Pabda Curry

Ask a bengali about his / her's favorite dish and more often than not, the answer would be: Mach-bhat (Fish and rice). And yet, we (A and I) don't eat fish all that regularly. Not because we don't like it all that much, rather we haven't got a fixed schedule for shopping or even a menu plan. Whenever we happen to be in the vicinity of the three good fish shops (aren't they called fish mongers?), we might pick up some. I had picked up some pabda from David's in E Block Market in Gurgaon. And now that our water supply was back to normal (after four harrowing days without), I felt brave enough to cook the pabda!

There are many other ways of cooking pabda, but this is the only one I know. So here goes. (This is how I make it. There will be slight variations from person to person. This is just in case there are people out there, who like me, in my early days, thought each recipe learnt was the ONLY way to make it. Anything else was not the correct way)!!

You will need:
Pabda: 1/2 kilo or 4 fish
Brinjal / Aubergine: 1
Kalonji / Kalo jeera: 1 tsp
Turmeric: 3-4 tsp
Fresh coriander: a handful
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

How to:

1. Wash the fish, pat them dry and smear well with turmeric and salt. Keep aside.
2. Slice the brinjals lengthwise into 1 to 1&1/2" strips. Wash the pieces, smear with turmeric and salt.
3. Heat oil in a pan (about 2 tablespoon) and lightly fry the brinjals. They don't have to be deep fried. Remove the brinjals.
4. Heat oil to smoking in a pan. Then add the fish. If they are big in size, fry them on or two at a time. Warning: Stand well away from the pan. The pabda's splatter hot oil, everywhere! I solved the problem by holding the lid of the pan in front of me like a shield!!
5. Each piece takes about 2-3 minutes frying on each side. Remove the fried fish.
6. You can make the curry in the same pan, but I like to use a kadai for the curry or 'jhol'.
7. Mix 1 and 1/2 tsp turmeric in a small bowl of water. Stir well to ensure that the turmeric is dissolved and there are no lumps.
8. Add 1/2 tsp oil in the kadai. Add the kalonji and wait till it splutters (about 30 secs).
9. Add the turmeric water into the kadai.
10. Stir briskly, on high flame till the water dries up.
11. Add half cup water and repeat the process at least two more times.
12. Then add water for the curry: about 500 ml or half of a normal mineral water bottle. Bring to a boil.
13. If you don't mind chillies, add couple of green chillies and 1 tbsp grated ginger to the curry.
14. Add the brinjals.
15. Add the fish.
16. Let it boil along with the curry for 3-4 minutes.
17. Lower flame and cover. Let the curry cook for another 7-10 minutes.
18. Uncover, add the chopped coriander.
19. Remove from flame and serve hot with rice.
    

Note: Having enjoyed your meal of pabda and rice, don't forget to clean the splattered oil. The turmeric in the oil leaves dreadful stains! But I am sure you will agree, that's a small price to pay! Bon Appetit!

Koi Macher jhol (Koi Fish Curry)

Koi Mach or Gangetic Koi is also known as Climbing Gouramie. It belongs to the perch family. (Perhaps the sporty cousin of the kissing gouramie??). This is one of my favorite fish dishes ever. And I have never cooked it myself. Never had to. Ma and K (our temepermental cook) have always obliged. K dictated this recipe to R who then emailed it to me. (Its a bit different from the other koi recipes available on the net, the most common being tel koi or koi in oil).

Koi is widely available. So do try this one. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

You will need:
Koi 1 kilo
Potato 1 large
Turmeric powder 1 heaped tsp
Cumin seed 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp (made into a paste with a little water)
Coriander powder 1& 1/2 tsp (made into a paste with a little water)
Bay Leaf 2
Ginger grated 1 tsp
Salt
Sugar
Water 2 cups
Coriander leaves
Oil for frying

How to:

1. Ask the fish seller to de-gill the fish. Smear salt on fish
and wash well.
2. Drain. Smear 2 tsp salt and 1 heaped tsp turmeric on the fillet
and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Slice the potato lengthwise into sections.
4. In a wok / kadai heat 1/2 cup oil to smoking.
5. Medium fry the fish (if required in batches) and set aside.

6. In the same kadai, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves.
7. When the cumin seeds start crackling, add the potato sections
and stir.
8. Add 1tsp cumin paste, 1 tsp coriander paste, a little turmeric,
1 tsp ginger paste, a little salt and a pinch sugar.
9. Stir well and fry a bit.
10. Add the water.
11. After two minutes add the fried fish and cover.
12. Cook for 5-7 minutes or till potatoes have softened and fish
well soaked in gravy.
13. Add the coriander leaves remove from fire.
14. This curry has to be eaten with steamed rice (a must).

Note: K prefers to take cumin grains, grind them using a shil patha (a stone block with fine carvings to aid in the grinding. The spices are ground using another stone not unlike in shape to a rolling pin - also carved - but smaller). Same for coriander. I, on the other hand, would have little qualms of using powdered spices and making them into a paste with a few drops of water!

Rohu and cauliflower curry

This isn't an original recipe. Its a staple Bengali dish. But it is one of my favorites. I checked up the net to get some background on Rohu (Rui in bengali) and to my amazement found a link from Wikipedia which stated that its popular in Punjab. Good for them. Just as well. What with the Avian Bird Flu, perhaps its safer than Butter Chicken?!

Here it is then: Rui machcher phulcopi diye jhole: Rohu and cauliflower curry

You will need:
6 pieces of Rui fish
1 small cauliflower
4 small or 2 medium Potatoes
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp cumin Powder
2 tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp turmeric for the curry "jhole" &
about 2 tsp to coat the fish before frying them
6 tbsp oil for frying the fish
2 tbsp for the Curry
Water for the curry

How to:
1. Wash the pieces, drain / pat dry. Sprinkle liberally with salt and turmeric and mix well (with hands). Careful....turmeric so does stain the fingers and nails.
2. Heat oil in a kadai / wok till it smokes. (It must smoke otherwise the fish pieces will stick to the pan and you will end up with scrambled fish).
3. Add the pieces into the oil a few at a time in batches. Now, some people prefer it lightly fried, I prefer it deep fried (till the fish turn brown...unhealthy but like all things unhealthy, very tasty)!
4. Slice the cauliflower into biggish florets, wash, drain and then parboil them with a little salt. Drain and set aside.
5. Cut the potatoes into largish cubes. Wash well and drain.
6. Heat oil in a kadai. Add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the cubed potatoes. Fry for a while.
7. Add the cumin, coriander & turmeric powders. Season with salt.
(R taught me this - Add 2-3 tbsp water and fry the masalas on high heat. Repeat this proces couple of time. This helps to fry the masals well. Only then proceed to step 8).
8. Add Water. Here you aer adding water to make the curry About 1 large cup (specifically, 1/4 l). Cover and lower flame.
9. When the potatoes are nearly boiled, the water reduced, add the cauliflowers, the fish and 3-4 slit green chillies (can do without if you don't like them...but it does add a lovely flavour). Adjust the water for the curry...you might have to add some more. This is after all a curry.
10. Add a pinch of sugar (to even out the flavour).
11. Cook over high flame for 5 minutes.
12. Serve with steamed rice!

Notes:
1. The correct procedure would be to fry the cauliflower florets separately (instead of parboiling them in step 4) and then add them in step 9. This is a latter day, attempting-to-be-healthy-variation. Both taste equally good.
2. Parwal / Potol can be used instead of cauliflowers. They will have to be fried and not parboiled!

La Belle Meunière

The first time I tried this dish was at Mocambo in Calcutta. That was in the late 80's. Since then, I have gone back several times to Mocambo. And I am extremely glad to report that this dish remains as delicious as ever. (Restaurants do have a way of deteriorting over time...both in quality of service and food).

Literally, its means the Beautiful Miller. I have no idea how it this dish got its name.

Once when I was feeling very intrepid, I asked the chef for the recipe. He very obliginging told it to me. And I, duly reported it back to R. (Whatever I could remember of it). R, ofcourse added her own variation - her special touch. And I must say, that too was very delicious. I haven't tried it myself. But I vouch for the delicious ness of R's version of La Belle Meunière.

You will need
Bekti fillet or slivers of moderate thickness (somewhere between a normal slab and over thin sliver).
Salt to taste
Pepper
Ajinomoto (yes MSG)
A sprig of parsely finely chopped for garnish
Cream
Butter

Here's how:
1. Wash the fillet, pat them dry with kitchen towel.

2. Mix a bit of cornflour with white pepper and salt.

3. Sprinkle this on the fillet.

4. Heat oil or butter (either one works, though butter is definitely more delicious) in a flat pan and lightly fry the fillet

5. Arrange the fried fillet in succession on a plate. Pour sauce (recipe given below) over them and serve immediately.

The Sauce:

1. Heat 50g of butter in a non stick pan over low flame.
2. Add a pinch of salt (be careful, we dont want to make the sauce salty), pepper, a pinch of ajinomoto.
3. Pour half cup cream.
4. Add the chopped parsley.
5. Remove from fire.
The whole procedure should take about 2-3 minutes.

Those of you who reside in Calcutta or are going there (I am next week), do go to Mocambo and try it out. And those of you who can't, here is the recipe, R's variation. Bon Appetit!

NOte: Any white fish will do, if you can't get Bekti