Fish has got to be one of my very favorite white meats! Not only is it so tasty to have, but it can be prepared in so many different ways so that makes it almost impossible for you to get bored with it. I had fish fillet in my freezer for some weeks and when my fish craving kicked in, I was so glad I had some at home. I immediately decided to make some fish masala, but to my dismay, I had run out of the premade fish masala mix usually available in supermarkets. Being the adventurous foodie that I am, I made my own fish masala spice blend and it was so bomb! I am excited to share the same with you and I hope you give this a try.
PREP TIME: 5 MIN (excluding marination time) COOK TIME: 8MIN SERVES:1
Ingredients
1 palm sized tilapia fillet
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
½ a teaspoon of black pepper
½ a teaspoon of coriander powder
2 Cloves, crushed
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
½ a teaspoon of mustard powder
5 cloves of garlic
½ a lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Salt to taste
Method
Give your fish a rinse and place it in a container. Add your minced garlic, soy sauce and salt and allow this to marinate overnight. An hour before cooking, add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Allow the flavor to infuse. As that is going, work on your masala spice blend. The lemon is added towards the end because it has a tendancy to digest the protein if left on the fish too long. Always add it an hour or two just before the actual cooking.
In a bowl, add your black pepper, cayenne, mustard powder, turmeric and crushed cloves and mix them all together. You can find all these spices in your local supermarkets. ALL OF THEM. I have noticed, especially among Kenyans, some fear of trying out a new spice. I find that pretty bizarre. Let me tell you, you will keep having bland food if you keep fearing going to the supermarket to buy spices. It is not scary or complicated to buy spices that make your food taste good. Stop that silly fear! Stop it!! Just because you have heard about a spice for the first time doesn’t mean it is beyond your reach. Also, I cannot give you a recipe with exotic ingredients. Here is my advice: Have an open mind. Open yourself up to new things. Take your time while walking through spice isles in supermarkets, stop and observe. ALL the spices you could ever want are always there. I can bet my life on that.
Add some vegetable oil to the fish masala spice blend and mix it all up until you get a thick spice mixture with the consistency of honey. This will take about two tablespoons of oil. Slather this all over your fish fillet and proceed to shallow fry it.
It will take 5-8 minutes to cook through. Once it is done and has a lovely char on the outside, drizzle some more lemon juice all over your fish masala. Fish and lemon are a match made in heaven, you can never go wrong with that combo!
Plate and serve. How easy way that?! And whether you decide to have your fish masala with ugali and kunde or with roast potatoes and kachumbari, you will enjoy it either way!
Spicy, tender with the fresh zing of fresh lemon juice are the flavors I enjoyed while eating my fish masala. You can vary the quantities of the masala blend to suit your own taste, even add your own spices, but for me, this worked.
TGIF!!!
-K
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
I love your blog. I have tried so many of your recipes and they are always DSLICIOUS! Keep up the good work ans God bless
Thank you soo much!I will definately keep them coming and all the fab things I have in store for you guys :)))
Kamummie… woi, haki please be slow on us on the spies dialogue. We are slowly but surely opening our minds.
Opening your mind slowly is highly commendable and very much encouraged. You are on the right track! What I totally discourage is refusal to opening of the mind to new things.I am clearly very passionate about that hence my tone :D.
I tried it out and it was awesome!!!! am a big fun of spices and trust me am not cooking my fillet in any other way….. Thanks gal…..
I need to give this a try once again really soon too :)). It is near impossible to have grest foor without alittle spice, I am so glad we both agree on that :)) Cheers to great food!
Tried and tested…and loved it ????????????????????????
*jumps in air and waves pompoms* So glad you enjoyed this! :))
I don’t know where I’ve been. Just got to know about this when I saw her on Instagram…I’ve had fillet sitting pretty in my freezer since Sunday…ain’t you God sent?!? Trying this I’ll for sure keep you posted on the outcome
Better late than never :)) Welcome to the #KK family. I am also so thrilled that you enjoyed one of my very favorite fish recipes :))
l love love love your recipes