Kingfish Fry | Kingfish Rava Fry (Goan-style) | How to fry fish?

Kingfish fry (Goan-style) with step-by-step instructions and photos.

KINGFISH…The name itself is self-explanatory! It is the king of all fish. And rightly so as its taste is incomparable to any other fish. Known as ‘Visvan‘ in Konkani, kingfish is one of the most tastiest and appetizing fish in the seafood category. The bigger the kingfish the tastier it is.

In Goan fish markets you will usually find ladies selling fish as a ‘vato‘. Vato means ‘share’ in Konkani. A vato has a pre-designated number of fish or fish slices (in the case of kingfish) which he/she decides as per the price of fish on that given day. If she is generous she may give you one or more pieces as complimentary. Another common practice is people form groups of 2-3 or more, buy a really big kingfish and share it equally among each other.

Kingfish is served in most Goan restaurants. It is served along with the fish thali. You can eat it as a starter too.

Many restaurants deep-fry the fish they serve as it is easy and the fish cooks very fast. However, fish is authentically shallow fried to get the best taste. Frying fish may look a cumbersome task but it is rather very easy. If you have your fish cleaned already, it is an easy process.

Kingfish fry is frying kingfish by coating it with salt, turmeric and chilli powder, applying rava or semolina and then shallow frying in oil.

Tips to fry kingfish

1. Always buy fresh kingfish for best results.
2. Salt should be appropriately added. Too less – it will taste fleshy and fishy. Too much – it will ruin the taste.
3. Preferably use the Goan sea salt. It is available in the local markets of Goa and it imparts a better taste to the fish than iodised salt.
4. Kingfish pieces should be neither too thin nor too thick.
5. Do not fry in non-stick pan or tava. Use a iron tava for frying.

Steps for Kingfish fry

1. Clean the kingfish with fresh water once.

2. In a plate, take the salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and mix well. Crush the salt in a mortar and pestle if the crystals are very big. Mix everything well.

• 

• 

3. Apply this dry powder to the fish slices and keep aside. The salt will start oozing water after sometime. You can also add a little water, make a paste and apply too. (To know how to store kingfish see the section ‘How to store Kingfish?’)

• 

• 

• 

4. As you can see in the pic below the masala applied to the fish has turned moist.

5. Heat a iron tava. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil in a circular fashion. Coat the kingfish with rava well. Coat the edges too. Place the kingfish on the heated tava. Pour oil along the edges of all the pieces. On a low-medium flame fry one side for about 8-10 minutes.

• 

• 

6. Flip the pieces to fry the other side. Pour oil again along the edges and fry for about 10 mins. Remove from the tava once done. Do not leave the fried fish on the tava as it will turn hard.

• 

• 

• 

7. Serve hot with fish curry-rice. You can also serve it as a starter.

Also learn how to store fish in the refrigerator to last for a week in my post below.

How to store fish in fridge?