Tamilnadu style Recipe for White Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval with homemade masala. With step by step pictures.
White Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval Recipe – How to make South Indian Tamilnadu style Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval.
Fish fry is my ultimate comfort food. A simple Rasam and fish fry is the kind of food that will warm your heart. These are the simple pleasures of everyday food. My son loves seafood. So when I am frying fish at home, I just apply a little less masala for his fish and we overload ours with spice. So both son and dad are happy. My husband loves Pomfret. Its buttery and melts in your mouth. Here is how to do an awesome White Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval.
We will be making our own fish masala for the Pomfret fish fry. Get in all the ingredients ready on a plate. I like to use Byadagi Chillies as they give a bright red colour to the fish fry.
Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste in a small mixie adding half a cup of water. Make a really smooth paste. Set aside.
Wash and clean the Pomfret fish (Vavval Meen) and make gashes on both sides of the skin. Apply the masala paste on the fish making sure to push the masala inside the gashes. Take time and stuff the masala paste. Apply the masala on both sides. Let it marinate for 20 minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a non stick pan until really hot. The masalas wont separate if fried in really hot oil. When the oil is hot, gently place the Pomfret and fry for 1.5 – 2 minutes on one side. Do not disturb or move the fish. After 1.5 – 2 minutes, carefully flip the fish and cook on the other side for another 1.5 – 2 minutes. This fish will cook fast.
Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Squeeze some lemon juice on the fish and serve hot with some sliced onions.
Discard the leftover oil used for frying.
Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval Recipe
Tamilnadu style Recipe for White Pomfret Fish Fry or Vavval Meen Varuval with homemade masala. With step by step pictures.
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 500 grams White Pomfret Fish ( About 3 Pieces)
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil for shallow frying
For the Masala
- 6 Byadagi Chillies
- 1 teaspoon black pepper corn
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon fried gram (pottu kadalai)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
- 1 sprig curry leaves
For Garnish
- Juice of a lemon
- Onion Slices
Instructions
- Grind all the ingredients listed under masala to a smooth paste in a small mixie adding half a cup of water. Make a really smooth paste. Set aside.
- Wash and clean the Pomfret fish (Vavval Meen) and make gashes on both sides of the skin. Apply the masala paste on the fish making sure to push the masala inside the gashes. Let it marinate for 20 minutes.
- Heat vegetable oil in a non stick pan until really hot. When the oil is hot, gently place the Pomfret and fry for 1.5 – 2 minutes on one side. After 1.5 – 2 minutes, carefully flip the fish and cook on the other side for another 1.5 – 2 minutes.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Squeeze some lemon juice on the fish and serve hot with some sliced onions.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
This is an interesting take on white pomfret for us. As we seldom cook Indian dishes, would you be able to recommend a vege dish that will pair well with this.
Its a great kid friendly receipe
Thank you!
Tastes delicious and very easy to make.
Thank you!
Hi Suguna,
I love your recipes- Ive been in Australia for 50 years but the flavours of South India stay with me-
For the benefit of other aussies that dont know what pottu kadalai is , it is known as arrugila but untoasted/ broiled like they have it in India-
It can usually be bought in Asian grocery stores –
Keep up the great recipes-
Thank you so much. Glad you like the recipes.
Hey recipe just more that awesome thank you so much for sharing.
Very NYC loved it I need prawns recipe please
You can search our index. There are a lot of prawn dishes out there!
Hello Kannamma,
I’d like to try this recipe with plaice filets. I don’t have pottu kadalai at home. Is it essential? Is there a substitute that you can recommend or will this alter the taste too much?
Thanks so much!
You can add a teaspoon of corn flour or besan. not much.
Mastaaaa fish ????
Loks yum. Gonna try it, can i use this masala for fillet?
You have to post tandoori chkn receipe soon(oven based)
Thank you.
Will definitely post the recipes soon Priya. I dont have an oven yet here in Hong Kong.
Looks yum.. Gonna try it. Can i use tis masala in fillets too?
Mam u hav to post a receipe for tandoori chicken (oven based) soon. Waiting for it.
Thank u:)
Thanks Priya. Yes. you can use this masala for filets.
There is another recipe that goes so well on filets. Please check that too.
http://www.kannammacooks.com/spicy-fish-fry-fish-fry-with-masala/
Amazing recipe. Thanks a tonne. However, I used besan instead of fried channa daal and also added some carom seeds (ajjwain) to enhance the flavor.
Thank you so much!
Hello Ma’am,
What about the cut pieces, same method or different one!!
Same method! but no need for the gashes.
Hi Suguna,
Tried this pomfret fish fry and came out well.
Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you Anitha!
Thanks for your nice recipe. Pomfret is my favourite fish. Definitely, I’ll try this recipe.
Thank you!
Hi Kanamma
Am also from Coimbatore and live in USA now. Where we can get these chilles? Is normal dried chilles ( Vara Milagai) works good for this
-mallika
Yes Mallika. Vara milagai will work too. You can find it in amazon or in a big indian grocery store. I have bought it before in amazon. Just check for byadagi chillies!
Hi kannama,
I have tried your king fish fry and it became a staple Sunday lunch for the past 5-6 weeks. Today I could not find king fish in the store and I got pomfret. It was huge that I asked him to cut into steaks. Now wondering I should use your pomfret fry recipe or king fish fry recipe.
What do you recommend in this case as you have fried pomfret as whole.m
For today I’ll go with King fish recipe. But would like to hear from you.
Thanks
You can use this masala for steaks too! It comes out well.
I am a big fan of your recipes.I really enjoyed this one with rasam.
So nice Raji!