Following up from the yummy egg kirihodi and pol sambola recipes I posted recently, I thought it would be apt to share a recipe for a dried fish fry which would complete one of Sri Lanka’s most favorite meal combos. Though I had previously shared a recipe for a dried fish fry, the recipe that I am about to share is something so much more simpler and easy to make. As easy as it is, I can guarantee it to be an amazing rice puller with a little bit of heat from green chilies, tang from a squeeze of lime and a bit of color from a sprinkling of red chili flakes.

Ingredients:

• 100g of Dried sprats (haalmesson, ikan bilis)
• 1 Medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 -2 Green chilies, thinly sliced
• Half a large lime
• Oil, Salt & chili flakes

How to:

• Wash, clean and drain the dried sprats and deep fry them in about half a cup of oil until crisp. Drain and set aside.                              Note: Make sure you dry the sprats after washing them as water does not sit well with hot oil and will result in a whole lot of splattering.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Tip: If you are not a fan of deep frying in oil and owns an air fryer, you can air fry the sprats after coating them with a thin layer of oil. 
• Add the sliced raw onions into a small bowl and squeeze lime juice over it, mix and set aside for about 10 mins. What this does is, it will sort of quick pickle the onions and tone down the pungency and also deepen the purple hue of the onions. If you like the flavor of raw onions but not so much the after taste and the pungent smell that lingers, this is the tip for you!
• Lastly, mix in the fried sprats, the green chilies, the onions and season with a bit of salt and red chili flakes. And ta-da, there you have a quick and easy sidekick to complement any rice and curry meal.