Crisp Pan fried Halibut

It really is a challenge, on busy weeks to keep things in balance, the house, the two little one and put a good nutritious dinner on the table at the same time. Fish usually comes to my rescue on such days.
Fish cooked simply with some basic flavors usually can be done quickly and tastes just so wonderfully good. I made these halibut fillets coated with a crisp crust and served it with an interesting salad. I will write about the salad shortly.

The herb of the week is tested and true cilantro, aka coriander leaves aka chinese parsely. My kitchen home and cooking are just incomplete without this herb. Now for the fish... oh I forgot to mention the other device that I am lost without is a food processor, it truely is a very useful device for Indian cooking and beyond.

Crispy Pan-Fried Halibut.


Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 lb halibut steaks, cut into wedges
1 juicy lime or lemon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chaat masala
2 shallots or a small onion
1 small piece ginger
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 tbsp oil

For the coating

1/3 cup coarse cornmeal
1/3 cup peanuts
2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 tbsp flour

Method of Preparation

1. Squeeze the lime juice on the fish and rub with turmeric and chaat masala.
2. In a food processor finely all the remaining ingredients except the curry powder, oil and cilantro.
3. Add the paste to the fish, rub the curry powder and sprinkle with cilantro and set aside for half an hour, longer if possible.
4. In the meantime, powder the peanuts, and mix with the cornmeal and half the salt.
5. Make a batter with the milk, flour and remaining salt.
6. Dip the fish into this batter (try to keep the marinade on if possible), and coat with the cover mixture.
7. When all the fish is coated.
8. Heat the oil on a heavy non-stick skillet and place the coated fish on this.
9. On low heat cook each side for about 10 minutes till well browned and the fish is cooked. Cover and cook for five minutes if needed.

This post is for WHB, the event that encourages me to bring new herbs to my home or sometimes just do new things with old ones. This week the event is being hosted by A fridge full of food.