Curry Leaves Fish Fry

We are fish lovers - and with the variety of fish that we get here, the love has increased three folds. I generally buy the frozen fish fillets and hence there are no bones to deal with and no messy hands either - now...... who would not like that?
We do get fresh pomfrets and king fish too at the local Asian Store - we do get fish and shrimps from there too. But, I prefer the pre-cut and vacuum packed frozen fillets as its easy for lil miss "A" to eat on her own and I have no worry about pins and bones.

Back home - the only way mom used to fry fish was using the red masala or the green masala - and these fish pieces would be coated with semolina (rawa) and shallow fried - something we savored with dal and rice. However, over the years I have tried to make something different with the fish, just to keep our taste-buds alive and to make mealtimes fun. There are so many varieties to prepare everything around the World. And especially in India - food differs from state to state.............. it differs from town to town actually. So, thats what we try at our home - preparations from different different places. This is one of those different preparations.

Ingredients

4 fillets of Swai (Sea Bass or Tilapia work too)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
4 stalks curry leaves (use only the leaves)
3 to 4 dried red kashmiri chili (use more or less as per your choice)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice OR vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt (add more or less as per  taste)
coconut oil for shallow frying (you can use canola, groundnut, sunflower or olive oil too)
1/4 cup fine rawa semolina
1/4 cup rice flour

Method

Dry road the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, kashmiri chillis and curry leaves till a nice aroma fills the place - be careful not to burn the stuff. Let it cool and then grind it to a fine powder. Mix this powder along with the turmeric powder, the ginger garlic paste and the lemon juice or vinegar and salt and mix well. Add a couple of teaspoons of water to get a thick paste. Spread it on the fish fillets and let this sit for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Make a mixture of rawa (semolina) and rice flour. Carefully coat the fish pieces in the rawa and rice flour mixture and shallow fry on a tawa till you get a nice crust. Garnish with cilantro/coriander and serve with rice and dal or just as an appetizer.
Alternatively, you can bake it in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.