Fish Roll

Fish roll is another popular fish snack. Sometime fish rolls are stuffed with leftover portions of a fish or minced meat. While in Kolkata, although we used to devour fish rolls from street food joints or snack corners, we were equally in love with my Dad's homemade fish rolls. Among some of his other delicious recipes, this one is something that I can have anytime, anywhere. However this summer, I thought of learning the recipe while my parents' visited us. This is the easier version. I watched him from a distance as he is very particular about the uniformity of each rolls. I have to admit, the end result was excellent. 

Ingredients:
White fish fillet cut in very thin slices (I took 2 Tilapia fillet)
Onion paste, quarter of a big onion
Ginger and garlic paste, each 1 tbsp
Lemon juice, 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 egg white
Flour 2 tbsp
Bread crumb, 1/2 cup to one cup




Recipe:
Marinate the fish with salt, pepper and lemon juice for 15 minutes
Now add onion, garlic and ginger paste to the fish and marinate for 2 hours or more
now with the help of a skewer carefully roll the fillets
Whisk the flour with water in a bowl
Now roll them on the bread crumbs
Dip the rolls in the egg white
Heat some oil to deep fry

Bottle Gourd with Hilsa Head (Ilish maacer matha diye lau)

One of my caucasian friends once told me "you know, I have seen fish heads sold separately in Asian stores, they look kinda gross". To her shock, I replied, "in our cuisine we don't leave out any part of the fish either". 

I had some Hilsa head in the freezer. Unfortunately, my husband is not a fish-bone lover. I like to cook fish heads but because of him my consumption of dishes, using fish bone/head, has gone down significantly. In Bengali cuisine, fish head is cooked with dal/lentil or with vegetables or with rice. And the type of curry varies as well. This time I thought of preparing the heads with lau or bottle gourd. Bottle gourd is famously prepared with prawns. I have even heard some friends refusing to make lau without prawns. Lau with fish heads, however, is a common recipe. For this recipe I have used minimal spices to keep the aroma of hilsa intact. 

Ingredients:
2 fish heads cut into halves
3 small bottle gourds, shredded
2 whole chilies slit
1 tsp turmeric
Oil for cooking
Salt and sugar to taste

Recipe:

• Rub the heads with salt and turmeric 
• Fry (or bake for 30 mins at 400F) the heads very well and keep aside
• Heat some oil
• Add chilies, be careful of the spluttering
• Add the fish heads and the shredded bottle gourd to the oil
• Add the turmeric, salt and sugar
• Saute on medium heat very well until the water from the bottle gourd dries up

Bhetki Jhol (Bekti cooked in a light gravy with potato and cauliflower)

As voracious fish-eaters Bengalis have been able to add numerous fish delicacies on their list of favorites for decades. It's hard to find all the varieties outside of Bengal though, as most fishes that are eaten in Bengal are fresh-water fish, caught from ponds or rivers. On the other hand, the fish we get outside of Bengal are mostly sea-fish. But no matter what, we have never been able to stay away from fish for long. Hence, I have tried a whole bunch of different fishes that I have found in the Asian markets. Once we got a fish called Idiot Cod in California, that tasted exactly like Bhetki. Later I found Giant Perch, which also tasted like Bhetki, and looked more like it. Traditionally, Bhetki fillet is used for making fish fries. Whole Bhetki can be prepared in a variety of ways, from a light gravy to a thick mustard paste based sauce. It can be even steamed while wrapped in a banana leaf. Because of the hot weather I decided to make a light stew with potato and cauliflower.

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Ingredients:
1 big potato
Few florets of cauliflower
1/2 tomato
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 medium giant perch
Salt, turmeric per taste
2 o 4 Green chilies
1 tsp whole cumin
1 tbsp oil
1 cup water

Recipe:
Heat oil in a skillet or kadai
Temper the cumin seeds, add the chilies to the oil
Add potatoes first and then cauliflower and fry lightly until half done
Add ginger paste and tomatoes
Sauté for some time
Add turmeric, salt, cumin powder and saute well
Add water
Cover and cook until the gravy reaches its desired consistency

Salmon Batter Fry

One of my friends recently invited us to a dinner at her place where she served fish batter fry, another delicacy from Kolkata. It reminded me of so many sweet memories. As a lover of deep fried food, I used to look forward to fish batter fry in weddings and receptions. Another place where it became a custom to have fish batter fry was the Kolkata International Book Fair. There was a company called Ben-fish that used to sell varieties of fish-snacks in the fair. Although, many would argue about the quality of their products or fish, I cherish those memories and miss standing in the long queue for one of those batter fries. 
Traditionally, batter fries are made from Bhetki fillets. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait to make them till I got some white fillets, therefore, I made them with the Salmon fillets that I had in the freezer.

 

Fish:
8 pieces (about 2"/3")
Marinate with salt, lemon juice

Batter:
4 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp gram flour
2 egg whites
2 tsp coarse ground cumin and coriander
2 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
2 tsp black pepper or to taste
Water as required

Recipe:
Heat oil for deep frying in a deep kadai or skillet
Dip the fish pieces one by one in the batter and deep fry until cooked
Serve with salads

Prawn Coconut Pulao

I found some prawns in the freezer this morning. While thinking whether to bake them or cook them on stove top I remembered a prawn pulao that I once had at a party long ago. I distinctly remember the taste and smell of butter in the rice. It was cooked to perfection. It's somewhat hard to recreate the taste especially when something seems so perfect. Here, I went by the taste and the aroma from the memory lane. It turned out to be quite yummy. And as the French have figured out, the trick is, the more butter you add, the tastier it gets.

Ingredient:
About 10 large prawns, cleaned and fried
2/3rd cup grated coconut, lightly fried
1tbsp oil
1tbsp butter
Whole spices- bay leaf, black pepper, dried red chili
2 cups basmati rice, washed and dried
2 cups coconut milk, 2 cups water
Turmeric, salt, sugar per taste


Recipe:
Heat some vegetable oil and butter together in a deep skillet
Temper some 2 bay leaves, 2 or more whole dry red chilies and a few black pepper
To this add the basmati rice and fry until light brown
Add turmeric (1/2 tsp), salt and sugar per taste
Add all the coconut milk and water
Cook the rice on medium-high heat, adjust the heat as needed
Add the coconut and prawns, cover and cook for about two minutes
Serve hot

Salmon in Mustard Gravy

It's a hard for me to rule out salmon when I think of comfort food. Healthy, tasty, filling, and quick to make. It can be prepared in many ways, some of which definitely reminds me of childhood dishes. We had never seen salmon growing up in India. The only fish that could be compared to salmon was hilsa. It would also spend most of its lifetime in the ocean, then would migrate upstream to spawn. I personally don't find any similarity in taste between salmon and hilsa, but both have similar properties from a cooking perspective. Both take very little time to cook, and would become fibrous if overcooked. Therefore, I like to cook salmon in a traditional bengali way as well. As Shorshe Ilish (hilsa in mustard sauce) is a very popular dish in Bengal, I made Shorshe Salmon (salmon in mustard sauce).

Ingredients:

Salmon 1 fillet cut into around 2"/3" pieces
1 1/2 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp mustard paste
2/3 green chillies slit
Salt and sugar per taste
Oil for cooking
1 tsp mustard oil

Recipe:
Mix mustard paste, yogurt, salt and sugar together, marinate the fish with the mixture
Add oil to the pan
Add the fish along with the marinade to the oil
Cover and cook in medium heat, after 2/3 minutes turn the fish pieces over
Cover and cook for another 2 minutes (avoid overcooking)
Add the mustard oil and the green chilies
Immediately remove the pan from heat
Serve with rice

Prawn Malaikari

Another bengali recipe that is very commonly cooked and enjoyed is chingrir malaikari (Prawns cooked in coconut milk). Malai means thickened milk. For this recipe we use thick coconut milk. Cooking prawns in coconut milk or with grated coconut is commonly seen around coastal areas in India, where both are found aplenty. Like biryani, every bengali household have their own signature malaikari recipes. I got my recipe from my aunt.




Ingredients:
Prawns about 1lb. Unlike today, I usually like to use prawns with head-on
Mustard oil + ghee
3-4 tbsp onion paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
2-4 green chilies paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp yogurt
Salt and sugar per taste

                                            
 Recipe:

• Marinate the prawns with salt and yogurt
• Heat some oil and ghee
• Fry the prawns lightly and take them out 
• Add the onion paste to the oil, saute until completely cooked and oil comes out to the side of the pan
• Add ginger and chili paste and saute well 
• Add the rest of the marinade
• Now keep adding the coconut milk as you saute
• Add the prawns
• Cover and cook on low heat for 2/3 minutes

Kucho Machher Bora (Small Fish Fritters)

We consume pretty much last bit of a fish. Also, in Bengal, you can have fish of different sizes that you can cook in different ways like frying them whole, making a curry out of fish head, making a curry with vegetables, making kebabs or even making fritters with very small fishes or fish pastes. Since we don't get those familiar fishes here I tried these small fish fritters which unbelievably tasted pretty similar to the onion fritters that we get in the street food stalls in Calcutta. 

Ingredients:
Silver Fish 2 cups
1 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 cup cilantro chopped
2/3 cup onion chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 pinch ajinomoto
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1/4 cup black pepper ground or to taste
2 tsp red chili powder or to taste
1 cup mashed potato
Salt and sugar to taste
2 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp rice flour
1 egg (optional)
Oil for frying

Recipe:

• Wash the silver fish, squeezing all the excess water
• Mix all of the above ingredients except rice flour and gram flour
• Add the flours at the end as needed to bring it to the right consistency, you might want to add more if you think your batter is too runny or less if manageable
• Add 1 egg if the batter looks too dry
• Heat about a cup of oil in a pan for deep frying
• Make small flattened balls with the fish mixture

Fry them on medium heat, making sure fish is cooked from inside

Bengali Style Fish Fry

This one snack I can eat anytime. Battered fried fish. In Kolkata, you can find varieties of Fish Fry, marinated, battered or fried differently, with different names like fish fry, fish roll, fish batter fry, fish kabiraji, fish chop etc.. Even recipes of Fish Fry can vary from restaurant to restaurant. I have made Fish fry in different ways. Here is one of them. I will post some other fried fish recipes soon.

Ingredients:
For the marinade
2 Basa or Tilapia fillet, cut into thin slices, about 6 pieces
1/2 cup ginger-garlic paste 
4 green chilies
2 tsp mustard oil
1 egg
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ajinomoto
1 tsp black pepper powder

For making the fish fry and frying
Bread crumb and gram flour (or flour if gram flour isn't available) mixed in a 2:1 ratio, enough to coat all the fish pieces
Oil for deep frying

Recipe:

• Mix all the ingredients above and marinate the fish for at least 5/6 hours
• Add about 1 tsp corn flour to thicken the marinade
• Take the fish pieces out keeping as much marinade as possible
• Coat the fish in the bread crumb-flour mix
• Keep the coated fish pieces in the fridge for about 2 hours
• Take it out of the fridge about one hour before frying, so it comes to room temperature. That way you will have less crumbs in the oil while frying
• Deep fry the coated fish
• Serve with salad  

Ilish Pulao (Hilsa Pulao)

Bengali new year is a big festival in Kolkata. In our childhood we used to celebrate the day by wearing new dresses, exchanging hugs and sweets, visiting shops that would distribute free snacks and sweets. Most households would make their signature dishes on this special day either with mutton or fish or luchi and so on. In my childhood, I remember my mom making fried rice and mutton curry, while my mother-in-law used to make mutton curry and pulao. I used to make pulao and mutton curry on this special day to continue the tradition of both houses. However, this time I thought why not make fish as we as a family like fish the most especially when my 5-year old suggested 'elish' (Hilsa). 

Some people like to cook hilsa pulao with coconut milk, while I like it without that.

Ingredients:

For Fish

Hilsa about 6 pieces

1/4th of a medium onion

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp red chili powder

2 green chili

1/2 tsp corn flour

2 tbsp mustard oil

Salt and sugar to taste

For Rice

Any flavored rice, 80% pre-cooked, about 6 cups

1 tbsp garam masala

1 bay leaf

3 green chilies

2 tsp ghee

Recipe:

• Heat some oil
• Make a paste of the above mentioned ingredients for fish
• Add this paste and cook till oil leaves the paste
• Add water as required while cooking the spice paste
• Add the fishes and cook till fishes are done
• Take the fish pieces out and keep aside
• Keep cooking the residue of the gravy until water completely dries out and leaves oil
• Add ghee and the garam masala along with the bay leaf and the green chilis
• Add rice to this
• fry the rice for 10 minutes on low heat
• In a separate oven-safe bowl put rice and fish on layers 
• Preheat the oven to 400F
• Cook for 30 mins before serving

Muri Ghonto (Fish head cooked with rice)

Bengalis are known as fish-lovers, to prove the point they make sure not to leave any part of the fish, including head, fish fat and bones. Today I am going to make  murighonto, a very special dish from the state of Bengal cooked with rice and fish head. Ghonto is made with different complementary vegetables cooked together with spices in a thick gravy. Fish head is used for non-veg ghonto. Traditionally carp head was used but I will be making it with trout head today. There are couple of things to keep in mind when making murighonto, first, it should not be fully dry as it's not a pulao. Secondly, the rice should be cooked very carefully, overcooking the rice will make it look like porridge. Here is the recipe for you. 

Ingredient:
Trout head about 5
1 cup Kalijeera rice
1/4th of a big onion
1 tbsp ginger pastePotato cubed, about 2 whole
Half big tomato puréed
1 tsp coriander powder1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp whole cumin
1 bay leaf
1-2 green chili slitted
Oil, salt and sugar per taste
1tsp ghee






Recipe:

• Preheat your oven to 400F
• Clean the head and marinate with salt, turmeric and oil for 5/10 mins
• Spray oil on a baking tray, add the fish heads to it, cook for about 25 mins or until the heads are cooked well
• Break the heads after cooling down
• In a frying pan or wok add some oil (traditionally mustard oil was used)
• Add whole cumin and bay leaf when oil is hot
• To this add chopped onions, when onion is done add ginger paste, and tomato puree, chili
• After tomato is sauted add coriander powder, salt, sugar and turmeric
• After sauteing the spices well, (when oil leaves the spices) add rice fry until rice turns light brown, Add potatoes and fry lightly
• Add some water (about double the rice), cover and cook
• Add ghee and garam masala when rice is done
• cover and cook for 2 minutes
• Serve hot with rice

Potato Prawn Curry

In Bengali cuisine the most popular Prawn dish is probably the 'chingri maachher malaikari' (prawns cooked in thick coconut milk). While I like to make malaikari a lot, nowadays I like to make other variations of prawns that are simple and quick. Here is one that is very simple and easy for beginners. 

Ingredients:
medium to big prawns about 15(I have used head-on ones)
oil 1tbsp
onion (sliced)
coriander powder 1tsp
green chillies 1-2
salt
turmeric powder 1.5 tsp
potato cubed (2 medium potatoes)

Recipe:

• Marinate the prawns with salt and turmeric
• Heat oil in a pan
• Fry the prawns carefully keeping the heads intact. Set them aside
• Add some oil to the the same pan. I like to keep the residue, as it gives a nice smell of the prawns
• After the oil is hot, add the potato cubes. Add some salt and turmeric, fry well on all sides
• Add sliced onion, chillies, salt, turmeric and coriander powder to the potatoes
• Fry it for sometime then cover and let it cook for a few minutes, stirring and sprinkling water from time to prevent potatoes from sticking to pan
• After oil separates from the potatoes, add prawns
• Add 1.5 cup of water, mix and cover. Cook for 2 minutes or until done

Serve with rice.

Whole Trout

As a Bengali I have grown up eating fish and rice as primary food. We used to eat fish in a very particular way, whatever way you cook it, fry it first to kill the smell and making it little hard so can be handled without breaking. Then put it i some sort of gravy to make and keep it soft. Today while I cooked in a hurry, thought of sharing this whole fish recipe that I made almost in no time (well, I always cut and clean the fish right after I bring it from the store).

Ingredients:

Trout, whole (gutted and cleaned, I have separated the heads for a different recipe), 
garlic powder 1tsp, 
salt to taste, 
vinegar 1/4 tsp, 
yogurt (about 1 tsp for one whole trout), 
cumin powder 1/2 tsp, 
coriander powder 1/2 tsp, 
red chili powder to taste, 
sliced onion 1/4 cup, 
oranges or lime slices, 
cilantro

Recipe:

• ·      Make diagonal slits in the trout
• ·      Mix yogurt with salt, garlic powder, vinegar, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder. Marinate the fish in this mixture for about 2-4 hours in the refrigerator
• ·      Spray some oil in a baking tray, and preheat the oven to 375F
• ·      Stuff the fish with oranges, onions, cilantro
• ·      Cook the fish for about 25 mins., broil to get a crunch

Serve hot with white or brown rice.