Indian Kitchens

Roopa Gulati · Indian Kitchens

This fried fish doesn’t have a batter or crumb coating. Instead, nutty-tasting cumin, turmeric and warming chilli are mixed with lime juice and rubbed over white fish fillets to great effect. My friend Yael Jhirad made this simple and delicious snack for me at her home in Alibag, a balmy coastal town about an hour’s ferry ride from Mumbai, across the Arabian sea. She used rawas – a local white fish, known colloquially as Indian salmon, even though it has nothing in common with the Atlantic variety that we’re familiar with. Any firm-fleshed white fish will hold up well to this winning blend of spices, though.