Alu Diye Rui Macher Jhol: A
must have for ‘mache Bhate Bangali’ ( Rahu Fish Gravy cooked with potatoes-A
must have for Fish eating Bengali)
Bengali’s are one fish loving
folks. We have 100 different ways of making fish. Rahu, Katla, Ilish, Chingri
and 100 other kinds dominate our everyday meal. Although I did not grow up eating them, my father‘s
liking for all thing called fish had huge influence on me. Later when we moved
to India, like most Bengali’s they also became my obsession. My mother’s house
in Bangladesh has ponds. My family actually firmed sweet water fish and occasionally
when all grandchildren ( all of us) goes home, my grandfather would have fisher
men catch some fish for us. I hated the
idea always. I hated the idea of eating ‘pet’. Nevertheless, I liked the adventure. Early morning, just before sunrise, all the
jele (fishermen) would be in the pond in a circle with their net all over the
pond. They would scream and slowly move closer to the centre of the circle. Then
they slowly would pull the net towards the edge of the pond. Me, standing
beside my grandfather, almost hiding behind him, would look at the fish with
excitement. Fish…this big ( I guess they looked big as I was too small), so
many of them, jumping in the net. The fishermen would then only keep some and
let the rest go. The color of the fish- silver, gray sometimes and red as well.
Jumping. I liked the act of catching fish- fishermen, the pond, the screaming, fishermen’s
walking in the pond and then suddenly net full of silver fish jumping. But I also
wanted them to let go of all the fish. They cannot do that. That’s when I would
be really sad. Then came the cutting, cleaning and equal divide of the fish
among all families (my grandfather’s was a joint family with separate kitchen. And
they were jaminders and still are actually. Everyone knows my mother’s family
in Noakhali). The dadu ( grandfather) used to wait for me to be home to call
the jele to catch fish. For him it was his way of making me feel special. But I
used to be really upset that he was treating us his pet fish from his this this this big fish tank.
Now, dadu is no more and no one
catches the fish. When we went home in 2008, we spent time feeding them muri (
puffed rice). Wished dadu was there with
us.
I am cooking a fish gravy that is
very common is Bengali household for both lunch and dinner. I am using Rahu
fish that I got from Brick lane. You can use red snapper, mullet, sea
bream or katla.
Ingredients
6-
piece of Rahu fish, cleaned and washed
4-
Potatoes, clean and cut lengthwise
½-teaspoon
cumin powder
1-teaspoon
turmeric powder
1-teaspoon
of red chili powder ( use kashmiri chili
powder or paprika in case you do not want your gravy hot)
¼-teaspoon
on cumin
1-bay
leave
Pinch
of sugar (optional)
Oil
as require and as per taste
Salt
as per taste
Method:
1. Rub little
salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder over the fish
2. Heat some
oil and fry the fish, until nicely reddish
brown on both the sides
3. Take them
off and keep aside
4. Fry the
potatoes and keep aside
5. Meanwhile
mix rest of the chili, turmeric, cumin powder with little water and make a
watery paste
6. Heat rest
of the oil and add whole cumin and bay leave
7. When the
cumin is fried , you can smell , add the spice paste
8. Add salt
9. Fry the
spice mix until oil separates
10. Then add
potatoes and little water and fry
11. Add
water, depending on how much gravy you want
12. When the
water start to boil add fried fish
13. Add sugar
14. Reduce the
gravy and make sure fish is cooked and the gravy well mixed. The gravy should
not be too watery
15. Serve with
hot boiled white rice and dal
Enjoy!
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Thank you!
