The beautiful thing about finishing work early for the Christmas break is that I find myself having extra time in the kitchen.

I’ve always wanted to try a ‘spicier’ version of the traditional whitebait you have here in the UK. This dish didn’t disappoint. The recipe was taken from Madhur jaffrey’s ‘Curry Easy’ cookbook. I also added in my recently made chilli jam for another little bit of a kick.

I’m going to blow my own trumpet now but my chilli jam is superb, better than anything shop bought!!

Ingredients-

250g or a tray of shop bought whitebait ( mine was from Morrisons as I find they have the best selection of fish), 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of ground black pepper, 1 tsp of cayenne pepper, juice of a lemon, rapeseed oil for frying and 140g of plain flour.

Method-

Wash the whitebait well then drain properly.

Pat the whitebait dry to remove as much of the water as possible.

Add the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice in with the whitebait and mix well. Once you’re happy everything is coated then set aside for 15 minutes.

Finished mix……

Add 2 inches of rapeseed oil into a karahi pan or wok and heat until it’s bubbling away.

Add the flour to a plate. Added the waitbait in small batches and coat then shake off the excess flour.

All of the whitebait coated and dusted down.

Once the oil is hot shallow fry in small batches. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan otherwise you lower the oil’s temperature. Fry them quickly for a minute then remove with a slotted spoon to a plate with kitchen paper.

Finished 1 minute fry.

Start the process again. Fry in small batches for 3/4 minutes to crisp up the batter.

Once the fry is complete you will have a nice browned batter / coating with cayenne pepper running through it.

A few weeks ago I made a large batch of chilli jam which I served up with the spiced whitebait.

Finished the dish with a sprinkle of chopped coriander, wedge of lemon and my chilli jam….outstanding ❤️

Thank you for reading my ramblings.