DHONEPATA BATA TANGRA MACH
I WOULD KEEP UPDATING SUCH HEIRLOOM RECIPES AS LONG AS I AM CAPABLE OF COOKING!
Yes, I blog about such rustic, family Bengali recipes less these days! That is because I need to catch up with the speeding train, wanting to reach more & more people! You know what, even the Bengalis of today do not know much about their own food culture, that is annoying and sad! T knows all about it, just because his mother is not fond of rustic dishes with smaller fish & vegetables, these were not cooked in their home much! But their relatives cook! Okay, she cooks good a mixed vegetable & fried small fish medley & we all love it! Their's & my side of the family's cooking of the small fish varieties is different! They do not use fresh coriander paste in their cooking or a paste of radhuni / ajmod, whilst my family uses these a lot! Our winters must have curries with coriander paste! Because I am a foodie, I love the food from both sides of my family! I not only cook both side of my family's recipes; whatever recipes I come along & get hooked to, I would try at least one or two times in my kitchen! If one catches our fancy, I included the one in my regular to cook list!
CLICKING FOOD & SHARING FOOD STORIES WITH THE WORLD HAS BECOME MY OBSESSION!
Just because I do not earn from it, people do not consider it important, that they underestimate my passion! Till date my family has not helped me make considerable improvements in this area of my immense passion; not T, neither the son! But I would carry on with my limited technical knowhow! Had I been smart & up-to-date, my blog would have been getting thousands & lakhs of visitors & I definitely would be having a flourishing YouTube channel! Because I am not competitive, I do not suffer from frustration! I just enjoy what I do; cook, eat, sing, dance & repeat! We have watched the movie Gaslight & the series Indu[1&2]! They both are good thrillers, Indu would have a season-3, we do not know what would happen! We had satisfying meals yesterday! I had to go out to the mall, it's time to go to India & just a bit of extra shopping has to be done! On my way back, I got that salted bun to have with my evening tea! I know how to make it, have the recipe in the blog but would not do regular at home! Saturdays & Sundays are my cheat days!
For our dinner, I cooked some atta-semolina poori, they all were fluffy but a little more of semolina was required I felt! I no more mix gluten-free flours with a good amount of atta; on days I want to mix, I do it in a small amount! We had the poori with cabbage & potato sabzi! I was so engrossed watching Indu2 that the clock struck 2am, then I realised there would be a 3rd season! The son did not talk & mumma-babai slept with displeasure! The son is ferociously against wishing us on any special occasion, do not know why!
Today, the entire daytime what I did I do not know! I was singing, promoting my blogposts & went for a swim around 4:30 pm! I met good coach Joe training few kids! Back home, Cristine served me vermicelli upma & ginger kopi-o-kosong she made, it tasted fabulous!
And now I am all set to share with you a family style fish curry! It feels happy to be able to share a Bengali family recipe after quite sometime!
WHAT IS THIS DHONEPATA BATA TANGRA MACH?
Every winter, my family would have curries & vegetables cooked with fresh coriander paste! They claim it is typical of those hailing from the Comilla district of Bangladesh! I just love having any curry with fresh coriander paste or radhuni / ajmod paste added! I love that smell! For a curry with fresh coriander paste, my family would always use super fresh sweet water fish varieties that have not gone through the process of refrigeration! Also, we prefer not to fry the fish in this case, they get cooked in the curry! Last month, I got in hand some fresh Tangra mach / a small cat fish the wiki calls Gangetic Mystus or Mystus Tengara! I remember, I came back home around 6-6:30 pm, Cristine cleaned, cut washed them & then I cooked them without freezing! I relished & loved the non-vegetarian, gluten-free fish curry, DHONEPATA BATA TANGRA MACH with plain rice; Cristine & her Sir also had! There is a difference between loving a dish & having a dish! When it comes to fish, I mostly stick to pure Bengali fish varieties, else it's fish fillets for me!
TANGRA MACH / SMALL CAT FISH : 400-500 GM
FRESH CORIANDER : 200-250GM
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
NIGELLA SEED / KALONJI / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP
BAYLEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 1[HALVED]
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 2 TBSP + 1 TBSP [I USE MUSTARD OIL]
PROCEDURE :
Cristine did the toughest job of cleaning & cutting the fishes!
Cut the tail end, whiskers, fins & the tip of the mouth with a scissor! With the fingers, take out the wastes from the stomach, also the gills! This fish has no scales! Wash inside-out thoroughly few times under the running water!
Marinate them with the salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, 2 tbsp mustard oil & keep aside for 1/2 an hour!
Discard the root end of the fresh coriander, roughly chop & wash along with the green chillies! Prepare a paste of them adding a little of water!
Heat a tbsp of oil in the wok & temper with the nigella seeds, halved red chilli & a bay leaf! Gently add the fishes along with the marinade!
Carefully fold in & cover! After 5 minutes, remove the cover, fold in & cover!
After 3-4 minutes, remove the cover & add a coffee mug of water, cover again! Let cook for 5-6 minutes at low heat!
Remove the cover, add the chilli coriander paste & adjust the salt!
Cover cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes, take down & have it with piping hot steamed rice!
We also had a lentil curry, eggplant-paneer medley, salad alongside!
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