Chilli Fish or Fish Manchurian | Indo-Chinese fusion dish

Hello and welcome to my first post for this year :-) How is everyone?  I’m doing very well and having fun with my two beautiful little ones at home. I’ve been back to working full time since last October, so that keeps me additionally busy as well. Any free moment after the kids sleep is spent with me trying to catch up on my sleep…Lol! Baby girl is a good little girl, she eats and sleeps well, but she still has her random night time wakings and wants some mommy cuddle time.

Mihi baby is 8 months old as of today  and goodness time is  flying. Appu is having more fun with her now as she is getting more responsive and playful with him and as for Mihi, she adores her big bro and is always waiting for a moment to catch his attention. She starts making noises and saying baba and tata whenever she sees Appu. I love this little world that I am in now and trying to absorb all of it!

Ever since Appu started Kindergarten, our weekday mornings are a cat and mouse chase against the clock trying to get Appu to wake-up, brush and get dressed for school and eat some quick breakfast before his bus arrives. Sometimes baby girl wakes up and wants to be part of all the morning fun. His bus comes at 7am and after the morning rush Mihi baby looks forward to some cuddle time with her dada. She is most active and does a lot of baby talk at this time and we love this little morning routine of ours.

It snowed here on Saturday…yes!  Charlotte was covered in a white blanket. It was also the Indian festival of Holi, so I joked with my friends saying we played with white color. It was Mihi baby’s first snow , so we bundled her up and took some pics outside.
Big bro Appu had lots of fun with kids in the neighborhood playing with their sledges.  The snow started quickly melting by afternoon, so it didn’t last long! But the climate is still a bit cold, so we are  eagerly looking forward to some time in the sun soon.

I haven't been doing my usual cooking and baking like before but whenever time permits I still try a dish or two now and then. Anything that is quick, easy, less prep time and tastes great are dishes that's on my agenda these days. One pot meals are usually preferred , else 'chop-dump in pressure cooker-done' type meals...Lol!
Now and then I bother taking a pic or two and sharing it on my Instagram profile or on facebook and I was blown over by the response my Fish Manchurian got me :-) 
I have to say, it woke up the blogger in me... :-P I got several 'recipe please' requests so I promised I'll blog about it coz it definitely is blog worthy and let me say really really easy to prepare. And trust me, mom-of-two talking here...

I skipped the big process of frying the fish in flour coated batter and all that. That will definitely make the dish more richer, but that's the most time taking process so I skipped it.  
Also I didn't marinate the fish either, you could do that for more flavor. But it still came out good. Having fish that's cleaned and cut into cubes ready in the freezer is a plus :-)
I took the pics in a hurry just before sunset so they just came out looking blah....but the recipe is more important, so here's how I made it.

Chilli Fish or Fish Manchurian

You’ll Need

For Fish marination:

Boneless Fish fillets – Used 3 big Tilapia filets (cut the fillet in half and then cut into bite sized pieces)

½  teaspoon  Black Pepper powder

½  teaspoon Red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder

Salt, to taste

For sauce:

1 Tablespoon Canola Oil

½ Red Onion , chopped finely

3 Green Chilies , cut diagonally

3 Garlic  cloves, chopped finely

1” length Ginger, chopped into sticks

3 Tablespoon Ketchup

2 Tablespoon Red Chili Sauce  (I used Chilli Garlic Sauce)

4 teaspoon Soy Sauce

2 teaspoon White Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch  

1 cup Water

Green Onions – 3 stalks, cut diagonally for garnishing

Directions:

Pan fry the Fish

1. Marinate the Fish with the spice powders and salt for atleast 30 minutes. (I skipped this)

2. In a non-stick frying pan, spray some oil and once hot, place the fish without crowding the pan.

3. Once one side is browned, gently flip and cook the other side and make sure the fish is fully cooked through. Cooking on a low heat avoids burning the fish and enables even cooking.

(You can always fry the fish in more oil or dip the fish in flour-batter and fry, but I wanted to use as less oil as possible so I just sprayed some oil and cooked on a very low heat until both sides of the fish were browned and cooked through)

For the sauce:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and add Onions, Green chillies , Ginger, Garlic and cook until onions are mildly browned.

2. Add Ketchup and Red Chilli sauce and sauté until it cooks down and the oil starts to separate.

3.  Next add soy sauce and vinegar and mix well.

4.  Mix the cornstarch with water and add it to the pan. Cook on medium-low heat until the sauce starts to thicken.

5.  Now add the pan fried fish pieces and gently coat the sauce all over the fish . 

6.  Garnish with Green onions and serve!

Suggestions:

You can follow the steps done for the fish using Chicken or Shrimp or use Veggie options like Tofu, Paneer, Eggplant, Baby Corn etc...if you have other suggestions do let me know too :-) 

I know some of you will surely be trying out this dish. Don't forget to let me know how it turned out. If you make any changes or use any specific ingredient that makes the dish even more yumm do let me know. So see you until next time...back to my busy world!
-Manju