This Muslim Girl Bakes: Spicy Battered Fried Fish.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

How are you guys on this Monday afternoon?

I hope you had a good weekend.
Mine was pretty chilled. We had a visit from this little muffin and ate way too much of this cookie with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream. I rubbed orange zest into the sugar when baking the cookie, and made a giant chocolate chip orange cookie. It was so good!

This morning, we hosted an early morning breakfast for visitors from Trinidad. They were such sweet, lovely ladies. We put on quite the spread including plenty of spicy onion and fresh coriander omelettes, boiled eggs, toast, apple cinnamon yoghurt, fresh fruit, dried fruit, juices and cardamom tea. A fitting welcome to the UK, I think.

For some of them it was their first time in the UK, and I really hope that they are able to try fish and chips at least once during their stay. I mean, it's practically the national dish. As is curry these days too, it seems.

Which is why today, I'm sharing this recipe for spicy battered fried fish. It's your average chip-shop fish but spiced up because we couldn't resist. It's really easy to make and paired with some homemade chips, ketchup, mushy peas and lemon wedges, I think it'll do just fine for your next fish and chips night.

Fried Fish, previously: spicy fish nuggets // battered fish burgers // spicy fish pakoras // my mum's battered fish curry

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. White Fish Fillets

2. Self-Raising Flour
3. Rice Flour
4. Salt
5. Ground Cumin
6. Red Chilli Powder
7. Paprika
8. Ground Coriander
9. Ground Turmeric
10. Iced Water

Bismillah, let's begin!

We start by preparing the fish. I used 4 large skinless and boneless Haddock Fillets. You can use any other white fish you like.

I let the fish defrost completely before patting it dry really well with paper towels.

You'll want the fish to be as dry as you can get it before dipping into the batter. The drier the fish is, the crispier it will fry up.

I leave my fish on paper towels to dry, changing them every now and then, whilst I make the batter. Into a bowl, place 150g Self-Raising Flour.

To that add 50g Rice Flour. Rice flour is a naturally gluten-free, very fine flour made of rice. It will help keep our batter very crisp. If you cannot get hold of it, try cornflour instead.

Next, the seasonings. I added in 1 teaspoon Salt.

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Coriander

And, 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric.

We went with a spicier batter for our fish but if you want a more traditional approach, just add salt and pepper.

Whisk up the dry ingredients.

Then, take some Iced Water. I did this by simply filling a jug with cold water from the tap and adding ice cubes. I kept it in the fridge until needed. You may also use sparkling water too which is pretty good in batters like this.

Pour the water in, a little at a time.

We won't be using all of it. I used around 200ml but you may need more or less.

Whisk the batter until it's smooth and thick. If it's too thick, add more iced water. Too thin? Add more flour.

Our fish is dry and our batter is ready so it's time to heat up enough Vegetable Oil in a large, deep pan to deep-fry.

Once the oil is hot, we can drop in our fish.

Dip each piece into the batter and allow the excess to drop off.

Then, carefully add each piece of fish into the hot oil. You'll want to add them in slowly so that the batter has a chance to properly stick to each piece.

Our pan is on the bigger side so we were able to fry all the fish at once. If yours is smaller, fry them in batches to avoid overcrowding and steaming the fish instead of frying it.

Once the fish is in, don't touch it for a few minutes. This will help the batter stick to the fish and not fall off.

Fry for a few minutes over a medium heat before carefully turning each piece over.

Once the fish is golden brown, it's done.

Drain each piece well.

Then, place onto paper towels for a few minutes.

To serve with fish, I made homemade french fries. This was done by washing and drying a few potatoes. I sliced them into fries and placed onto a baking tray. They were tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange them in a single layer and bake at 220C for 20 minutes. Then, carefully turn them and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve the fish straight away with the chips, ketchup, mushy peas and lemon wedges to squeeze.

I love this homemade fried fish for whenever I'm in the mood for fish and chips. It hits the spot every time!

Spicy Battered Fried Fish.

Prep Time: About 15 minutes.

Cook Time: About 10 minutes.

Serves: About 3 people.

Ingredients

4 large skinless and boneless Haddock Fillets or other white fish

125g Self-Raising Flour

50g Rice Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Ground Coriander

1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric

200ml Iced Water, as needed

To Serve

Chips

Mushy Peas

Ketchup

Lemon Wedges

Prepare the fish:
Pat the fish dry with paper towels until it's as dry as you can get it. Set aside until needed.

Whisk up the batter:
Place everything except the iced water into a bowl and whisk. Add in the water, a little at a time, until you have a smooth batter. It shouldn't be too thick but not too thin. We want it to stick well to the fish.

Fry the fish:
Heat vegetable oil to deep-fry in a large pan or deep-fryer. Once the oil is hot, dip the pieces of fish into the batter and place into the pan. Fry the fish until golden brown and cooked through - around 5 minutes or so on a medium heat. Don't touch the fish too much at the beginning because this will help the batter stick to the fish and not fall off. Once done, drain well on paper towels.

To serve:
Serve the fish straight away with chips, ketchup, mushy peas and lemon wedges.

{adapted from afelia}

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