Chettinad Fish Fry / Chettinad Meen Varuval / Masala Fish Fry - Chettinad Style

Today's recipe is a spicy n yummy Fish Fry from the popular south Indian Chettinad Cuisine. My kids love Salmon Fry but recently tried Fry with other fishes - king fish, Rohu fish. And also For a change tried Chettinad style fish fry. Me n H love Chettinad recipes and i cook often both vegetarian & non vegetarian recipes. This Chettinad Style Fish Fry is a spicy and tasty fry using freshly ground masala with pearl onions/shallots, ginger, garlic & other spices. This is a very simple and easy to make fish fry with ground masla and only one thing is necessary for this simple fry, that is marination duration, the more the resting time more the taste and flavor. I always marinate the fish by morning around 8-9 and make the fry around 2 or 3 pm. I shallow fried the fish but you can also deep fry or toast in tawa for healthier option.
This recipe was lying in my draft for more than 2 months and i completely forgot about it. Today while cleaning my disk i came across these pictures and decided to post it without any further delay. Now to the recipe..

Recipe source : Solai's True Chettinad kitchen
Ingredients

1. Fish    1.2 lb
2. Oil     as needed to shallow or deep fry.
3. Salt     to taste
4. Rice Flour    1 tbsp
5. Besan Flour    1 tsp

Masala for Marination

1. Pearl onion/Shallots   5 no.
2. Garlic   3 fat cloves
3. Ginger       1/2" piece
4. Fennel seeds     1 tsp
5. Cumin seeds      1/4 tsp
6. Pepper corns      1 tsp
7. Chilli powder     1 and 1/2 tsp
8. Coriander powder  2 tsp

Method

• Wash fish pieces thoroughly and drain well completely and keep aside.
• Grind all the ingredients under the heading "Masala for Marination" to a smooth paste without water or using 1 tbsp water to a fine paste and transfer to a bowl add enough salt, mix well and keep ready.

• Now take one piece and apply the masala paste all over the fish and do repeat the same for all the fish pieces and keep it aside for marination for at least 2-3 hours.
• After that, heat oil in a pan...when it gets really hot place 1-2 pieces(based on the pan size) at a time 
• and fry in low medium heat until the bottom turns crisp n light brown.

• Now turn the other side and cook until it turns crisp and cooked well.
• Then remove from the pan, drain it in paper towel and serve Hot with lemon wedges and sliced onions.

Notes:
Adding rice flour and besan flour helps to stick the masala to the fish while frying and also give nice crispy and tasty fry.
Adjust spices to your spice level, the above one is a medium spicy fish fry.
I have tried this recipe with king fish and Rohu fish(pictured one).