By Home cook Sharmini Jayawardena
Hi, I just finished making these fish balls and the reviews are raving 😊 Hot! Hot! As they say in Sri Lanka 😊 These are a great party time favourite and are part of a gamut of finger foods of Sri Lanka known as short eats. These fish balls are a great appetizer for special occasions and goes well with rice and other accompaniments.
Ingredients for boiling the fresh fish
100gms slice of fresh Seer/Tingiri/Mackerel or Tuna. I used Seer. You can also use canned fish (drained of the liquid), uncooked.
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp white vinegar
1” piece Ceylon cinnamon
Method
1.Wash the slice of fish.
2.Marinade in all the above ingredients for 5 minutes.
3.Cover half the slice of fish with water and cook until all the water is evaporated and dry. Remove from fire and leave to cool.
3.Debone the fish carefully. Flake the fish with a fork. Set aside.
To make the filling for the fish balls
Ingredients
1 large Russet potato
1/2 medium big onion
2 green chilies
Juice of 1/2 a lime or as desired
Sea salt
Method
1.Boil the potato 🥔 until soft or so it breaks easily when pricked with a fork. Peel the potato and mash it, leaving a few lumps.
2.Cut the onion 🧅 and green chilies very fine.
3.Mix the flaked fish, mashed potato, chopped onion and green chili together. Add lime juice. Mix well. Check for seasoning.
4.Make into balls with the quantity of about 1 tbls of the mixture for each fish ball. Pack them nicely.
Prepare to fry the fish balls
1.Start by adding about 3 tbls all purpose flour to about 4 tbls water in to a bowl to make a batter. Mix well. Set aside. Make more if required.
2.Add about half a cup or 100 gms of breadcrumbs to a wide mouthed dish. Add more if required as you go along.
I used the ready made store bought Japanese breadcrumb which is not the ideal breadcrumb for making Sri Lankan fish balls. Sri Lankan breadcrumbs are made at home with left over bread which is dried in the sun and then pound to a thin crumb in the pestle and mortar or ground in the grinder.
3.Dip the balls one at a time in the batter with a spoon, coat well.
4.Place each fish ball in the bowl of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the fish ball with your other hand, and roll it in the breadcrumbs until it is well coated. Set aside on a plate. Continue until all the fish balls are coated.
To fry the fish balls
1.Add enough coconut oil or vegetable oil to a wok or deep bottomed frying pan for deep frying. Make sure the fish balls are completely submerged.
2.Heat the oil until a breadcrumb comes right up to the surface when dropped in to the heated oil.
3.Carefully drop each fish ball one at a time first then about three together, in to the heated oil.
Adjust the flame as you go, to high when the fish balls are added then bringing it to medium and to low when you are about to drain them out. Continue adjusting the flame in this way through the frying process.
4.Let it fry until golden brown, drain with a frying spoon into a plate lined with kitchen paper. This will help drain away the excess oil.
5.Now your fish balls are ready to be devoured 😄
Makes 18 fish balls.
