Fish Pakora

Indian restaurant-style crispy fish pakora recipe made with codfish fillets and crispy homemade batter. One of the best Indian fish starters recipes that all kids and adults can enjoy. It's so simple and easy to make at home with everyday pantry-friendly ingredients.

Our family loves Indian cuisines and loves to cook both homestyle recipes and restaurant-style cuisines at home. Easy Keema Rice and Lamb Karahi are our recent favourite recipes that you might also love to try out.

Jump to:

• What is Fish Pakora?
• Why this recipe works
• What do we need
• How to make it
• What other ingredients you can add?
• FAQ
• Fish Pakora

What is Fish Pakora?

Pakora is a famous Indian snack made with crispy battered meat or vegetables deep-fried to perfection. Traditional, pakora batter is a combination of gram flour, and plain flour or rice flour. The meat and vegetables are seasoned with aromatic classic Indian spices, coriander, curry leaves, and green chillies.
Fish pakora is a deep-fried fish coated with well-seasoned gram flour batter. Fish pakora vendors can be found in street food stalls and restaurants. It's also a popular appetizer in the UK, US, and Western Indian restaurants and takeaways.

Every family and restaurant has its own recipes and the seasoning spices, marination, and battered can be varied. It's also known as Punjabi fry fish or Amritsari fish in North India and the marinade of Amritsari fish fry usually includes yoghurt.

Why this recipe works

• This is a fail-proof recipe that we have tried and tested so many times at our house. All of our friends and family members enjoyed it.
• You can make everything from scratch with simple ingredients. No special ingredients are needed and it tastes way better than ordering from takeaways.
• The cooking process is quick and simple but the final result is impressive!
• A crowd-pleasing savoury snack that you can prepare with a minimum budget.
• The outside batter is crispy and the inside fish is moist and flavourful. It's so tasty and addicting!

What do we need

Which fish is good for pakora? Codfish is the best fish for pakora and we love to make it with cod fillets. Codfish is high in protein and rich in vitamins and nutrients. It's also great for making classic English fish and chip and beer batter fish. You can also use other white fish fillets like pollock, basa, haddock, or halibut.

Can I use salmon? Yes, you can use salmon fillets and make salmon pakora with this same marinade and batter. Salmon fish pakora is my little one's favourite!

Fish seasoning - Before mixing with gram flour batter, it's important to season the fish. You will need, garlic paste, ginger paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala, lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Pakora batter - I add a mixture of gram flour, corn starch, and egg white.

What type of gram flour to use? Use pure gram flour, chickpea flour, or chana dal flour. Gram flour is also known as besan or chickpea flour. It's a fine flour made for ground chickpea or chana dal. It's a staple ingredient in Indian pakora and fritter recipes.

Corn flour/starch - Add corn starch for extra crisp coating texture. Instead of corn starch, you can add potato starch or rice flour.

Why do you add egg white? Egg white creates a light, fluffy, airy texture which is great for fish pakoras. Instead of egg white, you can add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda together with the flour.

What oil is best for frying pakoras? Vegetable or neutral flavour oil is best for deep frying pakoras. We usually use sunflower, canola, grapeseed, or vegetable oil.

How to make it

• Cut the fish fillet into small bite-size pieces and season it with grated garlic, ginger, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, and lime juice. Mix gently and marinate for 10 minutes.
• Fill the heavy bottom pot with frying oil to 3-4 inches high. Heat the oil to medium-high heat for about 180'C ( 350' F ).
• In a large bowl, place the marinated fish pieces, and add egg white, gram flour, corn starch, and water. Combine everything well until it forms a thick paste.

• Once the oil is hot enough, slide each fish piece by using two spoons or a spatula. Fry for 3-4 minutes or until crispy golden brown. Fry with batches and do not overcrowd the oil.
• Remove from oil and transfer to paper towel. Then place on a serving plate and garnish with coriander and lemon wedges. Serve with pakora sauce or your choice of dipping sauce.

Air Fryer Option

It tastes best when you deep fry them but you can also bake fish pakora in oven or air fry them with air fryer. Place each fish piece on the baking sheet, and spray a generous amount of cooking oil over them. In a 400°F ( 200°C ) pre-heated air fryer/oven for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. Flip the fish pieces halfway through.

What other ingredients you can add?

Ajwan seeds - Authentic Indian fish recipes use ajwain for seasonings. It's also called ajwain or carom seeds and it has an earthy, pungent flavour. As this is a simple recipe I am not adding it but if you love the flavour, you can add a dash of ajwain seeds to the fish marinade. But make sure do not add more than a dash of it.

Chaat Masala - Instead of garam masala, you can use chat masala. Chaat masala has a spicy, tangy, zingy flavour with contains unique mango powder and classic Indian spices like cumin, coriander, fennel, etc.

Yoghurt - Instead of lemon juice, you can add a tablespoon of plain yogurt to the fish marinade if you like the Punjabi-style Amritsari fish pakora.

Coriander, curry leaves, and green chillies - Finely chopped, coriander, curry leaves, and green chillies can be also added to the pakora batter for extra flavour.

FAQ

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