Tilapia Maacher Jhaal

Tilapia is the common name for the Cichlid fish. It is a fresh water fish and one ugly geezer!!LOL!!! But it is one tasty fish. But beware of the numerous fish bones. I love chewing on the middle bone of fishes but even I find it difficult to chew on the bones of this one. But yet I manage. The way I chew fish bones will put a cat to shame.
The basic criteria behind any fish dish is the freshness of the fish. If it is fresh you can simply have them fried. And god forbid if you land up with the not so fresh ones you can get to know them by the very smell while frying. In Bangla wee say that a fresh fish is “mishti” which also means sweet . In the fish sense it means it is absolutely fresh. Whatever kind of gravy you make, the actual taste comes once you put the fish in the gravy and simmer for some time.
The jhal is a spicy yet light mustard based gravy. I have mentioned this a number of times and am reiterating it again : whenever you are grinding mustard always add a pinch of salt to avoid the paste becoming bitter.


Ingredients

4 Tilapia fish (tossed in some salt and turmeric)
1 small tomato, sliced
Salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric powder
For the paste
4 tbsp black mustard, soaked
Pinch of salt
3 green chillies
For the tempering
¼ tsp kalonji/nigella
2 green chillies, slit

Toss the fish in salt and turmeric and keep aside for half hour. Make the mustard paste with a little water.
Heat some mustard oil. Fry the fish lightly and keep aside. In the same oil add the kalonji and chillies. Add the sliced tomato and saute till the tomato is soft. Add the mustard paste, salt and turmeric powder and fry till oil starts leaving the sides. Add ½ cup of water and bring to a boil. Add fish pieces and simmer for 10 minutes. Drizzle some raw mustard oil on top.

Sorse Posto Chingri

It is prawn time again.
One thing I have learnt from my little culinary journey around the country is that we are most comfortable with the palette we are born with. Since childhood we are brought up on a certain style of cooking. Sure we love to try out different cuisines but then we always come back to the food from our childhood. Also i am sure genetics has a large part to play in this scheme of things. A South Indian might try out chole bhature and hakka noodles but he always finds solace in his regional food. A Bengali, likewise. Might enjoy idli and dosa a lot but will always crave for “maach bhaat”.
On our recent trip to Goa we gorged on Prawns and se fish. Totally loved the vindaloos and prawn masala fry. But finally my heart yearned for a typical Bengali preparation of prawns with mustard and poppy seeds. The thing about Bengali cuisine is that we use powdered masalas very sparingly. We let the food do the talking. The natural essence and flavour of the food is allowed to shine through instead of being swamped under lots of dhani, jeera and garam masala. In this dish too the main taste is of the fresh prawns supplemented by the mustard and poppy seeds. No other masalas.

Ingredients

250 gms prawns
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
5 tbsp yellow mustard
3 tbsp khus khus/poppy seeds
3 green chillies, slit
½ tsp kalonji
½ tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of sugar
½ cup mustard oil

Marinate the prawns in the salt and turmeric powder for some time. Soak the mustard and poppy seeds in hot water for half an hour. Grind it to a paste along with some salt.
Heat the oil. Sauté the prawns and keep aside. In the same oil ad the kalonji and green chillies. Add the mustard paste, salt and turmeric powder. Cook on low flame till the oil separates. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the prawns and sugar, cover and cook till the oil floats on top.