Lahori Tawa Tali Machchli

Ingredients

700 gm hammour fish (fish fillet, without fat)

Salt to taste

3 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped

1 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup cornflour

3 eggs

Juice of 4-5 lemons

1 tsp red food colouring

2 tsp black cumin seeds (shahi jeera)

2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 Tbsp garam masala powder

2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

1 tsp cinnamon powder

2 cups desi ghee (for frying)

For the sauce:

100 gm dried dates (chhuare in hindi)

1 Tbsp chaat masala

1 Tbsp tamarind paste

2 tsp chicken stock cubes

250 gm yogurt

Method

For the fish:

Cut fish fillet into 100 gm pieces, lengthwise.

Put salt, ginger-garlic paste on pieces. Leave aside for 10 minutes, then wash and strain excess water.

Put chopped ginger and garlic on fish pieces after washing.

Mix rice flour and cornflour. Then mix in the eggs. Also add lemon juice, red food colouring and mix well.

Add all the spices. Beat together into a smooth paste.

Dab this paste onto fish pieces and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Remove from fridge and shallow fry on tawa in desi ghee.

For the sauce:

Remove seeds from dried dates (chhuare)

Boil in double quantity water – 2 cups of water for 5-10 minutes to soften dates.

When water reduces to half (1 cup), remove from heat and add all the other ingredients.

Grind to a fine paste.

Add a pinch of salt to the paste and mix. The sauce is ready. Serve with fish.