Machha Bhaja/Fish Fry

Machha Bhaja/Fish Fry is popularly used as a side dish for pakhala in Odisha,India...Even used as a side dish for rice/roti or u can also have it as snacks..

Though there are various versions of fish fry among different regions of the state, the most common method is to marinate the fish with turmeric, salt, mustard oil & chilly powder & then simply fry with optimum mustard oil in medium heat. But the recipe I am going to give is a slightly different version which is very crispy and tasty...

Ingredients

7-8 Belly Pieces of Fish/peti pieces of machha
Here i used Rohu fish, u can try it with other ones too with fish fillets...
9-10 Flakes of garlic.
1'' ginger
1 tsp cumin powder
1-2 tbsp curd
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp mustard oil
2-3 tbsp all purpose flour/maida
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste

Method

Wash the fish thoroughly.
Make a paste of garlic and ginger.
In a bowl, take the fish, add all the ingredients with gineger-garlic paste.
Mix it well and keep it for 15-20 minutes so that the fish soak all the flavors of it.

In a pan or kadai, take 2-3 tablespoon of mustard oil.
When the oil gets heated, put in 3-4 pieces of fish into the oil.
Fry it in medium heat for sometime until the fish is done.

Ensure that the masala is not burnt completely.
As soon the upper crust becomes crisp, take the fish out. Do the same for other pieces.
Serve hot .