Tuesday, May 22, 2007

"Doi Maach"

One of the traditional "must haves" at all Bengali weddingsis the "Doi Maach". Rain or shine, summer or winter, no wedding would be complete without the doi-maach. Slightly sweet, fragrant from mysterious spics, served on steaming white rice on green banana plates. Oh, I wish were back home in Calcutta.
Here's an adaptation that can be whipped up in a jiffy.
Ingrediants (Serves 2):
4 x 100 gm pieces of rohu ( or any other fresh water carp).
1/ 2 cup of whipped plain curd or yogurt
Mustard oil ( Somehow, when it comes to fish, nothing else seems to substitute for the pungency of mustard oil)
4 large onions diced coarsely
1 large clove of garlic
3 small pods of cardamom
1 quarter inch stick of cinnammon
3 sun dried red chillis
2 bay leaves
Red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, sugar to taste
Preparation:
Clean fish, sprinlke a teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Mix evenly and set aside for half an hour. Heat 4 tbsps of mustard oil on a high flame till smoking. Carefully add the fish and fry till they are an even golden red (be careful as the oil tends to spurt, if you are not very confident, you can fry the fish two pieces at a time). Remove fish from pan and turn down the flame. Now sautee the onions and garlic till they become translucnt. Add bay leaves and red chillis.
Now slowly stir in the yougurt adding a little water from time to time to get the consistency that you want for the final gravy. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar to taste. Add fish followed by the cardamoms and cinnammon. Cover and let simmer for twenty minutes.
Serve hot with steaming rice and whole green chillis as garnish.
Tips:
  • Suggestions for a complete meal- Rice, "sukto" (the Bengali equivalent of 'avial'), moong dal with peas, doi-maach and ice-cream sandesh for dessert.