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Cuisine

The Inimitable Amritsari Fish

 

 

The Amritsari fish, a delicacy of the city of Amritsar in Punjab, is a popular dish not only in Punjab but the entire country. The people of Amritsar are known for their good taste in food and also make good hosts.

Among the various delicacies served in the historic walled city, the "Amritsari fish" remains the hot favorite among the Punjabis and the tourists. The mouth-watering variety of the delicacies are the fresh water river fish, Sole and Singhara.

The fish varieties found in Punjab are well-known and are exclusively available only in Punjab. The craze for the delicacy is so intense that Sikhs and Punjabis from all parts of the diaspora travel half the world to Punjab to enjoy it.

Whether their native place in Punjab is Doaba, Ludhiana, Jalandhar or Phagwara, they still make their visits to the city of Amritsar.

Apart from being a culinary delicacy, the Amritsari fish also has various healthy properties. It is also known to prevent heart-attack, though its taste and method of preparation remains its main specialty. The fish is best when it is prepared in the city itself, bought from the busy city fish market. Local citizens take the extra effort to make it to the busy marketplace to order their favorite fish.

The best fish for the dish are the varieties caught from the Harike Pattan and Beas Rivers.

The dish can be best enjoyed at the various eating joints, the most popular being the "Makhan Dhaba", which is a decades-old outlet selling the delicious "Amritsari Fish".

When quizzed about the secret of the success of the dish, Makhan Singh, the owner of the dhaba said, "We purchase fresh fish from the market. Our preference has always been to buy good quality fish. We then deep-freeze the fish for almost a day to use it the next day. It's an art which we learnt from our elders."

The preparation involves frying the fish in gram flour (besan) and egg white paste, with dry bread crumbs, making it break easily in the mouth. The good quality of the fish and the proper ingredients flavor the dish.

Dr. Sodhi, a resident of Amritsar, said: "I travelled to England and experienced a variety of seafood. But I didn't find the fish quite as tasty as the fish in Amritsar."  

"I travelled to other parts of the state, but never have I found that taste which is so unique of Amritsar. The Bengalis love fish. And when some of my Bengali relatives sampled the Amritsari fish, they could not believe it could be so tasty," said another customer at the restaurant.

So, next time you are in the city of Amritsar, do not forget to treat yourself to the ever-popular "Amritsari-fish".

 

[Courtesy: OneIndia]

January 22, 2009

Conversation about this article

1: Meena Kumari (New York, U.S.A.), October 10, 2009, 12:14 PM.

I thought Sikhs were not allowed to eat fish. [Editor: Sikhs have no food restrictions. They may eat meat (including beef, pork and fish). Where applicable, however, the animal must not be killed in a religious ritual ... it must be 'jhatka'. Some Sikhs choose to be vegetarian, and that is good, especially for their health or their spiritual regimen. But vegetarianism is not mandated for Sikhs.]

2: Prince (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), October 19, 2011, 10:02 PM.

Nobody can beat fish prepared at Hari ke Pattan (Punjab).

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