Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
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I look like a fish in the pan,
This side, that side frying at the Bazaar.
You are the one who turns me from side to side in the pan.
I am brighter than the day if I am with you at night.
Rumi
Khorak-e Mahi Sefid or Samak Maqli
Pan-Fried Fish
The traditional accompaniment to sabzi polou eaten on Naw-ruz in Iran, and eaten in Egypt on the last night of Ramadan.
Total time: 30 minutes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
12 fish fillets or small whole fish
¾ cup butter or ghee
Garnish
Lemon wedges

Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge each fillet in the flour, and shake off any excess.

Heat 4 tbsp. butter or ghee in a heavy frying pan over medium heat, swirling the pan to coat the bottom completely. Pan-fry the fish until each side is golden brown, 5-6 minutes per side; do not crowd the pan. Adjust the heat to prevent the butter from burning, and add more butter or ghee if necessary. Serve with wedges of lemon and Sabzi Polou.

 
 

from Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
Copyright © 1999, 2000 by Kathleen Seidel
Sources of previously published material by other authors used by permission, and print sources for images, may be found at http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook.