Top 23 Fish Recipes: Curries, Fry, Baked Fillets and Tikka

Fish curry is where the coasts of India show off, and the whole craft is in building the gravy before the fish ever joins it. Whether you are working with a Goan coconut base, a Bengali mustard one, a Malabar with curry leaves and tamarind, or a punchy Amritsari masala, the rule holds: cook the masala until it tastes finished, because the fish needs only a few minutes and cannot fix an under-developed sauce. Bloom your whole spices in hot fat, soften the onions and aromatics properly, then simmer the coconut milk, ground paste or tamarind until the raw edge is gone and the oil glistens. Only then slide in firm pieces of fish, spoon the gravy over them, and drop the flame to a bare tremble. The classic mistake is boiling hard or stirring with a spoon, which knocks delicate fillets to pieces; instead, shake the pan gently and let the fish poach in the sauce for five to seven minutes until just opaque. A final squeeze of lime, a scatter of coriander, and you have a curry that tastes of the sea and the spice market at once. Standouts here include Amritsari Fish and Kerala Style Fish Curry, plus Fried Fish Tomato Curry – A Homage to Ma’s Cooking.

A great fish fry or grill lives and dies on a dry surface and a properly hot pan. The fish has to hit fierce heat and form a crust fast, before its lean flesh has time to dry out, so the first move is always to pat it bone-dry and marinate it in a spiced paste of turmeric, chilli, ginger-garlic and a little acid. Just before cooking, coat it in rava (semolina), rice flour or a thin batter, which crisps into a shattering crust where a wet, sticky surface would only steam pale and grey. Get the tawa, kadai or grill genuinely hot with a film of oil shimmering, then lay the fish down and leave it alone, because a forming crust grips the metal and tears if you fidget with it. Give each piece room, and turn it only once it releases cleanly on its own, usually two to four minutes a side. For tandoori and grilled styles, keep the marinade short, around thirty minutes, oil the grates well, and turn with a wide spatula to keep the fish whole. Finish off the heat with chaat masala, lemon and thin onion rings while everything still sizzles. Standouts here include Fried Fish with Fubá and Tartar Sauce and Thai Fried Fish with Sweet And Sour Tamarind Sauce, plus Grilled Fish ( Nigerian style).

Baked and steamed fish is the gentle, hands-off corner of the repertoire, and it is where lean fish stays its most moist and forgiving. The wider world cooks fish this way for good reason: low, even heat surrounds the fillet without the fierce sear that can dry it, so a lemon-butter fillet, a garlic-and-herb roast, a Cajun-spiced bake or a steamed parcel all turn out tender with very little fuss. Set a moderate oven, around 180 to 200C, lay the fish on a lined tray or in a buttered dish, and top it with lemon, herbs, garlic and a knob of butter or a slick of oil so it bastes itself as it cooks. Most fillets need only ten to fifteen minutes, so check early, since the difference between just-flaking and dry is a matter of a minute or two. Cooking in a foil or parchment parcel traps the fish's own steam and all but guarantees a moist result, while steaming over simmering water keeps delicate fish pure and silky. Because these methods add little colour, season confidently and finish with a bright drizzle of flavoured oil, soy or citrus. Standouts here include Butter Garlic Fish and Fish Tacos with Oven Roasted Corn and Jalapeno Slaw, plus Mediterranean Baked Fish.

This is the playful, handheld end of fish cooking, where a little fish stretches into cakes, cutlets, fingers, tikka, tacos, sandwiches and warming soups. Fish cakes and cutlets are the heart of it: flake cooked or canned fish, bind it with mashed potato, a beaten egg and breadcrumbs, season it boldly with herbs, chilli and lime, then shape and — crucially — chill the patties for twenty to thirty minutes so they firm up and hold together instead of collapsing in the pan. Fry them in a shallow film of hot oil, undisturbed, until a golden crust forms on each side. Fish tikka and kebabs want firm cubes marinated in spiced yogurt and cooked hot and fast so they char without drying, while crisp-fried fingers and fritters lean on a dry coating and properly hot oil. For tacos and sandwiches, keep the fish juicy and balance it with something crunchy and something tangy, a quick slaw, a squeeze of lime, a cooling sauce. The frequent slip is wet, loosely bound cakes and overstuffed handhelds; keep mixtures firm, well chilled and tidy, and this is some of the most satisfying, crowd-pleasing fish cooking there is. Standouts here include Creamy Vegetable Soup with Fish Roe and Salt & Pepper Fish Tacos, plus Sri Lankan Authentic Fish Cutlets.

A few fish dishes never settle neatly into one category, and these are the ones worth keeping in your back pocket once the staples feel routine. They lean on the same handful of techniques you already know — a fully built gravy, a dry crisp coating, a gentle bake, a watchful eye on doneness — but steer them toward different textures, regional accents and formats, so fish never tastes the same twice. Picking your next one is mostly about matching effort to mood: reach for a quick pan-fried fillet or a parcel bake on a busy night when you want dinner in fifteen minutes, and save the multi-step curries and fried-then-sauced numbers for a weekend when you can let the spices bloom properly. Pay attention to the fish itself, too, since firm varieties forgive a heavier hand while delicate ones reward a gentle one, and thinner fillets cook in barely a minute while a thick cut needs a little patience. Across all of them the golden rule still holds — pull the fish the moment it turns opaque and flakes, because lean fish punishes overcooking more than almost anything else. Think of this group as the natural next step after the classics. Standouts here include Fish Do Pyaza and Fish Stick Bowl with Cilantro Dressing, plus Fish Pie.