If you think healthy food only means salads & soups, then this grilled fish tikka will completely change your perspective! This smoky & spicy fish tikka will leave a sensational flavor on your taste buds while giving you a healthy boost of protein and omega 3 fatty acids!
If you are planning to entertain your friends for an in-house get-together but wondering what to serve as a healthy appetizer, then this grilled fish tikka is your answer!
If you love fish as much as we do and you know few of your friends are fish lovers too, then this recipe of smoky grilled fish tikka will be an instant hit!
But beware that these grilled fish tikka are so easy to prepare, that you will not need a special occasion to make and savor them!
There is no restriction on the type of fish to be used for this fish tikka. You can use whatever you like, just ensure to use a boneless and skinless fillet.
I used fresh basa fish fillet for my fish tikka recipe and it turned out fantastic! Other options are cod, haddock, tilapia or even salmon.
In fact this fish tikka recipe is so forgiving that it can also be used to make chicken tikkas just by replacing fish cubes with chicken cubes.
If you follow me for a long time now, you already know my fondness towards grilled food. I had also touched upon it in my previous recipe of grilled chicken breast and the same theory applies for these fish tikka too!
Grilling seems to be quite a hassle-free cooking and the smoky flavors really tempt my taste buds. Plus, you only need a couple of tablespoons of oil for a serving of 4 which is almost negligible when you think of individual consumption! Total win-win right!
The most important ingredient for fish tikka or any other tikka for that matter is, without an iota of doubt, hung curd!
Please, please, please, do not use the watery curd for making your tikka marinade; it will ruin the entire dish and you will get disappointed with my recipe!
Take some extra time and make hung curd at home before you decide to make this fish tikka. It just takes 5 minutes of your time to tie up the curd in a muslin cloth or cheesecloth and squeeze out all the water.
Then hang it above your sink to let any excess water drip off for couple of hours! Voila! You have your magic ingredient ready!
Consistent healthy eating just needs a tad bit of pre-planning and if you can get a hang on meal-prep, you will win the game for good!
If you have all the ingredients at your disposal at any given time, all cut & prepped, you will never give in to junk food and always treat your body & soul with something healthy and tasty!
I have been trying this for 6 months now and I can safely say that meal-prepping has changed my game of healthy eating altogether!
Yes, I do have an additional target to achieve which keeps me motivated; but at the same time, I realized that eating healthy is not a one-time fix which can be done only for few months and then let go.
It is a life time affair to maintain the level of fitness and health that you desire for yourself. So I suggest you invest some time to put together your meal-prepping plan based on your regular meals and you will feel extremely relieved!
Only point to take care of is to be realistic and stick to your own food preference and not blindly copy something available on internet.
I decided to make this fish tikka all of a sudden on last weekend and just because I had my hung curd handy (which I prepare every Saturday), it took only 10 minutes to do all the preparation needed to make these delicious tikkas.
And fish cooks very fast; so after marinating the fish cubes for about couple of hours, it just took me another 10 to 15 minutes to cook this fish tikka on a griddle or grill pan.
An interesting serving idea using this fish tikka would be making a wheat wrap for an on-the-go meal.
Load it up with fresh lettuce leaves, onions, julienned carrots drizzled with a spicy yogurt dip and you have a hearty & fulfilling meal for your hectic workday that will keep you full for long.
I really like wraps for my weekday meals as it’s a no-fuss lunch and gives me a fancy food feeling! Try this fish tikka on its own or as wrap filling and let me know how you liked it! Enjoy!
- Fish fillet – 500 gms, boneless and skinless
- Hung curd / Greek yogurt – ½ cup
- Garlic paste / grated garlic – 2 tsp
- Ginger paste / grated ginger – 1 tsp
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Eastern kabab masala – 3 tbsp (see notes)
- Oil of your choice – 2 tbsp (preferably mustard oil)
- Lemon and chat masala to serve
- First step is to prepare your fish fillet. If you are using frozen fillets, make sure these are completely thawed. Then pat dry the fillets using kitchen towels to make them as dry as possible.
- Now cut the fillets into big pieces as you see in the pictures. You can chose to make small pieces too and then they will cook faster. Set the pieces aside while you make the marinating mixture.
- Take a bowl and add all the other ingredients – hung curd, ginger & garlic paste, salt, pepper and kabab masala – to a bowl except the oil. Now whisk the mixture vigorously using a fork or wire whisk to ensure all spices and aromatics are evenly mixed. Set it aside.
- Now brush the oil on both sides of the fish cubes. This will ensure two things – firstly, the fishes will not get dry while grilling and secondly, the marinating mixture will stick to the fish pieces without falling off.
- Now coat each fish pieces with the curd mixture making sure the fish cubes are evenly coated with the spicy marinate. Leave the fish pieces to marinate for at least 2 hours.
- While you are ready to grill, preheat a grill pan or griddle/tawa and let it become nicely hot. Then reduce the heat and brush the griddle with oil and let it smoke.
- Now carefully place the marinated fish tikka on the hot griddle; do not try to move the fish tikka immediately. Also grill 2 to 3 pieces at a time without overcrowding your grill pan.
- Let the fish grill on medium-low heat for 8 minutes. After about 7 to 8 minutes, the fish tikka should be ready to be flipped without sticking to the pan.
- Carefully flip them over and let the other side grill for another 6 to 7 minutes. Boneless fish fillets cook very quickly; so make sure you do not leave the pan unattended, else you will end up overcooking your fish tikka.
- Once all the tikka are completely cooked, take them out on a serving platter. Sprinkle chat masala on top and drizzle some lemon juice. Serve hot! Enjoy!
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