fish tikka

This is one of our favourite starters. Fish tikka, or maachi tikka, is simple to make and can be prepared overnight and finished just before serving. It is a typical Mumbai street vendor dish.

Simply, it is just fried, marinated fish. On the effort vs result scale, it is remarkable. So little effort for such a great result.

Tikka is a dish of marinated meat, fish or vegetable, often cooked over coals or in a tandoori oven, and sometimes, as in this in this recipe, shallow fried. The dish has its origins in ancient Babylon and was introuduced to India by the Mughals. The word tikka is Persian and means “bits” or “pieces”.

You can use almost any kind of fish, but thick firm fish works best. We use salmon, cod, or whatever looks best at the fishmongers. You could even prepare prawns this way.

You could skewer the fish pieces, two or three pieces at a time, before cooking. We don’t.

Although it is described here as a starter, it can be served as a snack or as finger food for a party. If serving as finger food, you should skewer each piece with a toothpick to protect the fingers of your guests.

Just cooking the fish enough is the key to this recipe. Although we like our fish undercooked, not everyone does. However, over-cooking small pieces of fish will cause them to break apart. We wait until the fish is just showing signs of flaking, then immediately take it from the stove. The fish will continue cooking in its residual heat.

The fish tastes best straight from the stove.

If you are making it for the first time, you might use a little less chilli, as it is quite hot. Once you calibrate your personal taste buds, you can add more chilli the next time you cook it. Don’t change the amount of the other spices.

You will need to start this recipe the day before to allow for the marination.