If you’re craving a delicious treat to take your mind off daily routine meals, then try this Kolkata street-style fish fry recipe. This Bengali Fish Fry is a popular street food from Kolkata, that hardly needs an introduction. Beautifully carved Bhetki (Barramundi or Seabass) fish fillet, marinated in onion, ginger, garlic & chili juice before dipped in an egg wash & breaded for frying to perfection.

This fish fry recipe stands out because the outer shell has to be thin and crunchy while the fish inside is beautifully cooked. Served with the super pungent ‘Kasundi‘, Bengali mustard sauce, and sliced onions.

For the perfect fish fry, many Bengalis swear by using Bhetki fish fry Kolkata style. The recipe for fish fry remains ubiquitously simple yet it needs to master the perfect balance between the flavors and texture. And that can only be achieved when every step is followed perfectly. Let’s unfurl the science behind the crunchiest and most delicious bhetki macher Bengali fish fry recipe.

What makes a Fish Fry the Best?

The secret lies in the marination process and breading of the fish fillet. Once you master these two, there’s no stopping you from making the crunchiest and most delicious ‘Kolkata cabin style‘ fish fry. Impress your guests with this authentic Bengali fish fry recipe that’s easy to follow.

For the marination of the fish fillets, it is very important to use only the juice of the ingredients. I have used my MagicBullet to grind them together and mix some salt into them so that they release moisture. Then this juice is used for marination.

I have seen many food joints using the ground paste instead, but that’s their trick to make the fillets fatten up for thicker fries. One bite and you will realize that there’s only a thin layer of fish blanketed by thick layers of marinating paste and breadcrumbs. And that’s a big turn-off, isn’t it?

Leave the fish fillets soaking in the flavorful juice for at least 4 hours, before you start coating them in breadcrumbs. We want the fillets to become as flavorful as they can be.

Next comes another very important step in this Bengali fish fry recipe, and that is breading. Over the past couple of years and after several trials, I have concluded that homemade breadcrumbs are best for this.

Kolkata street-style fish fry ingredients

• 500 gms Bhetki or Barramundi or Seabass Fillets giving us around 7-8 pieces
• 1 Onion
• 4-5 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger
• 1 Green Chili
• 1 tsp White Vinegar
• Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Breadcrumbs
• Refined Sunflower Oil to fry

Fish fry recipe instructions

• Combine onion, ginger, garlic, and green chili and grind it into a paste. Take it out in a bowl and add salt to it. Mix everything. It will start releasing a lot of liquid soon.
• Place the fish fillets on a plate and pour the liquid over them. Pour the vinegar and massage the fillets. Allow these fish fillets with all of their liquid to rest in an air-tight container and let them marinate for 4 hours. Keep it in the fridge if required.
• Before frying, prepare your breading station. Take two plates. Whisk an egg with some salt and pour it on one plate. Pour breadcrumbs into another.
• Now, take a fish fillet and place it in the egg wash. Let the egg cover both sides. Next place the fillet in the breadcrumbs. Press gently so that the bottom surface gets covered with it. Turn it over and do the same. Repeat the egg wash and coat with breadcrumbs further twice.
• Keep shaping the fillets into a neat square or rectangle as the fish is quite delicate and with repeated pressing, it may start losing its shape. Repeat this step with the rest of the fish fillets.
• You may fry them immediately or freeze them for later in an air-tight container.
• Heat refined sunflower oil in a frying pan. Ideally, these are deep-fried, but we are going to shallow-fry them.
• Once the oil is warm, place the prepared fish fillet in the oil. Slowly fry each of them on medium-low heat. We don’t want to burn the outer layer while the inside remains uncooked.
• After 2 mins, turn it over gently. Repeat this till both sides are nicely browned and the fillet has been cooking for around 7-8 mins.
• Serve them hot.

How to make homemade Breadcrumbs?

I will share a detailed recipe post for this shortly, however, for the sake of this recipe, here’s a quick version of it.

• Take a couple of slices of bread. I used normal white bread. Leave the sides. a couple of brown spots in the crumbs won’t effect here.
• Place them side by side on a borosilicate baking dish and microwave them for 1 min.
• Now turn them over and repeat.
• They should have hardened up completely. Allow them to cool down completely.
• Now, break them into pieces and grind them into smooth powder. Remember, the finer they are, the thinner layer of crumbs you will get for this recipe for Bengali fish fry

Another very important aspect of this recipe fish fry is that we use Bhetki or Barramundi or Seabass for this. It is a freshwater fish variety that has a sweeter taste and is practically bone-free.

Another fish variety that is very popular for recipes for fish fry is Aar Maach or Catfish. However, we are going to stick to the originals here.

How do you freeze these Fish Fry fillets for later?

So, you are having a party and want to serve some delicious fish fry. You cannot start prepping them on D-Day. Instead, make them ahead and freeze them. Just before serving, you can fry them up and serve them. This is undoubtedly the best fish fry recipe Kolkata has to offer, and it’s sure to be a hit.

No need to thaw! Just follow these easy steps and you are sorted.

• Follow the recipe I have given below in the recipe card. Go till breading them in breadcrumbs with alternate egg wash.
• Now, take an air-tight container. Cover the bottom with a parchment paper. Place the prepared fillets side by side.
• If you need to stack, then take another piece of parchment paper and place it on the first layer of fish fillets. Place the second layer of fillets on this sheet. Repeat as necessary.
• Once you have all the fillets lined up on your container, cover it with another sheet of parchment paper. Place the lid.
• You can freeze this for a week to ten days.

When you are ready to fry, take out the fish fillets and immediately fry. Don’t thaw or the breadcrumbs will get soggy. Repeat the egg wash and breading step once if you find them soggy already.

Serving suggestions

The way of serving this Kolkata street-style fish fry is by pairing it with tangy Kolkata fish fry with kasundi. These Kolkata-style fish cutlets make for an excellent starter at any gathering.

More popular Kolkata Street Food Recipes

• Egg Croquettes or Dimer Devil
• Moglai Porota
• Ghugni
• Doi Bora or Dahi Vada
• Aloo Chop Recipe | Bengali Potato Fritters
• Mangsher Ghugni Recipe
• Kolkata style Egg Toast Recipe

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This post was first published on September 14, 2020, and later republished on October 15, 2024, with a more elaborate description of the recipe.

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