Friday, May 29, 2009

Fish (Cod) Bhajjis -Batter Fried Fish

I like to be on time wherever I go but I seem to be falling regularly into the 2 minute late trap. For most occasions 2 minutes late should not be a big deal but in the morning rush the 2 minutes begins to take a life of its own. If DD is 2 minutes late for her bus I have to drive her to a bus stop that is about 5 minutes away or chase the bus to the next one a bit further away and in the end might as well drive her to school. So far we have not missed the bus but for once, thanks to another extremely nice parent who makes sure the bus waits if she sees our car driving towards the stop.

If DD2 is minutes late past the car pool time, I have to get out and park the car and walk her to the class room and give the teacher a slightly embarrassed smile instead of sitting comfortably in the car and driving away the minute DD2 jumps out of the car into the care of a school employee. These minor conveniences do make life simple. Getting out of the car involves being dressed properly(?) and lose the anonymity of sitting cozily in the car.

Late for classes, to soccer practise, to the tutoring session makes me feel truly shoddy. All I can say in my defense is its not all my fault, some or part of the fault falls on the other members of the family including the minors.


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Mother's Day Gift!


So no I am on a trial period to get to wherever I want to go on time. Usually a 5 minute head start gives ample time to be on time. Just need to make a habit of it.

Do you get tripped by being a few minutes late for appointments?

Remember Delhi auntie? She was back for a visit. The tiredness of walking around in the National Zoo could not stop me from trying out the yummy fish bajjis the recipe for which came from my brother's friend Dr.Arun. I have been sitting on this recipe for almost a month and could not waste the long weekend by not giving this a try. Though bajjis are quite common using vegetables, a fish bajji is a novel idea. I successfully thwarted Delhi auntie's repeated requests for cooking Poori Aloo however tempting that sounded. Everybody totally enjoyed these bhajjis.

The recipe called for Tilapia which would have been perfect for the bhajjis but I only had frozen Cod. The fillets were about an inch thick whereas Tilapia is less thicker about 1/2 an inch. Any light thinly sliced fish would work just as well.


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I was busy frying up the fish so the setting, photography and arrangement are all courtesy of the family (DH,DD,DD2)


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Flaky!


Serves: 6
Fish Bajji - Batter Fried Fish

1. 7 Cod fillets (frozens) cut into 2 x 1 inch pieces (wash and dry and set it aside)
2. Canola Oil for deep frying (2 cups)

For the batter:
1. 3/4 cup of besan flour
2. 1 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
3. 2 eggs (recipe called for egg whites, I added the whole egg)
4. a pinch of asfoetida
5. a pinch of baking soda
6. 1 tsp turmeric powder
7. 4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
8. 1 cup of water

Whisk all the ingredients (1-7) together except egg. Add the water and make a thick batter (consistency should be that of pancake batter so that it sticks to the fish and does not run). Add the eggs and whisk into the mixture.

Method
1. In a frying pan, heat the oil.
2. Dip the fish piece in the batter and drop it gently in the oil. Let it fry on one side, flip and fry on the other side. Remove when the outside turns golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Serve and enjoy with chili garlic sauce.


Made some onion pakoras with the left over batter. Slice the onions thin lengthwise. Mix in with the batter and drop them gently into the oil scattered. Remove when they turn golden brown.

15 comments:

  1. I love tha tmothers day present looks so beautiful and love the fry fish too.
    Hi hi 2 minutes late always.
    I hope you were not in your pyjama :-), the teachers would have had a great laugh seeing a mom comming in theyi pyjama.

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  2. I always go on time for appointments and my daughter has never been late for the bus....but end up getting late for Indian parties and finally irritating my husband who is very particular about going on time. He has ended up arriving before the host on many occassions.

    Bahjjis looks great, never tried with fish.

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  3. I hear ya on the drop-off at school... esp. during winter, it's so convenient so I try really hard to make it then... :) That platter looks beautiful - what a lovely gift. My husband loves fried fish.

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  4. Beautiful!!!! :) And a really nice dish fit for the grand opening ceremony! :)

    I used to be punctual.. but these days, I'm a late-kate, 2 mins late almost always. The few times I make efforts to be on time or earlier turned out be the day when the clock rolled forward, or the bus wouldn't come... If everything works and I reach the place 5 mins early, then the class would have been canceled. :( Just my luck!

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  5. Lovely plate! Love the bright red color. And those fish bhajjis look too good. Am craving some right now.

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  6. How nice and well fried they look - most such fish we get in hotels here are overdone and dark brown!

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  7. Batter fried fish looks delicious! A little like the fish amritsari. :-)

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  8. These fish fries are really yummy. And you know you can make a chilli fish with them too.

    Was that plate hand crafted by the DD's ? It indeed is very pretty.

    I am paranoid about being in time and always reach early. Morning drop off is D's responsibility and since S's school is a private one which starts around 9 for Kindergarten, her drop off time varies depending on her mood and D's tele-con schedule.
    The few days that I am in charge I drop her off very early and pack her b'fast to school 'coz eating that is ahige task for S

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  9. Even me.. try not to be late, & usually manage to drive the kids out of the house before time. It's better to go & wait for 10 extra minutes than be a couple of minutes late:-)

    That plate is BEAUTIFUL!! we take the kids to a ceramic place, to paint their own ceramic, & once of these days I am planning to do it myself. That looks like a very pretty design.

    I do not dare to try anything fish other than catfish & tilapia as i am used to having freshwater fish. tell me something, does this cod smell? I might try this with tilapia as i have that most often.

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  10. very cute looking mother's day gift. Also kudos to the photographers, they have done a great job indeed.
    The fish in the bhajji looks flaky. Wonder which vegetable I can use for this?

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  11. Thats a wonderful gift for a foodie Indo! I am also like you on the 2 min late. But after me turning the clock 5 mins past (all clocks and watches at home) I somehow got rid of this problem. In a week or so we all would forget that the watch runs past and hence we are all on time :) Fish bajji is a real new idea. I shud tell this to Amma.

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  12. Sandeepa, no store bought.

    Soma, we have been there couple of times and DD loves it. That will be fun, let us know how your creation turns out.

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  13. I've never tried making fish bhajjis before. Sounds like a great idea!

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  14. RC, onions cut length wise and mixed in with the batter and spread around when dropping in the oil(fried like pakodas) tasted great. You can use potatoes thinly sliced, green banana, eggplants. All of them would taste good.

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  15. I hate being late to any kind of meetings, but lately I've been really bad. I just can't seem to make meetings on time, but I am late just by a few minutes normally. Love the batter fried fish and the family has done great with the setting and the picture.

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