Crispy Whole Coconut Masala Fish (Air Fried or Baked)
I am feeling turbulent, a little unsettled, but generally still grateful that life is not worse. I had snagged 2 large and fresh pompano, a couple of weeks ago. All intended to try my mother’s recipe for whole coconut masala fish. This is one of her signature recipes. I do not make it very often, because it is not the same without whole fresh fish. Strangely enough I had picked up just this the last fresh run I had done.
My mother makes this with cilantro, coconut, and dried whole red chilies. Something that graces our family tables for special occasions. The dry red chilies is interesting, as typically Bengali cuisine is more partial to fresh green chilies.
My whole air fryer fish story
Seeing the fish made my husband happy. It is interesting to see how things that we take for granted are now special. And, yes surviving three weeks of the quarantine is an achievement. At least for me. The children have been busy with school. My daughter has been troubled and concerned about how this year will end.
She is worried about where life will pause in terms of college visits and applications. I am as troubled about the quarantine here as I am of the lock down in India. I wish my mother was here with me. This said, for the moment I am happy that we are all still healthy.
More Quarantine Woes
I am glad that things going well in terms of feed the family. So far, I have not been doing too much by way of mail ordering groceries. I am doing one grocery run a week. Considering I am at the office 3 days a week, an extra run does not really matter. The lines, and people’s need to get obsessive with food and shopping is annoying. Although, I guess everyone wants to minimize the number of groceries runs they want to make.
As for me, this week’s highlight is that I managed to snag some mustard oil. Hey, life sometimes is about the little simple things.
Down to this nostalgic recipe. With good fish, it is simple, flavorful and easy to put together. It is something that I remembered and am happy to have the ingredients to make it.
Mom uses a toaster oven for this recipe. And I use my air fryer. A peaceful recipe, full of flavor and a happy reminder of simple good times. For best results do not over marinate the fish. About 1 to 2 hours is enough to allow the flavorful marinade to do its job.
How to Enjoy my Air Fryer Masala Fish?
This can be served as a dish with salad and a bowl of my red lentil, cauliflower and millet soup. It is great with steamed rice and a raita like this beetroot raita with mint.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot and Air Fryer Facebook group .
Pick up a copy of my Instant pot cookbook Instant Indian here, along with The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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An easy and flavorful recipe for whole fresh fish with a simple and flavorful marinade.
Ingredients
- For the marinade
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen coconut (grated or small pieces)
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 dried red chilies (more or less to taste)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoon yogurt
- 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
- 2 medium sized whole fishes (about 2 pounds each), note this can be adapted as long as you are using a fresh firm fleshed fish.
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Additional chopped cilantro
- Lemon or lime wedges
- Sliced Red Onions
Instructions
- Place the coconut, cilantro, ginger, garlic, dried red chilies, yogurt, salt, and garam masala in a blender with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Grind to a smooth paste.
- Score the fish by making deep gashes to the central bone. Rub the spice mixture well onto the fish, into cavities and the scored flesh. Set aside for 1-3 hours.
- Brush the fish well with the oil.
- Place in the air fryer basket. Cook on each side at 475 degrees for 8 minutes. So 16 minutes in total. The fish should be cooked through and the skin should be nice and crisp with some char.
- Sprinkle with extra cilantro and serve garnished with lemon or lime wedges and sliced onions