Amritsari Fish
Crisp battered fish spiced with fennel and chilli.
Ingredients
- 600 g White fish fillet
- 120 g Besan (chickpea flour)
- 1 Ginger
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds
- 1 Lemon
- 400 ml Neutral oil
- 1 tsp Salt
Method
- Cut the fish into finger-sized pieces; grate the ginger and garlic.
- Whisk the besan with the ginger-garlic, chili powder, fennel seeds, lemon, salt, and a little water into a thick, smooth batter, then fold the fish through to coat.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan until shimmering and fry the battered fish in batches until golden and crisp.
- Lift the fish out and drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot with lemon and chutney.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Amritsari Fish
Amritsari fish is the signature fried-fish snack of Amritsar in Punjab, sold from griddle-side stalls across the old city and famous well beyond it. What sets it apart from ordinary battered fish is the coating: a chickpea-flour batter rather than wheat, cut with grated ginger and garlic, red chilli, and the anise-sweet lift of fennel seeds. Because besan crisps hard and holds its spice, the fish emerges with a shattering golden crust rather than a soft pub-style shell.
Bite in and you get crunch first, then flaky white fish, then a slow warmth from the chilli tempered by the cooling perfume of fennel and a squeeze of lemon. It is emphatically finger food, meant to be eaten hot off the paper with a mint or tamarind chutney and raw onion rings on the side. This version keeps to the traditional shape, cutting the fillet into finger-sized pieces so every piece has a high crust-to-fish ratio, and it comes together in about half an hour, making it as good for a quick starter as for a party platter.
Amritsari Fish: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Amritsari Fish?
A serving has about 369 calories — 32.6g protein, 20.9g carbs, 17g fat, 4.4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 32.6g of protein, roughly 35% of its calories.
Is Amritsari Fish gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Amritsari Fish has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Amritsari Fish take to make?
About 30 minutes start to finish, but only around 23 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Amritsari Fish make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.