shake off any excess liquid from the marinated fish fillet. Dip it into the batter so the batter is thickly coated around the fish. Fry 2 pieces at a time [Deep frying or shallow frying is your choice!]
6. Keep the fried fish onto a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Sprinkle chaat masala and amchoor powder.
7. Serve with cut onions, lemon wedges, kethcup or hot sauce and green chutney of your choice.

Note
1. You can use Indian fish like Pomfret/Paplet, King Fish/Surmai, Rawas or American mild white fish like Tilapia, Grouper, Snapper For this recipe.
2. My method of using cast iron skillet is as below. Heat 1/4 cup oil - preferably vegetable or peanut oil for frying in a cast iron skillet. Place 2 fish fillets (dipped in the batter as mentioned in 5 above). Flip after 3-4 minutes so they are cooked on both sides. Follow same procedure for remaining fillets. Place onto a clean paper towel to absorb excess oil. Preheat oven 350F. Place fish fillets on a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes more. Since we are not deep frying in this method, baking further ensures that the fish fillets are crisp.
3. If you feel that the fish fillets are too big, halve them.