Saturday, October 24, 2009

FISHY FISH FINGER AND NON FISHY PANEER FINGERS

The adjective " FISHY" in front of the fish is not qualifying the fish...it was quite fresh and good. My wife came in and demanded ' You were supposed to make some fish Orle or fish fry, what happened to that ?" To have  a demanding wife is a privilege for a husband. I gave a  smile and said " I am making fish fingers".
" Normally you don't change mind at the last moment . Your making of fish finger sounds quite FISHY  , let me check what are you up to..." . Actually I changed over to fish finger because I had few fillets and it looked too little. So I chopped them into many pieces. It is like , instead of eating one big piece of fish, cut them into 4 pieces and feel good that you ate 4 pieces of fish. Hence the name Fishy Fish finger....
The net is packed with fish fry, fingers, orle , cutlets etc etc. I am not writing any thing new except some minor changes. It is like " Old fish in a new Pond"
INGREDIENTS
-Fish Fillet cut to finger size,300 to 400 gms  ( approx 12 X 12 mm and assorted length as per the fillet geography).
-1st marinade
lemon juice 1 tbsp, freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp and salt,
-1tsp corn flour.
-2nd marinade 
Garlic 6 pods, ginger 1/2 inch , coriander leaves 1  cup, green chili 6, roasted jeera powder 1 level tsp, freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp , mustard powder 1/2 tsp, Mustard oil 1 tsp. ( The mustard and oil is for Bengali foodies ,others may put too but optional). Grind and mix thoroughly with little salt.
- Bread crumb from market or  freshly made at home.( I use freshly made crumb from bread)
-1/2 egg
-Oil to fry
 PROCESS
Wash the fish fingers and drain adhered water. Make few pokes with a fork. Dont break the fish. Add 1st marinade and leave aside for 20 minutes with few mixing in between.
Remove fish on to another plate, add 1 tsp corn flour and mix. Leave aside for 5 minutes.
Add the fish into 2nd Marinade along with leftover 1st marinade. Leave aside for 20 minutes.
Break one egg, mix separately (don't whip) and add 1/2 of it to the fish and mix.
Take bread crumb in sufficient quantity, Take one piece of fish at a time and drop on to bread crumb (with as much marinade solids, sticking to it , as possible., Cover the fish with more crumb and lightly press and roll to ensure that the crumb is sticking to it and it appears dry.

Fry the fingers at low heat till the surface is brown. I use fresh crumb to prolong the frying without burnout.


NOTE:

To make fresh bread crumb, use a mixer or take a slice at a time in between your palms and rub with a circular motion of the palms. Bread particle will fall below on to a plate or a news paper. Moist bread crumb can take longer cooking time without turning dark brown or burn out.

VEGETARIAN OPTION

Use Paneer in place of Fish. If you don't take egg, add 1tsp corn flour and mix before rolling the pieces on bread crumb
.
If you like Feta cheese , you can try too.


22 comments:

Preeti Kashyap said...

yummy! I shall try this with paneer as well as feta...love both. The recipe is great. Never tried to add mustard oil...will try it this time. You think it will go good with paneer?

sangeeta said...

yummy fishy fingers....the mustard i'd love to add as the piquant taste of mustard in a fry is something like a nice change....

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Preeti
I think, you need not use the mustard powder and oil this time with Paneer.
Actually in presence of strong flavor of garlic,ginger and roasted jeera..Mustrad effect may not be noticeable. So drop it.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sangeeta
I am trying to develop, this kind of fries with a strong note of raw mustard and green chili and without garlic / ginger, let me see.
In any case English mustard or Bengali Kasundi is a good sauce for these fries.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear preeti
I forgot to tell you. Try the paneer fries with a Mustard sauce, and need not add mustard oil in the recipe.

Namitha said...

Ushnish, I like the explanation given for "fishy fish"..lol...Never tried fish fingers at home...:-)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

good one... my husbands favorite!

Unknown said...

Hello Ushnish,
Love love love fish!! If anything battered or crumbed and deep fried wasn’t bad for me I’d happily gobble it down everyday.Using mustard sounds interesting..I did the same posting long back but that is my own version.
Urs looks great!!next time will try this.My and my daug favorite so i love to cook it..:)

sangeeta said...

you got it...actually i was thinking of one of my home made kasundi like pickles ( made with banarasi rai n green chllies) to be stuck to the fingers before dipping it in the egg wash..yummmm

Sudeshna said...

Stumbled to your blog through SGD's blog. You really do have a wonderful collection of recipes. Added your to my feed reader.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sudeshna
I feel great that you liked this place..try out some, starting with Handi kebab ( this is fast version, the real one will come later).
Please do visit often. Let me go to your site and eat virtually all of them before transferring them, one by one into reality.
best wishes

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear sangeetha
I just had a look at your fish finger...great...
excellent presentation and the recipe..I used to add corn flower to crumb if I used fresh bread crumb,,but over the time just forgotten,,, age is catching on..
best wishes

Sharmila said...

Ami konodin fish fingers banaini but ... try korte hobe eta. :-)
Apni ki bhetkir fillet use korechen?Dekhte darun crispy hoyeche. :-)

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sharmila
Fish finger banai to make it look bulky compared to fish fry ( big pcs)..ta chhaDa besi lok thakle at least tato gulo fish fry banate hob-e ..:-))tai fish finger. And also chhoto shapes, small pieces chali-e deoa jae..
Eta kono ek somudra-r machh..bhetki type-er dekhte..Sab-ee ekhane bhetki "Bhola bhetki".the one we get in Calcutta to make bhetki jhol is different..You can use any midium soft boneless fish but not Surmai...

Mustard paste and oil debar darkar nei..doesnt have much effect..tar chai-te Mustrad sauce, is better.( Kasundi is best)
Ta-TaDi banao

Unknown said...

First time here..and you amazed me..shall try your paneer fingers some day..hopin our blog whenever time permits..

Prasukitchen.blogspot.com said...

nice delicious curry....

Ushnish Ghosh said...

@prasukitchen
Thanks for visiting and your appreciation..I will be visiting your site soon

Malar Gandhi said...

Dear Ushnish,

Love these fish fingers...totally different from the restaurant version..like the addition of earthly spices. Your wife is really lucky to have you.

Thanks for the complimants at my blog.

Gouri Guha said...

Ushnish,
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Never tried it at home...looks easy to prepare.
Will remember you when I enjoy the taste from the fish fingers cooked in my kitchen...looks yummy.
Will try the paneer ones also.

Anonymous said...

Luks gr888!

Bong Mom said...

Fish Fingers look great. I like the two marinades. Will try this for sure

prasu said...

sorry for the delayed comments....just lost in stream of routine work........ur fish fries are hummmmmmmm........really yummy...fell like grabbing them all....