This easy Tilapia Fish fry is so simple with minimal ingredients but so flavorful. The addition of shallots gives a nice taste to this. This fish fry pairs best with rice or as a side with salads.
Tilapia Fish fry
As you know I love fish, this time I tried Tilapia fish fry. It is a great choice for a fish fry. When marinated well, the flavors get into the fish. I also made slits on the fish fillets. You can also try this recipe with Mackerel or Sardines.
| If you love fish, please also check Salmon Fish fry, Kerala Mathi curry, and Kerala fish curry. |
How to make Kerala Fish fry
Ingredients used
Curry leaves, salt and oil not in the picture.
A short video
Method
Clean and make slits on the fish fillets. Crush the shallots in a mortar pestle or just pulse it in a blender. Then mix all ingredients except fish and oil on a plate. Marinate this spice mix on the fish fillets. Let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed wide pan. Once the oil is hot, turn the flame to medium, add curry leaves and place the marinated fish fillets. Do not overcrowd. When one side is cooked, flip it carefully to the other side and cook till the fish is cooked or golden color. Serve with rice or as a side for salad.
Other side dishes
Easy Tilapia fish fry recipe
Ingredients
Fish – 4 fish fillets ( I used tilapia)
Shallots – 4 or 5
Ginger garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 3 tsp
Salt – as required
Curry leaves – a fist-full (2 to 3 sprigs)
Lemon juice – Juice extracted from half lemon
Oil – as required for shallow fry
Method
- Smash shallots in mortar and pestle or pulse it in a mixer.
- Cut half of the curry leaves finely.
- Add shallots, ginger garlic paste, spice powders, curry leaves, lemon juice, and salt.
- Make a paste.
- Marinate fish and keep aside for 30 mins to 1 hour.
- Heat oil in the pan.
- Put the remaining curry leaves in it.
- Then cook fish in medium flame till it gets cooked.
Notes
- You can use any fish.
- This tastes even good when cooked in coconut oil.
- Adding curry leaves in oil prevents fish from sticking in the pan. Also, your house won’t smell fish. ( I got this tip from my aunt).
- Spice level mentioned here is low. You can adjust as per your taste.
Easy Tilapia Fish Fry
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 4 Fish fillets I used tilapia
- 5 Shallots
- 1 1/2 Tsp Ginger garlic paste
- 2 Tsp Red chili powder
- 1 Tsp Turmeric powder
- 3 Tsp Coriander powder
- Salt as required
- Curry leaves a fist full
- Oil as required for shallow fry
Instructions
- Smash shallots in mortar and pestle or pulse it in a mixer.
- Cut half of the curry leaves finely.
- Add shallots, ginger garlic paste, spice powders, curry leaves, and salt.
- Make a paste.
- Marinate fish and keep aside for 30 mins to 1 hour.
- Heat oil in the pan.
- Put the remaining curry leaves in it.
- Then cook fish in medium flame till it gets cooked.
Video
Notes
- You can use any fish.
- This tastes even good when cooked in coconut oil.
- Adding curry leaves in oil prevents fish from sticking in the pan. Also, your house won’t smell fish. ( I got this tip from my aunt).
- Spice level mentioned here is low. You can adjust as per your taste.
Nutrition
The post was originally published on July 20, 2016. Now updated with content, pictures, and video.
Seasoned these tilapia fillets with a quick spice blend and fried them until the edges got perfectly crisp. It takes just a few minutes in the hot pan to get that golden crust. Everyone loved it.
Thank you so much for trying this recipe. I’m glad you loved it.
I had some tilapa I wanted to use and this recipe was so good! So easy, simple, and flavorful. My favorite for weeknight dinner recipes!
Thank you
This Tilapia Fish Fry is crisp, savory, and full of flavor without needing a long ingredient list. The shallots give it a lovely depth and make it perfect for an easy meal with rice or salad.
Thank you
This Tilapia Fish Fry is simple, flavorful, and perfect with rice or a fresh salad. The shallots add a delicious savory bite that makes the whole dish extra tasty.
Thank you
The rub for the fish is so incredible. I want to put it on everything!
Thank you so much. Oh yes, you can.
I tried this recipe and I am sad to report it was not flavorful at all. A “handful” of curry leaves is very subjective so a cup measurement would have been helpful. The marinade was bitter so we just tried it on a few pieces of fish. Also, the marinade stuck to the pan. Not sure what went wrong.
First, thank you so much for trying my recipe. I’m so sorry that it didn’t work for you. As far as I understood, it’s because of the little misunderstanding or misinterpretation due to the cultural difference. When we say handful of curry leaves, we natives know that it is a sprig of curry leaf which you might have found difficult to understand. I agree that is my mistake, I should have mentioned.
The reason of marinade became bitter might be the increased quantity of lemon juice or lemon seeds might have got crushed.
The marinade getting stuck to the pan happens when the pan and the oil is not hot enough or when the pan is not heavy bottomed. I make this recipe every time when I buy fish and works perfect. But before I wrote this recipe, the problems you mentioned happened to me too, that’s why I specified to use heavy bottomed pan, and to add a sprig of curry leaves before adding the fish.
Hope I have cleared your doubts. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy to help.
This tilapia recipe tastes delicious! Tilapia can be a hit or miss for me, but this recipe really gives it great flavor. Saving this to my favorites!
Thank you
So delicious! And easy enough for a weeknight too!
Thank you