4.4/5 rating (21 votes)

Fish Amritsari

Punjabi Battered Fish

  • Heat Medium
  • Serves 4
  • Dietary Info LACTOSE-FREE
  • Prep 5 mins
  • Marinade 30 mins
  • Cook 10 mins

Punjabi battered fish cooked in a spiced gram flour batter.

Hari says

True Punjabi flavours – that’s what this dish is all about. The batter is seasoned with ajwain (carom seeds), which have a delicate, thyme-like flavour, and a zesty lemon for freshness.

Growing up in Wolverhampton, Friday nights were a big deal because we got to eat fish and chips! Our favourite chippy was one run by a Cypriot family, and the owner and my dad would spend ages talking about what it was like being an immigrant in the UK… while us kids did the really important stuff of breathing in that gorgeous salt and vinegar smell I still love today. My mum would indulge us now and again and make home-made fried fish like this. In fact, I had no idea it was an 'actual dish with a real name' until recently. I thought it was just something mum did! What’s even worse is that as kids we preferred Mr Pafeeti’s chip shop fish because mum’s was too Indian. The shame…

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 4cm piece of ginger
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 lemons
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
  • 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • salt to taste
  • 200g gram flour (chickpea flour)
  • water
  • 400g fish (any firm white fish) in thick portion sizes
  • oil to deep fry

Method

  1. Crush the ginger and garlic to a paste and add to a large bowl.
  2. Add the juice from 1 lemon and cut the second one into wedges to serve the fish with.
  3. Add the turmeric, crushed cumin and coriander, carom, chilli and salt.
  4. Sprinkle in the gram flour and mix all the ingredients for the batter together.
  5. Add a a little water at a time to make a thick batter.
  6. Place the fish in the batter and coat it all - leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile begin to heat the oil in a fryer gently
  8. When you are ready to cook check the oil is hot enough by dropping in a little batter into the oil. If it bubbles and floats to the top straight away it's ready.
  9. Very gently place a piece of the battered fish into the oil (place it away from you so the hot oil doesn't splash up).
  10. Fry the fish until it's cooked through and each piece is golden and crispy (about 5-6 minutes.
  11. Remove and set on some kitchen roll to drain. Serve hot with homemade chips and a wedge of lemon.

Nutritional information

Typical values* per Serving
Calories140
Fat (g)2.1
of which saturates (g)0.2
Carbohydrates (g)15
of which sugars (g)1.0
Fibre (g)3.1
Protein (g)16
Salt (mg)0.59
*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.

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Comments

Comments (6)

  • Andy

    08 October 2018 at 07:19 |
    Delicious! I used kumara for the topping and gurnard, smoked mackerel and smoked warehou and it turned out great. Nice to be able to use spinach and spring onions from our own garden. Super recipe, thanks 8)

    reply

  • Hari Ghotra

    15 May 2015 at 11:55 |
    Hi Glad you enjoyed the read and I'm so pleased the saag aloo got the thumbs up from your friends. Please do let me know what else you try I love a good food picture so please do share your cooking photos with me too.

    reply

  • Hari Ghotra

    15 May 2015 at 11:55 |
    Hi Glad you enjoyed the read and I'm so pleased the saag aloo got the thumbs up from your friends. Please do let me know what else you try I love a good food picture so please do share your cooking photos with me too.

    reply

  • sevral

    15 May 2015 at 11:24 |
    this made me smile also coming from wolverhampton x yes the cypriot chippies was the best but unfortunately they are few and far between now . just got to add made your saag aloo and gave some to some Punjabi friends and got a thumbs up so will be trying some more of your rrcipes in the near future many thnks xxx

    reply

  • Hari

    22 February 2015 at 20:27 |
    Hi Caryn
    So pleased to hear that - its a classic Punjabi dish and so tasty. You may also like my pakora and fish pakora recipe too. Do let me know what you try next. Thanks so much for your comments. Hari

    reply

  • Caryn

    22 February 2015 at 19:41 |
    I cannot tell you how much I love this recipe!! I made it for the first time the other day and am looking forward to experimenting with different veggies to use! I actually had never had or heard of this until last week when my husband and I were enjoying a lunch buffet at a great Indian restaurant.

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