THE ONION STALK SEASON IS ALMOST GONE; THE JUJUBE SEASON IS STILL THERE!
I say this in the context of India! Anyway, this island does not sell sour jujube which is special among the Bengalis and some Indians, Bangladeshis; how Pakistan eats it I do not know. Why the internet does not speak about a specific tiny variety grown in the desert regions of Rajasthan, I do not get. I and the mother ate too much of it on our tour of Rajasthan in 1996 and got stomach upset then and there. The brother as a child almost met with death and a jujube seed has a major role in it, that real life story I would talk about when I blog about the pickle next! I have mentioned about it in one blogpost I think. If the onion stalk season is going off for a year, let me blog about this non-veg stir fry recipe today. Anyway, we get it only in the Bangladeshi shops in this island. In West Bengal too, it is going to be off the market, young pointed gourds would appear now. My love with regards to shopping for the raw materials / bazaar-haat comes from the mother's side. I do not know why she does not let the brother to shop post the pandemic, he does it pretty well. Under my tutelage, Cristine has learnt a lot about Bengali Food. She shaped those Bori / sun-dried lentil balls.
My readers believe it or not, I thoroughly enjoy roaming in the wet markets. Just that the fish markets here with a lot of sea-fish varieties do not make me happy.
IN THE PAST TWO DAYS, I WASN'T COOKING AT ALL!
I have no place in the refrigerator to stock food. Even I am having kind of a guilt feeding my family stale food beyond five days. We usually finish off the Saturday cooking by the next Thursday or Friday. No cooking over the weekend means more of boredom for me. How long can you watch a movie & series? We do that but I enjoy cooking in between. The man wants to relax at home. And seriously we do not want to go for small tours around. At this time, we would prefer to visit the son every alternate year, I absolutely do not expect the man to be a superman. Growing up in a middle class Bengali household, my expectations are in control. I do not even feel like buying a Hilsa for 50$ or a Clinique product. Given that the son is wanting to study more, getting us good grades; we cannot have much of complaints in life. Mumma never demanded him to score the highest in his class, I only ask him not to settle for less than what is in his capability. She keeps pleading not to buy the ready to eat food packets, they are carcinogenic. Mumma cooks flatbreads and thinks of him who loves breads a lot.
I made those easy parathas last night. I took no hassle to make them round or triangular, just made an elongated shape. A mixture of Refined Flour+Whole Wheat Flour dough gives the best tasted parathas. Yesterday for lunch, I air fried the potato slices.
Trust me, they were crisp & yum. I just have to buy a good, single function potato slicer. Mumma would work on the cooking menu on her next visit to the son, she would cook kofta curry, paneer curry, Bengali curries with chicken, prawn, fish steaks, eggs, cauliflower; stir fry cabbage; not too rustic Bengali Food. I wouldn't be there to prove what level of a Bengali I am but be there to feed the son some home cooked food; roam around. The man is an excellent tour guide, companion on the road. I lack his energy level.
WHAT IS THIS ONION STALK POTATO CATFISH STIR FRY?
Onion Stalks & Potato Stir Fry is a common winter dish among the Bengalis. Our mother would add cauliflowers, carrot & green peas to it and serve either with roti or on our rice plate. This was the scenario every year all throughout the winter. I much loved this fry with dal, rice & fish curry or with ruti-porota. I had been such an ardent fish lover that I would not skip my share of the fish even when having Bengali curd-rice or milk-rice for dinners during the summers. I used to have "macher jhol" even with chapati on certain nights. Today, I do not get my choice of fish, yet I am not willing to go back to Kolkata sooner. I enjoy my roti-prata plates, chirer polao, Bengali style noodle, idli-dosa, many more alternatives are there. I just cannot have high protein, weight loss diets; like two boiled eggs, chicken roast, salad meals are not for me. I am not a right wing supporter but enjoy the satwik meals these days, cannot turn a full vegetarian. My first meal today was this.
Did I ever imagine one day I would enjoy roti with bitter gourd fries? I really did love. I was trying to prepare rumali roti today but failed. I had two giant rotis. I insist I make "nolen gurer sandesh" taste like in a Bengali sweet shop, with more of purity. Anyway, I cannot remember if the grandmother or mother ever used Tyangra Fish / Small Cat Fish in a stir fried onion stalk dish. Even if they had, they were not regularly doing it. I came across this dish in the different Bengali Food Groups and in some Bengali Bloggers' spaces. I did them my way. Though any day I would prefer a vegetarian version with Onion Stalks, we also liked this non-vegetarian, gluten-free Bengali dish BENGALI ONION STALK POTATO FISH STIR FRY. Any day, I would love more the version done with deep fried tiny "kechki mach" / Indian River Sprat Fish! I prefer to cook curries with a Tyangra fish, I rarely get them fresh here.
INGREDIENTS :
ONION STALK : 250-300 GM
POTATO : 1 BIG
TANGRA MACH / SMALL CAT FISH : 100-150 GM [USE ANY SMALL FISH]
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4
NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEERE / KALONJI : 1/4 TSP
BAY LEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 2
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1/2 TSP
OIL : 3 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
If possible ask your fish vendor to clean the fishes. It is a fresh water fish with no scales. Cristine cuts them for me.
After cleaning, wash the fishes thoroughly under the running water. Drain any excess water, marinate with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, salt.
Chopping the spring onion stalks is supremely easy. Just discard the two ends and chop them, about 1/2 inch in length. Wash, marinate with a little of turmeric powder & salt.
Peel, wash & cube the potato. Marinate with salt & turmeric. Wash & slit the green chillies.
In a wok, heat the oil and deep fry the fishes, take out.
Temper the remaining oil with the nigella seeds, bay leaf & the halved dry red chillies. Give a stir and add the potatoes. Fry them brown and add the onion stalks. Fold in well and let cook at low heat covered for 5 minutes.
Remove the cover, add the sugar, give a stir. Add the fried fishes, stir cook for 3-4 minutes, take down.
Serve hot with steamed rice & lentil curry. I cooked dried Bombay Duck fish bharta & Eggplant fries too on that day.
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