Recipe for Fish Fingers Indian home-style. How to make fish fingers that can be easily frozen for later use. Made with breadcrumbs and perfect for toddlers.
Fish fingers is one dish that is a childhood favorite of mine. There was this restaurant called Kowloon in Coimbatore that was very famous in the 80’s. Their food was awesome and one of my favorite restaurants to go to at that time. Every-time I went there, I would order fish fingers. It was a standard order for me. The crisp sweet breadcrumb coated fish was something I craved for. Recently I had food from Kowloon again. Oh yes, the restaurant is still there. Though old and the interiors need a face-lift, the food is still decent. For old times sake, I made these and oh boy! I have missed them too long.
Here is how to do fish fingers.
The main thing about fish fingers is to use boneless filleted fish. In India, filleted fish is easily available in the frozen aisle of a grocery store. I buy my fish from licious or fresh to home here in Bangalore. They both deliver meat home and their meat is of excellent quality. The Indian basa works well for this recipe. If abroad, any white fish like cod, hake, haddock, tilapia, catfish, mahi mahi or pollock fillets would work really well. Cut the fish fillets into thick fingers like the picture below.
Crush some garlic and ginger in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
Take a big bowl and add in the cut fish fingers. Make sure that the water from the fish is completely drained and the fish is dry. If the fish is too moist, then the batter will be watery and wont work. Add in the ginger-garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, green chilli sauce, salt, red chilli flakes, lemon juice, tomato ketchup, egg white and corn flour.
Mix well to combine.
Now we will coat the fish with breadcrumbs. I like to use fresh breadcrumbs for this recipe. If you don’t have fresh breadcrumbs, use store-bought crumbs. Its fine. Grind 4-5 slices of bread in a mixie to a powder. Set aside.
Take a plate and spread the breadcrumbs. Take the fish pieces and roll them in the breadcrumbs.
Roll the pieces well so its coated with breadcrumbs thoroughly.
Once coated, gently roll the fish between your palms. Apply gentle pressure so the crumbs adhere to the fish. This will prevent the crumbs from falling or separating while frying. This is a fantastic tip I use while frying these fingers. It also shapes the fingers.
At anytime, if the palms are covered fully with breadcrumbs and a thick coating has formed, wash your hands and continue. Else breadcrumbs will keep sticking to the palms and not to the fish.
Heat oil in a pan until hot. Fish fries very fast in under two to three minutes. Hot oil is key to make non-oily fish fingers. Add the prepared fish fingers to hot oil. Do not move the fish fingers in oil with spatula after adding it to the oil. The breadcrumbs would not have set and will separate. Let the hot oil just do its work. Leave it alone for two minutes. Gently move the fingers after the time.
Fry till the fish is golden. Crispy fish fingers are ready. Drain the fish fingers in a paper lined bowl and drain the excess oil. Serve hot with mayo.
It is a kids favorite. Do try them at home.
Fish Fingers Recipe
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 15m
- Total Time: 30m
- Yield: serves 5-6 1x
Description
Recipe for Fish Fingers Indian home-style. How to make fish fingers that can be easily frozen for later use. Made with breadcrumbs and perfect for toddlers.
Ingredients
- 500 grams fish fillet
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1/2 inch piece ginger
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon green chilli sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (read notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
- Juice of a lemon
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- 1 egg white
- 3 tablespoon corn flour (If the batter is very watery, add a tablespoon or two more)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil to deep fry the fish fingers
Instructions
- Cut the fish fillets into thick fingers. Crush some garlic and ginger in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Take a big bowl and add in the cut fish fingers. Make sure that the water from the fish is completely drained and the fish is dry. If the fish is too moist, then the batter will be watery and wont work. Add in the ginger-garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, green chilli sauce, salt, red chilli flakes, lemon juice, tomato ketchup, egg white and corn flour. Mix well to combine.
- Take a plate and spread the breadcrumbs. Take the fish pieces and roll them in the breadcrumbs. Roll the pieces well so its coated with breadcrumbs thoroughly. Once coated, gently roll the fish between your palms. Apply gentle pressure so the crumbs adhere to the fish. This will prevent the crumbs from falling or separating while frying. This is a fantastic tip I use while frying these fingers. It also shapes the fingers.
- Heat oil in a pan until hot. Fish fries very fast in under two to three minutes. Hot oil is key to make non-oily fish fingers. Add the prepared fish fingers to hot oil. Do not move the fish fingers in oil with spatula after adding it to the oil. The breadcrumbs would not have set and will separate. Let the hot oil just do its work. Leave it alone for two minutes. Gently move the fingers after the time.
- Fry till the fish is golden. Crispy fish fingers are ready. Drain the fish fingers in a paper lined bowl and drain the excess oil. Serve hot with mayo.
Notes
- Do not add any additional salt than recommended to the recipe as the sauces we add in marination themselves are salty.
- Freezing for later use: After coating the fish with breadcrumbs, line the fish on a plate and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to zip tote bags. When ready, thaw the fish fingers on a plate to room temperature and then fry them as required.
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