Fishing for a fish fry

The homemade fish fry is a throwback to the time when fast food was still made at home and anything shop bought was considered to be of questionable quality.This particular fish fry recipe comes from my Dida, who turns out a truckload of fish fries for all family get-together's. It tastes nothing like the food stall variety which has more bread crumbs than fish and made with the entire oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. Compared to that this stuff is borderline healthy !

Ingredients :
Bhetki fillet : 6
Eggs: 2
Bread Crumbs : half a tin
Garlic paste: 1 table spoon
Salt to taste

This one's actually so easy that it took me 20 minutes from start to plating. That is including the 5 mins it took me to wash the fillet after accidentally dropping it on the floor . 

If you are using Basa there is little or no prep required. This fish doesn't smell fishy and to be honest it doesn't taste like fish so stick with Bhetki . The downside is Bhetki occasionally has a  smell but it is negated by rubbing the fillets with garlic paste , salt and turmeric. I have seen mashi add a bit of vinegar as well. Potentially, you could add any other seasonings but my personal favorite is a bit of onion paste. Set aside and let it marinate. 

In a bowl crack open two eggs, let the yellows and the whites mix freely and add a bit of salt . Dunk  and soak fillets in the egg and roll it around a plate of bread crumbs until it's covered completely. I let it sit for a minute or two after. Heat up some white oil in your favorite non stick ware and fry. You could also brush it with oil and oven bake it for 25 mins at 180.c but frying is quicker and tastier. 

Serve with rice and daal , or the good old ketchup and mustard,  and let the bhaja machh ulte khawa begin. 

Potol er dalna , pointed gourd curry

 Some years ago , the cook fell in love and went away for the weekend.  She dint turn up again for the next 7 months. For those months Ma would come back from work and then hurriedly cook dinner, each time cursing the cook. Kabai would order lots of takeout and I perfected the art of making a sandwich. Potol er dalna was the first meal I cooked independently, following ma's instructions to a T . It has been mostly a hit except for the one time Shri Shri came to visit . A slight calculation error led my potol er dalna on the path to potol payesh . The divine intervened and the affair of the heart ran its course, the cook came back soon after.

Ingredients : 

Potol : 6-8 or more depending on the mouths to feed

Potatoes: about 2 big ones cut to match the potol halves in size. 

Jeera (cumin): whole and powdered

Turmeric: A heaped tea spoon 

Red chili powder: Totally depends on how hot you can handle this stuff. 

Bay leaf: 1 

Vegetable Oil: As little as your non stick will allow

Cut potol into horizontal halves. This is just a convention I really dont think it makes any difference to the taste. Add a pinch of salt and turmeric to the potol , mix well and set aside. There is actually only one simple hack to a good potol er dalna. fry the potol , really well . It should be a little brown in colour. If you have reached the charcoal shade, bin it and start again from the beginning. After the potol , fry the potatoes till they are lightly golden and set them both aside . 

Now to the good part. When the oil is nice and hot put in the lone bay leaf and a tea spoon of whole jeera. Wait till the jeera changes colour and starts popping out of the pan then quickly add a whole spoon full of powdered jeera  , the rest of the turmeric and powdered chili. This concoction tends to burn quickly so some rapid khunti action is required here. Time for the potol and alu to head back to the pan now. Keep stirring so that the gravy mixes well with the vegetables. Add salt to taste and with reverence to my one ghoti ancestor, a pinch of sugar . Add warm water and simmer. You can thicken or tighten the gravy as per your preference but I prefer the thick dalna to the jhol. Wait till the potato and the potol is cooked through , both should be soft. Add a tea spoon of ghee, of course optional, and serve. 

Masoor Daal...your average unpretentious everyday daal

Ingredients : 

Masoor daal : the pink colored daal 1 cup 

Red onions: 1 finely chopped

Tomato : 1 chopped

Chillies : the more the merrier but 4 is a good number

Coriander leaves : about a hand full 

Panch Phoron or Kalo jeere : a tea spoon 

Salt : according to taste

Turmeric: somewhere between a pinch and a tea spoon full. 

Masoor daal is easy peasy and was the first daal I made 9 months back when I had to start making bangali food for you-know-who . It started out as a disgusting yellow sludge but after several attempts and a smoke alarm , its almost as good as the one at home . 

Take a cup of daal and wash it . A lot of  mucky stuff comes out so wash it well. The pulses cook very easily so no need to break out the pressure cooker for this one and any saucepan with a bit of depth will do. Add 2 cups of water and a bit of turmeric and bring to boil . It takes about 15 minutes for the daal to cook. Add more water if it dries out. Continue till the daal is cooked completely, and  not looking up at you with wondrous eyes .i,e "cheye nei" . Total annihilation in geek terms, This bit is now done, move on. 

In a frying pan heat white oil. When warm add the panch phoron or kalo jire, which ever is handy. I like kalo jire , the panch phoron tastes weird if you ending up burning it. Add chopped onion and fry. Add tomato, green chilies, salt and continue till onion is tender but not brown. 

Now with deft maneuvering techniques  transfer the contents of the saucepan into the frying pan. I always end up spilling a quarter of the boiled sludge during this process. Add water depending on how thick or thin (patla) you want the daal to be.You might also need to adjust the salt accordingly.  Bring to boil. again. This bit is dull, switch on the telly and look for the remote. 

Add a handful of coriander leaves and some ghee and you are pretty much done. Remove from heat . 

Serve with rice preferably with some bhaja. This is the quintessential bhat er daal , not to be paired with a rooti if you can help it. 

Congratulations , you have now completed level 1 of daal making and you may now download another episode of the Mentalist.