Ma-in-law's Macher Dim er Bora Jhol | Fish Roe Fritters

Maachher Dim er Bora | Bengali Fish Roe Fritters

For fish loving Bengalis, the fish roe or macher dim is a delicacy that they hanker for. Nope we are not talking of caviar! While Ilish maach er dim(Hilsa Fish roe) is the star, the Rui Maach er dim comes a strong second when it is made into fritters or bora. Mostly available during the monsoon season, the fish roe of sweet water fish like Rui or Carp makes a mundane lunch fantastic for the Bengali middle class.

Jump To Recipe

Last Friday Big Sis had her second dose of Covid-19 vaccine and with that all of us eligible for vaccine have been vaccinated. Waiting for Pfizer to give the green light for 12-15 year olds now.

Now the reason I brought up the vaccine is that the pharmacy where BS's vaccine was scheduled was close to a South Asian fish and meat store. So how could I not stop by and get some fish? You tell me! That would be so impolite right?

Now that my mom is here, we have been going more often to the fish store than ever before. This time I stopped by thinking to get the tiny fish called Kaachki or Mola fish. Along with a pack of that tiny fish, I also saw a tray of Rui Maacher Dim -- Fish Roe and picked it up. 

In my home, my Dad was not very adventurous when it came to food and so Ilish Maacher Dim aka Hilsa fish roe was the only fish roe that he enjoyed. Since Hilsa Fish Roe is a star by itself, it is best enjoyed fried as it is and nothing else was ever made out of it. A few times my Mother would get Rui Macher Dim and make the fritters as a snack for me and her to enjoy, but those were few and far in between.

On the other hand, in my in-law's house Maacher Bora and Maacher Tel are very popular. My ma-in-law makes a delicious curry with the fish roe fritters too. 

So when I go the fish roe, I texted her for the recipe. Guess what my 70+ year old Ma-in-law tells me. She said "Search in UTube, oikhane shob ecipe thake". I mean really!! So then I called her and clarified that I wanted her recipe and not "YouTube's". She gave me the recipe of the fritters and then said that I could add it to a peyaaj-roshun deoa jhol like a rich version of fish curry. She also added that her son, who is not very fond of  Rui/Kaatla type of fish actually loves maacher dim!!! 

Neem-Phol aka Grandmother's sweet

Sometimes families have recipes no one has heard of. Not recipes already around, that they make in their own special way and give a special name like "Dinajpurer Mangshor Chaap"(I don't know what it is but honestly I saw this on a menu). Nor are they the one time wonders I make almost every other day and forget soon after.

These are recipes that have been handed down with careful instructions from one generation to next and are cooked periodically or on demand. They are much cherished and yet, no one outside the family has ever heard of it. It has not crossed anyone's mind to ever talk about it.

I was introduced to one such dish, well not exactly a dish, but a sweet picker-upper at my in-law's home. I think it was one of those times, when we were leaving for the US after a short vacation. The last two days of a India vacation invariably ends in gathering edible stuffs that we can carry across oceans in sturdy samsonites. While I usually rush around in those last hours buying Mukhorochak chanachur, Mongini's cheese straws and Sunrise mustard powder, the husband-man reaches out for specialities found only in his small town. It is his duty to get "lero biskut" and "madoan kat kati" -- tiny square pieces of spicy biscuit with hint of sweetness .

In addition to those, there are all kinds nimkis and narus that my Mother is frying and rolling until the last minute and stuffing in steel containers called koutos. So among all this jars and packets and boxes that we had to carefully wrap and tuck in, there was my Ma-in-law with one more. A glass Horlicks jar filled with with tiny balls,not exactly spherical but ovoid in shape and deep brown almost black in color. Each were the size of a fat pea and had fine white crystals of sugar on them.It wasn't anything I had ever seen before.

The husband-man's face lit up at the sight of that jar. "Neem Phol!!!" he said with a child like glee.

Neem phol?? Fruits of the neem tree whose leaves are famous for bitter taste and medicinal properties?? The nomenclature itself shut me off. The husband-man has this uncanny love for all things bitter and so I thought his Mother had gathered one more of her son's favorite bitter fruit and made something with it. I was not at all excited to say the least.

"Try it," said the husband-man. It was his favorite apparently.

I was hesitant but my curiosity made me pick up a single one to give it a try. And surprise! It was crunchy, sweet and very very addictive. Reminded me of the "murki" that my Dida used to make and carry for us in similar glass jars. The murki was lighter brown and softer while this was denser and had a crunch to it. It was very hard to stop at one and the jar had to be snatched away from me, else I would have finished it all.

Since then, a jar of "neem-phol" is a staple along with the nimkis, narus and chanachur we pack from India. I have never tried to get a recipe for it though. I kept procrastinating and relying on the jar from India. Last year when my in-laws came visiting, as usual there was a jar of "neem-phol" tucked besides the achhar and bori. Little Sis, opened it and had one.Soon she was having more and was utterly smitten by what she called "Thammir mishti". When it was time for my in-laws to leave, Little Sis wanted to make sure that there was more of that mishti for her. So "thammi" was coerced into making another batch of "neem-phol". And though I have never tried to learn how to make neem-phol earlier, I stood around to follow the steps so that if LittleSis ever asks again and this jar is over I can make some more.

Though at her own home, my mother-in-law makes it with khoya-kheer, here she made it with store-bought khoya aka mawa. They were basically small balls of kheer, deep fried and then tossed in thick sugar syrup.

High in cholesterol and sugar. Utterly delightful in taste. Isn't that how it is always ?

"Where did you learn this recipe from?" I asked the ma-in-law. 

She said, it was her mother's, who made it mostly during poush-parbon. Once all the pithes, pulis and patishaptas were done and still some of the "khoa-kheer" remained, her mother would make these little balls of delight with the remnant kheer. 

"And why did she call it neem-phol?", I asked expecting a long story. 

"It looks like neem phol, fruits of the neem tree, that is why," she said simply

Shaak Bata -- Sweet pea green Paste or Pate

Saraswati Pujo is a few days away and this is the time of the year when my Dida's Gota Seddho drifts up in my memory, which is otherwise inundated with a lot of fluff. At all other time, the Gota seddho is pushed beneath deadlines, middle school tests, elementary school valentine's day, snow forecasts, and seasons of Parenthood yet to be watched on Netflix. I don't think of Gota seddo at any other time of the year but come Ma Saraswati and this post hovers in my sub-conscious.

Sweet Pea Tips

I don't usually make it. I am not sure if I will make a Gota seddho this year either. The whole essence of eating gota seddho during the season is not lost on me though. I appreciate the immunity boost that these vegetables gives at the turn of the season. And to do my part, today I have all greens in my blog.

The Asian Market in my town is a veritable feast of leafy greens all year round. When I say Asian Market, it actually means Chinese/Korean market, teeming with fish, noodles, variety of sauces and unfamiliar vegetables. They have greens there like no bodies business and with names that no one would have thunk. I have learned not to be flabbergasted by the names though and with help from some of my blog readers, I confidently buy watercress and Yu Choy from there. Baby Bok Choy is now my favorite green.

Watercress

Now my side of the family was never big on different variety of greens but the husband-man's is. His mother usually makes a lot of different kinds and cooks them in innumerable ways. The last time that we visited them, my mother-in-law made a mean "mulo-shaak baata", radish greens sauteed and made into a paste. I think the "baata" or turning every thing into a paste is more of a East Bengal thing and I must say it is brilliant idea. The "mulo shaak baata" tasted really amazing.

D is for Dim Kosha and Dhokar Dalna

The A-Z series that I had started is still very much in its fledgling state. With each letter I am even more confused with the wide array of dishes that deserve a place. Thinking of D, I made Dim er Devil, Doi Maachh, thought of making Dhokar Dalna but skipped as it was too much work and then finally decided to give Dim Kosha the place that it so rightly deserves. Well, at least I think so. I love eggs, simply love, love them and when it is the letter "D", Dim or Eggs are in the forefront in my dictionary.

This time the Dim Kosha was made with "Haansher Dim" or Duck eggs. The husband-man has this uncanny fondness for Duck Eggs. It might be something about the town he is from, for anyone who is from there reserves a certain reverence for "Haansher Dim". Now my family was not keen on Duck eggs and it is Murgi ke ande in round wire baskets sold by Maulbi ji  which were staple in our home, so this longing for Duck eggs took me long to understand.

The first time I had Duck Eggs was when I visited my in-law's house in this laid back town which is few hours away from Kolkata and has an abundance of lush greenery.I could sense that the whole family was very excited about Haansher Dim and the kosha that would follow. The husband-man was brimming at the possibility of finally treating me to this delicacy.The way they went on about it, you would think it was some expensive caviar from France, but then really who likes French caviar? There was some uncertainty about the "dimwala" running out of duck eggs and finally when the guy rang his cycle bell around 11 in the morning, everyone ran to the gate expecting a miracle.

When I saw the eggs, they seemed pretty ordinary to me albeit larger. There was nothing ordinary about the Kosha that followed though. It was out of this world and the yolks of those eggs were more creamier than I could imagine.

Shob Phaler Achaar -- Mixed Fresh Fruit Chutney

Shob Phaler Achaar -- Mixed Fresh Fruit Chutney

I have been away from the blog for a long while and believe me I missed it so much. I wanted to sit down and type something out every day and I had this kind of lurch in the pit of my stomach because I was procrastinating.And then again there was so much going on that it seemed sheer crazy to sit at the computer while life passed me by.

It has been a "happening August" here in the BongMom household with the girls' paternal grandparents visiting from India and then their aunt(pishi) and cousin joining in for a couple of weeks. The best part was that darling aunt had scheduled her holiday to coincide with LS's birthday which meant that birthday fun just doubled and tripled.

LittleSis turned 6 this year and I had not really planned for a birthday party beyond a small family affair. For one, she wanted to invite her school friends and I am a lazy Mom who thought it was too much work to track down and invite school classmates during summer vacation. I mean it was doable but too much work.So a small homely birthday was the call of this year.

Now over the summer both the girls have acquired young friends in the neighborhood. And that has turned summer afternoons into those similar to my childhood in India. Where there are kids playing on the driveway and sidewalk, spilling from one home to the other, late until dusk sets in and the street lights flicker to a warm orange glow. In this scenario it was only natural that the neighborhood friends were invited to a "birthday party" by LS, a birthday party which I, the ignorant Mother, had imagined to be a small family affair.

Eventually the birthday which was on a weekday turned into a fat, colorful party on the day itself. Those who could come, came. In throes of panic I got a bounce house which the kids enjoyed a lot. BigSis took over as the games organizer and made the group of kids, who were in a varying age range, play games. Her games were quite interesting and included a game called sardines(take on the age old hide n seek), treasure hunt and balloon popping.Food was outsourced and there was shingara, vegetable chop, chana chaat, pasta and Chettinad biriyani. Kids cried, laughed, fought and enough chaos happened. And like every year, I sweared swore to not throw any more birthday party until LS turns 12.

A quick recuperation from the birthday was followed with visits to the beach and park with cousin who is the same age as LS and therefore great pals. During the weekday I managed to sneak out with sis-in-law for sushi, a movie (The Hundred Foot Journey), dinner at a Portuguese place and of course Thai. And then a two day trip to a kids' amusement park was thrown into the medley.

I am very glad that BS and LS get time to spend with both sides of the family almost every year.  These childhood days are precious and the memories they make with family will go a long way.

School starts tomorrow and summer is over. A year worth of new stuff is waiting for both the girls. I should be excited but honestly, I am not.

To start off the blog after this long break, I will share a chutney, something we call a pickle in Bengali, a achaar. It is not really a pickle, but a Bengali ascribes a chaatni as something that cannot be preserved and needs to be served to finish off a meal, while pickle or achaar is something that has a long life. This particular chutney or achaar has vinegar which means it stays well for a month or two. It is made up of a mix of different kinds of fruits, sweet and sour and is a delicious accompaniment to crackers, paratha or roti.

This recipe was something my mother-in-law learned from mys sis-in-law's neighbor!!! It is sweet, spicy, sour and has a definite kick. If I think of it, it is like a family.

Shob Pholer Achaar -- Mixed Fresh Fruit Chutney

What you need for this Fresh Fruit Chutney is lots of different kind of fruits and vegetables to begin with. Fruits with a balance of sweet and tart.

I had 1 green mango, 2 plum, 1 apricot, 1 apple, 1 carrot, and about  6 sweet peppers. Chop all of these fruits in small pieces.

Now slice about 6-7 pods of garlic in thin slices. If you want it hot slit 4-5 green chillies.

Heat about 5 Mustard Oil in a wide Kadhai or saucepan, which will give you enough surface to cook.

Temper the oil with 3/4th tbsp of PaanchPhoron and 3-4 dried red chilli.

When the spices sizzle and sputter, add the garlic slices. Saute for a few seconds, do not let the garlic brown.Now add the fruits and green chilli. Stir the fruits around and let them soften a bit. With the kind of fruits I mentioned here, it did not take long for them to soften.

Now add about 1/2-3/4th  Cup Vinegar and 1/3rd cup of sugar. Add sugar according to your taste and the sweetness of the fruits. If you think that the fruits are sweet enough add little sugar. If they are tart, add more. Add salt to taste.

Now the fruits will release water. Let them simmer and thicken. Taste and adjust for the thickness of the chutney. Take a spoonful out and put on a plate to check that the consistency is thick and not runny. In this case, it was done in about 20 minutes or so.

Once the chutney cools, put in a jar and refrigerate. It stays well for a month or two.

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Tyangra Maach er Jhaal Charchari

Tyangra Maach or Tangra Maachh is a small fresh water fish of the cat-fish family. I have no idea about its english or scientific nomenclature
To say that I like Tyangra Maach is an understatement. It is a fish which stirs waves in my heart. Troughs and crests of love, passion, hope and some times disappointment. There was a time when its taut silvery body gleaming like a shiny rupee coin in the morning sun would send delicious shivers through my spine. Given a choice between taut, sinuous Farhan Akhtar and "Tyangra", I would have picked Tyangra even as a teenager on hormones.

And that is saying a lot since that guy is one of my favorite Bollywood actors.

But frozen tangra in the US has mostly been disappointments, more so if the taste of the fresh fish is deeply ingrained in your brain. So we rarely buy the frozen Tyangra these days. In fact we rarely buy fish from the Bangladeshi store as the girls love salmon, the husband-man is not particularly interested and I am all for ease and comfort of baked salmon, tilapia and bassa. If the universe does not want me to remove scales -->fry fish-->then make a jhol, am I an idiot to to take that chore upon myself ?

However things are different when family from India visits. Then we want the fish from the Bangladeshi store, cut in "bengali cut". For a few days we revel in the pleasure of rui, pabda, ilish and tyangra. We promise ourselves that at least twice a month we will get our Bengali fish haul from the Bangladeshi store. We nod our heads in agreement that the Tyangra is pretty good even if a tad small and the Rui is actually better than what we have had in India. We renew our piscean vows in earnest. After all we are the "Fishy Bongs".

On those days, the kitchen fan is always set at high as we fry fish in Mustard Oil to be later put in different curries and the Jasmine scented Yankee candle works overtime to dispel the scent. Big Sis, moves around the house, her fingers pinched around her nose, careful that not a single note of fish scent should enter her system. Little Sis is excited about fish that has bones and eats rui and tyangra with much relish. She watches in amazement as I crunch down the fish head and lick with pleasure at the bones.

"Would you even eat us Mommy when we were small?" she asks in trepidation and breaths relief that she is indeed too big for me to chew on her bones.

But before that pleasurable chewing, me and the husband-man stare at the slowly defrosting fish in the sink and ask grave questions

"Shorshe Jhaal or Charchari?".

"Dim(fish roe) ache or not?"

And then, "Eki, maachh ta porishkar kora nei?" (Whaaat, has the fish not been gutted and cleaned?) followed with loud wails and hair tearing.

Then we start imposing heavyweight blame on each other.

"Didn't you even ask at the store if the fish was cleaned? Incorrigible"

"I didn't even want to buy Tangra. It was you who insisted. Always making wrong decisions"

As is clear, I was in total shock when after defrosting I realized that the Tyangra was neither gutted nor cleaned of its innards. I wanted to bawl my heart out, leave the fish right there in the sink and go read my Lila Majumdar. I needed serious consoling. However, as you might know(or not), I am a middle aged woman and though 21st century women's right dictates that middle aged women are not supposed to know home cooking, forget cleaning Tyangra, I felt a tad ashamed of my lack of fish cleaning abilities.

The husband-man offered to clean the fish but again women's rights popped up in my head and I said "what a man can do a wo-man can do better". Honestly, any being, a smidgen more intelligent than me would have known that anything is better than cleaning that fish. Anyway words are like arrows, once you let them go, it is hard to retrieve or some such thing as Krishna had told Arjun.

So acting all cool and confident, I checked around google a bit and asked Ushnishda (who should actually upload a video of the said fish cleaning some day). I also tried hard to recall what my Mother did when faced with fish like this. With all that knowledge I realized cleaning a fish like Tyangra is actually pre-t-t-y easy. Since this fish has no scales, you don't need to remove scales. But you need to gut the fish. Yeah, you heard me right and here is how you do it for small fish like Tyangra.

1. You take a kitchen scissor or a sharp knife and snip the fish around it is neck, at the base of the gills, making a narrow slit. ***Not as gory as it sounds***.

2.Then you prod the innards with your finger, spreading the cavity in the process and pull out the gills from the head region. You also pull out the entrails, a blackish looking string kind of thing from the stomach region.

3. Now rinse the fish inside out with water.

It was okay and not difficult to do but given a choice I would rather get the fish cleaned than doing it again.

With all that Tyangra, I made a spicy dish with potatoes and eggplants. I am not sure if you call it a Jhaal or a Charchari so I am calling it Tyangra Maachher Jhaal Chorchori. I did not add any mustard paste thought it is a jhaal but you can add a tsp of Kashundi along with the other spices. If the fish is very fresh, you should fry it only very lightly to make this dish.

The recipe reads long only because I have broken up the recipe in parts. It is indeed a simple and quick everyday kind of dish. Well, my Mother's every day kind of dish. Once you get past the fish frying part, it is done fast and tastes great with rice.

Tyangra Maachher Jhaal Charchari -- Fish with potatoes and eggplant

Prep

Wash and clean the fish. Tyangra does not have scale and so that is a good part. If your fishmonger has cleaned and gutted the fish for you, you are one lucky person. Pat the fish dry and toss the fish with salt, turmeric powder, little red chilli powder and keep aside
I used about 10 Tyangra fish for this particular dish

Chop 1 medium potato in half moon pieces.

Chop half of a medium onion in fine half moon slices

Chop 1 slender japanese eggplant in 2" lengths

Mince 2 cloves of garlic

Slit 5-6 green chilies along the center

Frying the Fish

Heat enough oil for frying the fish. Mustard Oil is the best bet. I used a frying pan with a bigger surface area as I was going to fry several batches of fish.

The oil should be smoking hot but not burning. Check by tossing a small piece of onion in the oil. It should rise up to the surface and sizzle.

Sprinkle some turmeric powder on surface of the oil. I have a theory that this reduces the risk of oil splattering a bit. And I also have a splatter screen handy to save me from any hot oil playing truant. Ta-Da!

Slide the fish gently into the hot oil. Do not drop them in like pakori batter. The fish should lie side by side on the pan and not heaped one over the other.

Now keep the gas temperature at medium-high. Let the fish cook on one surface. Trying to flip it before it is cooked will cause it to break. After about 3-4 minutes, give a gentle nudge to see if it is cooked on the underside. Once the fish is easily flippable, flip and let the other side cook. Please note that Tyangra should not be fried crispy so do not fry too much.

Take the fish out with a slotted spoon, shaking off any excess oil. Repeat process for all fish

Once all the fish has been fried we will make the charchari

Now all that oil for frying will not be needed in the dish. So save that oil for future use or get rid of it save the amount needed for the charchari.

In the same frying pan, heat 2-3 tbsp Mustard oil(fresh or the fishy one).

Next add the eggplant slices. Sprinkle some turmeric powder, little salt and saute the eggplants until their skin chars a little and the eggplant becomes a tad softer. They need not be fully cooked at this point. Remove the eggplant and keep aside.

Temper the oil in the frying pan with
1 tsp of Kalonji
5 slit green chillies

When the spices pop add the minced garlic. After a quick saute add the onion

Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes until it softens. Onion will soften but not get crispy.

Next add the potato slices, sprinkle some more turmeric powder and saute for 3-4 minutes. Cover the frying pan and let the potatoes cook. Intermittently remove cover and stir around the vegetables and sprinkle water if they tend to stick to the frying pan.

When potato is almost done, take a small bowl and to it add
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Kashmiri mirch(more red chilli powder if you like it hotter)
1/2 tsp of Cumin powder
and little water to make a watery paste

Add this masala paste to the frying pan. Add the fried eggplant and toss the potatoes and eggplants around for a couple of minutes. Next add about 1/2 Cup of water at room temperature and salt to taste. Add more water if you think so. Let the gravy simmer and come to a boil. Make sure that the potatoes and eggplants are all cooked

Now add the fried fish and cook for a few more minutes until most of the water has evaporated. The dish will have little gravy.

Add some chopped fresh coriander leaves and finish with few drops of mustard oil. Serve with rice.

Koraishuti ba Narkel diye Chire Bhaja -- Crispy Poha

Unlike  where I live amidst snow, bitter cold and temperature dropping to negative, winter is a joyous time in the plains of Bengal. Because it is not really "cold" cold but merely a delusion of  being "cold". Also this is the season when it is not really hot and you are not sweating at the mere prospect of a bus ride. That is a lot of "not"s. In fact winter is so pleasant that you can wear a sweater or wrap a shawl or sit in the sun after a bath in a bucket of water warmed by the same sun and yet not lose an ounce of body fluid by perspiration.

Of course this luxury is only for the plains and the lower range of  Himalayas in the far north of the state get severely cold and suffer from a case of proper winter. But we will not talk of severe winters as they are not as fun as the mild ones.

So in the plains of Bengal, winter is the season to show off napthalene scented Kashmiri shawls and to indulge in heavy eating. Not that the other seasons see any less of  the last bit but Bengalis love to think that a cold weather demands more of fatty food, sweet desserts and variety of dishes made with fresh vegetables like cauliflower, sweet peas and carrots which grace the markets only in the months of December and January. Okay, okay, now you do get these vegetables around the year but even then you cannot deny the pleasure of aloo-phulkopi chingri'r dalna, narkel-khejur gur pur diye pati shapta, piyaajkoli diye maach and beet-gajor er chechki on a winter afternoon which has the prospect of a nap under sun soaked quilt later.

The erudite Bangalis also believe(and rightly so!) that the umpteen cups of hot tea or coffee gulped down to abate the so-called-cold, needs to be served with some deep fried deliciousness on the side. So, croquettes are fried, stuffed kochuris are rolled out and battered fish sizzle in a kadhai full of oil.

Now, though it is the Egg Roll, Fish Fry, Chicken Kobiraji, Beguni and Aloor Chop which are the more famous deep fried snacks, there are several humble counterparts that are made at home with minimal effort and with ingredients easily found in a home pantry.

"Chire Bhaja" or "Crisp Fried Poha" or "Crispy Beaten Rice" tops the chart in that category. It was the most frequent snack made by Ma, winter or no winter and especially on the arrival of an impromptu guest for cha. And guests were almost always impromptu in those times. Like most mothers of that generation, my Ma believed in the code of conduct set by the ancient Sanskrit verse "Atithi Devo Bhavah" which means "A guest is like God". Translated it meant -- "it is necessary to ply all guests with food and beverage irrespective of their desire to consume food". 

In summer this meant sherbet, sondesh and mangoes and when the weather turned cooler it was always tea and fried goodies. Since we lived in a small town, where getting shingara and mishti from the stores was as long winded as placing a telephone call, Ma always served something made at home. It could be nimki, which she would make by jarfuls every few months, or home made sabu papad and chips, which were made in winter. Most of the time those jars would be emptied by us, without her knowing, and so she had to resort to the default choice of "Chire Bhaja" on many a evenings. 

It was quick, easy and inexpensive. All it needed was chire or beaten rice which was a pantry staple, raw peanuts and gallons of oil. Heat enough oil in a kadhai --> fry the peanuts and remove--then fry the chire in a kadhai full of oil until those flat dry pieces puff up snowy and crisp. Simple.

During winter when the sweet peas were a plenty and Ma already had some shelled peas at hand, she would throw in boiled and lightly sauteed peas with the chire bhaja. That Koraishuti diye Chire Bhaja was my favorite. Sometimes if she had left over grated coconut after the pati shapta stuffing was done, she would mix the fluffy, soft "narkel kora" with the fried chire and sprinkle a little sugar on it. That gave the savory chire bhaja a sweet undertone which instantly took my fancy. The dregs of sugar and salt mixed with the oil at the bottom of the bowl was a delight to lick and it was perfectly ok to wipe down those oily fingers on the pleats of skirts or the sari, whichever was easily available.

Oil, then was not a bad word. Chire Bhaja needs to be fed oil. Period.

But now, it is the oil which makes me freak out every time I have to fry chire. The result, I would rarely make chire bhaja, hyperventilating at the memories of oil stained fingers until my Ma-in-law showed me a less oily way to fry this stuff. She would first dry roast the chire in a kadhai and only then fry it in oil. This step cut down the oil dramatically. The chire turned crispy even with very less oil. Voila !! A trick worth learning.

I went a step further, as is my habit to always take a different step for better or worse, and these days I toss the chire with little oil and roast in the oven as the first step. Only then do I fry it in very little oil in the Kadhai. Works wonders every time. Well, I mean not exactly same "wonder" as frying in gallon full of oil. And the oily dregs of sugar-salt-pepper are missing. And definitely that more oily chire baja tasted better than this less oily one. But this was one tastes very good too. Only a teeny-tiny bit less good.

We will settle for that I say.

Koraishuti ba Narkel diye Chire Bhaja

Option 1 -- Badam diye Chire Bhaja or Crispy Poha with Peanuts

Toss 3 cups of  chire/thick poha/flat beaten rice with 1 tbsp of Vegetable oil.

Next spread them in a layer on an oven safe tray and bake in the oven at 300F. After the first 7-8 minutes, take it out and toss it around. Pop in the oven for next 7-8 minutes. keep a watch to see that the chire is not getting brown and burnt.

At the end of this oven time, the chire should be crisp, brittle and no longer raw

Now heat 2 tbsp of oil in a small kadhai.

When the oil is hot add about 1/4th cup of peanuts and fry till light brown. Remove the peanuts and keep aside.

To the same oil, add a cracked red chilli and a small piece of ginger julienne.

Add the crispy baked chire gradually, tossing it in the oil. Sprinkle little salt while tossing. The chire will puff up a little more.

Now switch off heat and pour out the fried chire in a bowl. Mix with the fried peanuts. Sprinkle salt and black pepper powder to taste


Option 2 -- Narkel diye Chire Bhaja or Crispy Poha with Coconut and Sugar

After the last step, where you have poured out the chire and added salt/pepper etc., add a fist full of grated coconut and about 1/2 tsp of sugar to the piping hot chire bhaja. Toss quickly and eat.

Option 3 -- Koraishuti diye Chire Bhaja or Crispy Poha with Green peas.

If using fresh peas, then shell and boil the peas till tender. If using a bag of frozen peas, then microwave the peas till just done. I love these sweet peas ad so we will be generous and use 1 cup of cooked peas.

Bake the chire in the oven as described earlier

Now heat 2 tsp of oil in a small kadhai.

When the oil is hot add a cracked red chilli and a small piece of ginger chopped in julienne.

Now add the cooked peas and toss with salt and black pepper powder. Saute for a couple of minutes. Take out the peas and keep aside.

Add about 2tbsp oil to same kadhai and heat.

Add the crispy baked chire gradually, tossing it in the oil. The chire will puff up a little more.


Now switch off heat and pour out the fried chire in a bowl. Add the sauteed peas. Sprinkle with more salt and black pepper powder to taste.

Salmon Doi Maach-- Salmon in a yogurt gravy

Doi Maach -- Fish in Yogurt Sauce

Next week school reopens in my part of the world. After 2 and a half months of late nights, later mornings, lazy breakfasts, no school lunches, no worries of homework, unlimited story book reading time and any hour ice cream time, letting go of summer vacation is not going to be easy.

For anyone.Okay, at least not for me.

Sauteing Onions to grind into a paste

Though I was not at the receiving end of those sleep-in mornings and unlimited ice creams, it is my heart that squeezes in this awful manner, thinking of a summer that is slowly gathering up the hem of its laced skirt and preparing to say good bye.This summer has been one of those very laid back kinds, with minimum activities, no summer camps and the girls free to do what they want with their day. Well, for the most part.

Tempering oil with Whole spices

There have been several sleepovers, couple of picnics, multiple park visits, visiting friends in neighboring states, grandparents, beach, water parks, a short trip and a birthday party in the park for LittleSis. Nothing else was planned or chalked out and not once did they say they were "bored". BigSis of course read and re-read many books from Percy Jackson to Harry Potter, from the Malory Towers series that my Ma got to some Agatha Christies. LS learned to read pretty well but is yet to get hooked onto its magic, so she kept herself busy with imaginary games involving complex rules, which take more time to explain than play.

I think they had a good summer, kind of like those I had,only with air-conditioning. Listless, long, timeless.

Add the onion paste

And now here we are, with school starting on Monday. The prospect of two school buses at my doorstep for the two sisters, wrenching my gut. Darn, I am hitting menopause or what.

The supplies have been bought and labeled by BigSis. The bags have been packed. This is always an exciting part of a new school year though in this case there are no new text books involved. Supplies largely consist of  Sharpies, Folders, glue sticks, pens in certain colors, post-its and index cards. For LS it is glue sticks, crayons, glue sticks, color pencils, more glue sticks and did I say glue sticks ? I have no idea what they do in Kindergarten but it sure involves a lot of glue sticks.

Add fish and sprinkle kashmiri mirch

The start of a new school year was always exciting during my school days too. One of them was the new pencil box, which was a coveted treasure and the one thing where my parents gave in to fancy renditions. So I had those magic pencil boxes where the contents would disappear if you opened it a certain way, the two tier ones with Mickie on top,  the ones where the scale slid on and doubled as a cover and then shiny camel geometry boxes every year.Close second, were the new text books with their fresh smell and crisp pages and the Radiant Readers or Gulmohars with their new stories to leaf through.

In goes tomatoes and green chillies

There was also the act of covering each of them with brown paper. A daunting task which my Mother finished for the most part. While in the last few days of vacation, I would be busy completing the handwriting homework I had conveniently procrastinated, Ma would be sitting down with rolls of brown paper, a ruler and a pair of scissors, neatly covering each of the text books. I mostly covered the notebooks and then patiently drew lines on each of those covers to pencil in my name, classroom and section.

The yogurt which was mixed with half of onion paste, ginger paste, sugar and mixed thoroughly

BigSis has these things called book socks to cover her text books, the books that the school provides for the school year. The books mostly stay in class and are to be returned when she moves up. I don't have to pay for them. They are not new. But they are extraordinarily neat with no scribbles on the margins. However I see, she does not feel the oneness with these text books that I once did with mine. I would worry even as the brown paper cover frayed at the ends and started tearing at the spine and never ever leave them face open or upturned. She keeps the books neat but they are not hers to be highlighted, underlined or to make notes.Naturally so she does not feel for them with her heart either. They are just textbooks for the new school year.

It is the folders, pencils and binders which excite her more. And then there are the glue sticks for LS. All six of them.

Add water and let gravy simmer

Before I go onto the recipe, I must tell you about this wonderful event where my book is a part of the giveaway. It is hosted by Srivalli of the wonderful blog "Cooking 4 all Seasons". You can participate and try to win a copy.
My book is now also available for UK/Europe/Canada on Amazon at the Amazon.uk, Amazon.ca etc. And it is always there on Amazon and Flipkart. If you have read my book, I would also urge you to rate and review it at these sites as well as on Goodreads. It will be a huge help.
Soon, I will be having a couple of giveaways on my blog too. So stay tuned.

Almost ready!

Now to Doi Machh i.e Fish in a yogurt gravy features in my list of favorite dishes. Surprisingly this simple dish varies from one Bengali home to the other in the little nuances they add. My Ma’s Doi Maachh is pretty much traditional with raw onion paste, ginger paste and yogurt in the gravy and that awesome taste is what I grew up with. Then, when I saw my Ma-in-law add chopped tomatoes to this gravy, towards the end of cooking, I was taken by surprise. But her dish tasted just like Doi Maachh and yet was unique with this touch.
When it was my turn, I went further. Instead of a raw onion paste, I started sautéeing the onion lightly and grinding them to a paste which I then used in the gravy. I was trying to shorten the time it takes to “kashao” raw onion paste. Simple. In my book, I have a version of Doi Maachh where I have added even more twists and turns.

Tastes best with some rice

Though traditionally done with fish like Rohu or Carp, I find salmon perfect in this sweet and spicy yogurt gravy. Today, I will share with you my version of Salmon diye Doi Maachh, where the salmon is poached in the gravy and the taste is so darn awesome that my daughters lick it up.

And I am sure you will love this too.

Btw, you can use this recipe for the traditional Rui or Rohu fish too. If the fish is not very fresh I would suggest to saute the fish lightly and then proceed with the rest of the steps.

Salmon Doi Maach -- Salmon in a yogurt gravy

Prep Work

Heat Vegetable Oil in a frying pan

Chop a medium sized onion in large chunks and then saute it until it is soft, pink and translucent. Now cool and make a paste.

Next in a bowl, add about 1/2 cup of thick yogurt. To it add
1/2 of the onion paste
1 tbsp of fresh ginger paste
a pinch of turmeric powder
1/4th tsp of sugar
1/4th cup of water
Beat well

Note for creamier gravy: Soak 2 Tbsp of cashew for 10 minutes and make a smooth paste with little water. Add it to the yogurt above

Clean the fish pieces and lightly rub with salt and turmeric. Keep aside for half an hour. For salmon, I request the fishmonger to get the skin off the filet and then cut the filet into kabob sized pieces.

Note: Btw, you can use this recipe for the traditional Rui or Rohu fish too. If the fish is not very fresh I would suggest to saute the fish lightly and then proceed with the rest of the steps.

Start Cooking

Heat some more Oil in Kadai/Frying Pan.

Add the coarsely pounded whole garam masala
Elaichi or Cardamom~ 5
Laung or Cloves~ 5
TejPata or BayLeaves~ 2
Dalchini or Cinnamon Sticks ~ 1” stick

When they start sputtering add the remaining onion paste. Add about 1 tsp of sugar and fry the onion paste till the oil separates.

Add the fish pieces. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri mirch  and saute until the fish pieces lose their raw color. Don't overcook or fry the fish too much. It will cook in the gravy

Next add half of a large tomato chopped into small pieces and about 5 slit green chillies. You can also add halved grape tomatoes. Saute for 2 minutes,

Now take the Kadai/Frying Pan off the heat and give it a couple of minutes to cool.

Add the beaten yogurt/curd and mix with the fish. If you add the yogurt directly when the utensil is on heat the yogurt may curdle so you need to do this.

Put back the Kadai/Frying Pan on heat.

Add salt as required .Add about 1/2 - 2/3 cup of water at this point. depending on how much gravy you need, you might need more or less water.

Simmer on low heat till the gravy comes to a boil. Let it simmer till the gravy is thick and smooth and the fish is just flaking apart. The texture of the gravy should be silky smooth because of all that yogurt. Note: the gravy will not dry off totally but will be thick and not watery

Finish off with a little ghee if you wish and a little Garam masala powder. Serve with white rice.

Kolkata Style Chilli chicken -- the way Ma-in law makes it

Kolkata Style Chilli Chicken | Chinese Chilli Chicken

Indian Style Chinese Chilli Chicken is a hot, spicy favorite of almost every Chicken eating Indian. It is not authentic Chinese but an Indian adaptation which is immensely popular in Indian restaurants

Phewww...the last two weeks have been a tough week for folks in my part of the world as we are still reeling in the aftermath of the hurricane Sandy that made a landfall about 80 miles from my home. We felt the power of nature as huge gusts of wind rattled windows, my neighbor's tall willow tree swayed and finally fell, fences flew around like dry leaves in my front yard and we lost power.

People have lost homes and much more and so it doesn't sound right for me to start cribbing about my loss of power for several days. I guess the power became more of a problem since no one here has a backup power source and steady supply of electricity and water is taken as granted.Schools were off, traffic signals refused to work, most businesses, stores, including gas stations were unable to operate for the first couple of days.

The kids were the ones who made most of this situation though. They made up games to play by the flashlight, had many fun sleepovers, spent two happy days with an aunt which would normally have not happened during school week and lived life beyond the usual routine.

And it is in this chaos that I found many reasons to celebrate. That we were safe. That we had food . That we have great friends to tide us through the powerless days. That we got back power in time for election. That Little Sis can now clean her own bum.... Yes, yes that last one took me by so much surprise and admiration for LS.

She is the proverbial second child, the one whose potty training just happened without my breaking my head because I waited and waited until she was ready, the one whose reading or writing I don't worry about much as I have learned that a child attending a school will eventually do those, the one who eats more candy that her sister did at this age and I just give in tired of picking up any more battles, the one who is still the baby and gets away with a lot of tantrums I wouldn't have allowed otherwise. So the fact that LS cleans her own bum at school made me really proud. At home though she refuses to do that job. Yet.

She also likes "jhaal chicken" aka "spicy hot chicken". Big Sis also likes "jhaal chicken". So once we got back power "chili chicken" and fried rice was made for dinner. Indian Style Chinese Chilli Chicken is a hot favorite of almost every Chicken eating Indian I have ever met. The first time I had a hot, hot Indian style Chinese chilli chicken was many many years ago as a second grader at a small restaurant in the mountain town of Kalimpong. I knew very less about China at that time (not that I know much now) but my respect for the country had gone up just because of this single dish. I imagined a country where people ate Hakka Noodles, Chilli Chicken and Manchurian Fried Rice non stop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What is not to respect.

Nowadays every time I make this Chi-ll-i Chicken, I feel very very sorry for the Chinese. I mean here I am getting annoyed if someone makes alu posto in olive oil and here is the poor Chinese who is getting credited for a dish that has nothing, nothing except Dark Soy sauce as the Oriental ingredient. That is if I am in the dark about Huen Tsang's love for loads of green chilli and hot spicy chicken.

With due apologies to the Chinese here is my Ma-in-law's version of the Indian Chilli Chicken. Cook it, enjoy it and never forget it.

Ma-in-law's Chilli Chicken

In a mortar pound
2 clove of garlic
2 green chili
to make a paste

Marinate 1-- 1.5 lb chicken cut in small pieces with
garlic+chili paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp White Vinegar
and salt for an hour or half. If you can cut the chicken in 1" pieces it is best

When you are ready to cook add
1 beaten egg
1/4th tsp of Black pepper
to the chicken pieces and combine well.

In a shallow bowl mix
& 1/4th Cup of Corn flour
1/4th Cup of AP Flour

Add the chicken pieces to this flour mix so that the pieces are well coated

Heat Oil in a wok or kadhai or a saute pan. Oil should be enough for frying.

Add the chicken pieces in a single layer and fry till they are golden brown. Remove the lightly fried chicken pieces and keep aside. The fried chicken will be like popcorn chicken and ready to eat. But don't eat them!

Usually the remaining oil will be too much for the gravy so take out most of it and use 2 Tbs sp of it for the next steps.

To the oil, add
2 clove of garlic finely minced.
1 tsp of minced ginger.
and 4 green chili chopped in rounds

When you get the flavor of garlic( careful don't burn the garlic) add 1 cup thick sliced onions. Fry till onion is pinkish brown.

Add 1 red/yellow/green bell pepper thinly sliced. Saute for 2-3 minutes. This step is optional and can be skipped

In a bowl make the sauce as follows.
1 Tbsp of Soy sauce + 1 tbsp of Maggi Hot&Sweet + 2 tsp green chili sauce + 2 tsp of red hot sauce + 1 Tbsp of Vinegar and mix. Note: Soy sauce has salt so careful. Instead of green chili sauce add Sambal Olek or if don't have any of those add couple more hot green chilli finely chopped.
Add this sauce to the wok/frying pan

In about 3/4th cup of warm water mix 2 Tbsp corn starch and make a smooth mix. Add this to above and mix well.

When the gravy starts simmering add the fried chicken pieces & fry at medium high for couple more minutes combining the sauce and veggies till chicken is totally done and the gravy is thick and clinging.

Garnish with chopped spring onions if you have those and serve with Noodles or Fried rice

Chinese Style Fried Rice

Wash 2 cups of rice in water and let it soak for 10 mins. Cook rice in enough salted water. Once the rice is cooked drain in a colander.

Now heat Oil in a wok. You can use the oil that you have remaining from making the chilli chicken.

To the hot oil add 2 cloves of minced garlic and some black or white pepper powder. Follow with finely chopped carrots and green peas.  Add some soy sauce, salt to taste and cover and cook till veggies are done. Now add the cooked rice gradually tossing it with the veggies and sauce. Add little more oil if necessary. Finish adding all the cooked rice tossing so that all the rice is coated with the sauce and oil. Garnish with spring onion.

Ma-in-law's Robibarer Mangshor Jhol -- Bengali Mutton Curry

Robibarer Pathar Mangshor Jhol - Bengali Mutton Curry

Sunday Bengali Mutton Curry | Robibar er Mangshor Jhol

This quintessential Bengali Mutton Curry is synonymous to Sunday lunch. This recipe of mutton curry or panthar manghso is from my Mother-in-law and has a thinner curry or jhol than my Mother's. Mixed with rice and some salad it is a very flavorful meal

Bengali Mutton Curry (Panthar Mangshor Jhol)

Goat Meat Curry in the Oven

This post is not about clouds.

It is about Manghsor Jhol -- Mutton Curry. The Sunday one. The Bengali home staple that has reached a mythical proportion simply by virtue of us bragging about it. And Robibarer Manghsor Jhol does give us bragging rights, the whole gamut of it. We have nostalgia woven with it.

Bengali Mutton Curry

But I have written paeans about it in my earlier posts so today I will talk about clouds instead.

Not that I know much about them. The only times I actually watch clouds is when I am stuck in traffic or more specifically when I am stuck in traffic with two kids in the back seat. Also when there is no traffic but a never ending road and two kids in the back seat, I often suggest that they watch clouds. Somehow it makes me feel like a very free spirited kind of Mother, the one who makes blueberry jam and then spreads it thick on coarse rye bread handing them over to her children who play in the meadows by brambles and thistles.

Sadly I am not that kind. I have never made blueberry jam and my kids refuse rye bread. And we will not even discuss brambles. But I digress.

So anyway this random "cloud watching" thing inspired a desire in Little Sis to spend an entire afternoon watching clouds and nothing but clouds. And she wanted it to be done in a proper setting. Not from cars. Lying down on a sleeping bag(no grass mind you)  set out in the deck on some balmy summer afternoon, LS wanted to watch them clouds.

Amazingly two summer months almost passed us by and we never got a chance to do that! So when summer was drawing to a close, I grabbed a late afternoon with a good measure of clouds and we watched. No proper setting, no sleeping bag, not even grass. While BigSis was attending one of her classes we sat on the ledge by the sidewalk outside her class and watched.

"Wow. Doesn't that one look like a teddy bear?", I said trying to be at my excited best.

"No. It looks like a monster", said LS.

"Now that one is like a cute little doggy", I said all cloying and sweet.

LS who was now more interested in the rocks on the sidewalk than any cloud, glanced and said  "Nope. It looks like a big dragon".

"Come on. This one surely is like a magic fairy's hair", I blurted out trying to salvage a sweet cloud watch moment.

"Oita dushtu lok er moton lagche (That one looks like a mean person)", concluded LS.

And with that we closed our "cloud watch' chapter and concentrated on rock tricks,

*********

Okay and before I go onto the mutton curry, I have to tell you this. Soon after turning four, LS seems to have discovered the words "girlish" and "boyish". I have no clue where she got them from but she has been scattering her conversations with those words.

Today hearing her Dad's voice over the phone, she declared "Baba sounded very girl-ish on the phone. Maybe he drank too much pink lemonade"

*********

Back to the mutton curry now which is my Ma-in-law's recipe this time. Her Sunday Mutton curry recipe is different from my Mother's Sunday mutton curry recipe and yet they largely taste the same with finer points to be debated on. The mother-in-law's recipe involves marinating the mutton with  mustard oil, all the spices, tomato, onion, garlic and ginger that makes the curry. If you can manage to do this single step of detailed marination, the night before, the actual cooking happens very fast the next day.

Now on days when you are rushing and a simple mutton curry will do you can side-step the "kashano" or "bhuno" part of this recipe and directly make the jhol in the Pressure cooker. That jhol is a bit runny and akin to something that the famous author Syed Mujtaba Ali would refer to as "Bangali'r Mangshor Maacher Jhol" which means a Mutton Curry which is as runny as plain as an everyday fish curry.

If you spend 30 mins of your time in "kashano",then the same mutton curry becomes richer and more regal looking. Take your pick and have a lovely Sunday lunch of Mutton curry and rice. Oh yes, do cook the rice in the same pressure cooker with remnants of the mutton gravy to flavor it and little ghee. My daughters love that rice as much as the curry.

Ma-in-Law's Sunday Mutton Curry

Wash and clean 2lb of goat meat.

Make a paste of following
2 cups of chopped red onion
6 fat clove of garlic(12 regular)
2" of ginger peeled and chopped

Roughly pound 5-6 hot Indin green chili.

Chop 1 medium sized tomato. If the tomatoes are the tough. commercial kind just puree them or get a better tomato.

Chop 3 potatoes in half

In a bowl marinate the meat with
onion+garlic+ginger  paste
the tomato
1 tbsp Cumin Powder (sometimes I replace this with Meat Masala for a richer taste)
1 tsp Red Chili Powder or Kashmiri Mirch
1 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp Mustard Oil
1-2 tbsp yogurt
salt to taste
Ideally overnight marination is good but even 3-4 hours works well.

Half an hour before cooking toss the pottaoes along with the meat in the marinade.

When you are ready to cook, get your pressure cooker. If you don't have one, do not panic, we can also do it in a regular heavy bottomed pan, only it will take longer.

Heat about 2tbsp Mustard Oil in the cooker. Add a tsp of sugar and caramelize it.

Next temper the oil with
4 Green Cardamom/Elaichi
4 Clove/Laung
1 Bay leaf/TejPatta
a 2" stick of cinnamon

Once the oil is flavored add the marinated mutton and the potatoes. Add the pounded green chilies.

Mix everything well together and let it cook for some time. Stir intermittently so that the meat does not stick to the bottom of the cooker. The meat will also release some water. Wait for the water to almost dry up and for the meat to change color.

For a richer version of this curry, the meat is kasha-oed for about 25-20 minutes till you see the oil surfacing. But in my Ma-in-law's everyday version, we do not wait for the oil to surface. Once the meat has changed color and no longer looks raw, we give a good stir, and add enough water so that the meat pieces are submerged. Then I adjust for salt and spices and close the Pressure Cooker lid.

Once the Cooker starts going "Phissssssshhh", I wait for about 8 minutes or so and then switch off. I have a Futura cooker and it does not whistle so I am not sure of the number of whistles.

Make a wet paste of
2 green cardamom
2 clove
small stick of cinnamon
in a mortar-pestle
Once the pressure has been released, open lid and add this fresh garam masala paste(kaaNcha garam mashla bata) along with little ghee. Close the lid again and open only at time of serving. Thanks UshnishDa for this tip.