Doi Ilish (Hilsa fish in yoghurt gravy)

Hello friends,

Recently I made a most extravagant purchase and therefore I thought it warranted a post on the blog. It was a hilsa fish weighing around 1 kilo. I know monsoon is the traditional season to enjoy them, but I just couldn't resist myself. Don't even ask how much it cost!

Now those who don't have access to hilsa, can replace it with shad. I have it on good authority that North American shad tastes pretty similar to our beloved hilsa and is supposed to be a good substitute. I never had an opportunity to put the theory to test (or taste) though.

But one component is absolutely essential and that is the mustard oil and that the dish must be accompanied with steamed rice, piping hot.

So please follow the recipe and enjoy:

Ingredients:

1 hilsa/shad fish with bone (weighing around 1 kilo, cut into 8 to 10 round pieces after discarding the head and the tail portion)
1 cup hung curd/plain Greek yoghurt (placed in cheesecloth or a rectangular piece of cotton cloth, folded once and tied up and hung for an hour or two over the sink so that the excess moisture is drained off)
3 tablespoon white mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon onion seeds (nigella seeds or kalonji)
4 - 5 green chillis (slit in the middle) (or whole, depending on how much heat you like)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup mustard oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

You can prepare doi ilish in microwave or in ordinary gas oven. I have described both methods here.

Preparation in microwave:

Wash and clean the fish thoroughly. Pat dry with paper napkin. Grind the mustard seeds  in a food processor  into a smooth paste with a little amount of water and a pinch of salt. Mix the mustard paste, salt, turmeric powder with the hung curd and beat thoroughly. Add it to the fish pieces. Add the oil and green chillies to it. Mix everything with hands very gently. Layer the fish into your oven-proof baking dish. Pour the marinade over it. Don't add any water. Preheat the oven to 210 degree Celsius and cook for 45 minutes. If the hilsa comes with eggs then it will take more time to cook - possibly close to 1 hour. You can prick the fish with a toothpick to see it is cooked thoroughly or not.

Preparation in gas oven:

Rub salt and a little bit of turmeric on the fish pieces and set aside for 10 minutes. Heat mustard oil in a saucepan. Fry the fish pieces lightly on both sides. Add the onion seeds and the slit green chillies. When the spices begins to pop, remove the pan from the flame and add the curd and mustard paste mix with a little bit of water. Bring it back to the flame and cook over very low heat. Add salt and a pinch or turmeric. Mix with a light hand. Cover and let shimmer for five to eight minutes on gentle heat. Add 1 to 2 tablespoon of water if needed. Turn the fish pieces once, so that they are all well-coated with the gravy. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Mutton Curry (Bengali-style)

Hey everybody,

It has been some time since I posted the last recipe. I have not been very active in the kitchen lately because my mom was staying with me for a few weeks, preparing the food for both of us. Also, I have been busy with writing a fanfic on my favourite character of Teen Wolf - the adorable douchebag Derek Hale, who is a devastatingly handsome grumpy werewolf on the surface, but really a teddy bear at heart. I have provided a link below if you are interested (you better be, for I spent a lot of time and emotions on it) and therefore had little time to cook.

Anyways, my mom left this afternoon and I prepared a farewell dish for her, which happened to be one of my favourites.

So here we go...

Ingredients:

1 kg mutton with fat (medium pieces, preferably the front leg portion of a goat or you can replace it with lamb as well and it will taste just as good)

1/2 cup lime juice

5 large onions (red/Spanish ones will taste better)

1 whole garlic

1.5" piece of ginger

2 large tomatoes 

1/2 cup well-beaten curd (yogurt) (optional)

1 tablespoon of cumin powder

1.5 tablespoon coriander powder (optional)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder/paprika powder

2 or 3 green chillies (or according to taste)

3/4 teaspoon sugar

4-5 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon garam masala (or half a teaspoon of baharat whichever is available)

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

3/4 cup mustard oil (or any vegetable oil if mustard oil is not available)

Preparation:

First clean the mutton well and pat dry with paper napkin. marinade for 1 hour with lime juice. It will help tenderise the mutton as well as lend a nice flavour. In the meanwhile, slice the onions thinly and chop the garlic finely. Make a paste of ginger in a mixer-grinder with the help of a little water. Roast the garam masala/baharat for half a minute or until the flavour comes out on high flame and set aside. Chop the tomatoes after discarding the seeds. 

Now heat mustard oil in a large wok/Dutch oven until smoke comes out. Reduce the heat and wait for half a minute. Put in the bay leaves first. After half a minute, add the sugar. Stir and immediately after and add the chopped garlic. When the garlic gives out a nice aroma, add chopped onions. You have to be very quick otherwise the the sugar will burn and stick to the bottom. You may of course add the sugar after you add the onions in oil just to be on the safer side. Stir fry the onions until pink and glossy and some of them at least has started to take reddish golden colour. Now increase the heat and add the meat pieces one by one. Continuously turn them to make sure they start to brown on all sides. Stir-fry the meat with the aromatics for about 10 minutes. Add the ginger paste. Continue turning the meat pieces after every 1 to 2 minutes. Keep doing it on high flame for about 5 more minutes or until the moisture from the meat evaporates. If the mutton catches the bottom of the pan, then reduce the heat and add a few drops of water. At this point the mutton pieces should look cooked at least from the outside. This is the time to add the chopped tomatoes, whole green chillies (slit them if you can handle the heat) and all the spices, that is: the cumin and coriander powder, garam masala, the turmeric powder the red chilli powder/paprika powder and salt. Now continue stir frying the mutton on low heat. after 10 more minutes, add the curd. Mix with light hand, cover and let it shimmer for a few minutes. Now transfer the the entire curry into a pressure cooker add 1 to 2 cups of warm water (it depends on how long it will cook in the pressure cooker) and pressure cook on high flame for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Wait until it cools down. When you open the pressure cooker, you will see the fat has risen to the top and the curry has taken a wonderful reddish-golden hue. This is the best time to taste the seasoning and to see if the mutton has cooked thoroughly or not. If it hasn't, put on the lid and cook the mutton for further 10 minutes. Serve steaming hot with steamed rice or flat bread (roti) or even pita bread. You can garnish it with chopped coriander leaves, but it is not really needed. The sight of a bowl of mutton curry with an angry red gravy is itself a balm for sore eyes.

Try it out and enjoy...

In the meanwhile, here are the links as promised:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5662795/chapters/13043074

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6049900/chapters/13870195