Ewidat, Omani fish cakes with chickpea flour and sesame. They are mostly made by people in the South Batinah region of Oman but can also be found in various other forms along the coast and in the capital. Usually Omanis will coat the fishcakes in the chickpea flour and egg as a batter but I prefer to mix it in. These make for a great easy snack and can be frozen and fried whenever you fancy them!
Begin by poaching your fish. In a large saucepan add turmeric, 1tsp of cinnamon, cumin, all of the nutmeg and the whole dried lime along with some salt. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for around 10 minutes to allow the spices and lime to come bring out some flavour.
Then add in all your fish pieces (do not cut them) and. leave them to simmer for 6-7minutes, still they are just cooked but not over done.
In food processor add the onions, rest of the spices, salt, sesame seeds, egg, dried lime powder and garlic paste. Then transfer your fish (minus the water). Pulse everything in the blender until it begins to bind together. The fish shouldn’t be complete paste but almost very shredded.
Then pour in about 25g of your chickpea (gram) flour and pulse to incorporate.
Remove the mixture from the processor, place in a bowl and with your hands feel the texture. If it feels slightly too wet add the remaining chickpea flour. You will know if you need more flour as the balls will not hold when moulding or frying.
Shape the mixture into balls. You should get around 12.
Heat up some oil in a deep saucepan, enough to allow the balls to rise when frying.
To test the oil add in a tiny bit of mixture and wait for it to bubble and float to the top. Then you can add in your fish cakes. They will first stick to the bottom, leave them to fry for about 1 minutes before detaching them.
As they begin to cook through they will rise by themselves, once they are floating on top make sure to turn them over so they brown easily and become golden.
Drain on paper towel, let them cool a little and then enjoy!