FINGER FISH/FISH STICKS

Finger fish or fish fingers are the Indian take on fish sticks and these are much spicier than fish sticks. I learnt this recipe from my co-sister. This is a favorite at my in-law’s place. When the whole family get-together, there will be finger fish in the menu for lunch that day. We (my MIL, co-sister, and I) usually prepare an elaborate lunch mostly consisting of many varieties of seafood or non-vegetarian dishes and also some vegetarian dishes for my hubby. It is fun when we talk all sorts of stories, sharing laughter, and cook together. In US, I prepare them rarely since I cook only for me and mostly I go for something quick and easy when preparing nonveg. Recently an Giada De Laurentis (I just love the way she talks and cooks…everything about her is very bright!) show got my attention where she prepared baked fish sticks with salmon. I think she even added some parmesan cheese. I wanted to try that for quite sometime, so I came up with my own fish sticks version here. Here I used salmon instead of the regular king fish used in India. I have followed my co-sister’s recipe here except that I have also substituted half of the bread crumbs with oats flour and threw in some dried herbs and seasonings into the bread crumbs. Again crazy-me went ahead and baked half of the fish sticks and shallow-fried the remaining half. Both the versions were good, though the baked fish took a little bit longer to crisp and they were not as brown as the fried one though the taste of both versions were similar. The fish sticks included in this post are the baked ones.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Fish fingers, around 10. I cut from 3 medium-size salmon fillets.

2. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.

3. Turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon.

4. Corn flour, ¼ cup.

5. Ground oats, ½ cup.

6. Bread crumbs, ½ cup.

7. Any type of seasoning mixture like Italian and any fish seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon.

8. Any mixture of dried herbs, 1 teaspoon.

9. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.

10. Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:

Clean the fish and cut into even thin fingers. Add the chili powder, turmeric powder, and salt and let them marinade for around half an hour. Mix the seasonings, dried herbs, salt, bread crumbs, and oats flour in a plate. Take the corn flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and some water, and mix it into a smooth paste. To fry the fish, heat a shallow pan with around ½ cup of oil. Take the fish fingers and dip them into the corn flour batter. Then coat them with the bread crumbs mixtures and shallow fry the fish until they turn golden brown on each side. Cooking around 4-5 fish fingers at a time is ideal. To cook the fish in the oven, arrange the fish fingers on a greased baking sheet leaving sufficient space in between and bake them at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot finger fish with your favorite sauce.

Variation: For a much spicier version, a teaspoon of chili powder can be added in the corn flour batter.