MACHER CHOP

For us Bengalis, any time is chop [croquette?] time. We do not need a festival or a special occasion to have this deep fried breaded fish mince cooked with spices. It is usually an evening tea time pleasure for us. Earlier, I remember the middle class Bengali homes would have chop with muri [puffed rice] and tea around 7.30 pm when the rest of the world usually had their dinner. Now a days, perhaps it has become a week end affair. At least, in my home the small eater senior will not have anything but a small bowl of nuts on the weekday evenings. He cannot have early dinners, in our home we maintain the unhealthy practice of having dinner late.

Chop / Croquette,  an evening time fried snack is a quintessential part of the Bengali food culture. We prepare chop with almost anything, vegetables, fish, meat, egg. We either have it just like that or accompanied by jhal muri[spiced up puffed rice], in case of the vegetarian ones. Tea is a must have with any kind of fritters. When I got married, I almost fainted to see the man's side of the family having tea end number of times throughout the day, even at an unearthly hour of the night, say 10 pm. The early to bed kind of a girl thought when will they have dinner so that she gets to dive into the bed. Later, the situation improved with a cooperative pa-in-law who too wished to finish his dinner by 10-10.30 pm and retire for the day.

These fish chop / croquettes were made last week as a week end fiesta. I usually try to prepare something special on the weekends as they are special with my men. If we are not going anywhere, we will have a late lunch, spend a leisurely evening over chitchat, tea and chop / fritters / fries. Come let us do Fish Chop in few easy steps.

INGREDIENTS :

Any Firm White Fish Fillet : 500gm
Potato : 2 medium sized [boiled]
Onion : 1big [sliced]
Minced Garlic : 1tbsp
Minced Ginger : 1/2tsp
Green Chilli : 2 [chopped]
Cumin Powder : 1/2tsp
Coriander Powder : 1/2tsp
Cinnamon Powder : 1/4tsp
Cardamom Powder : 4-5 pinches
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Sugar : 1/2tsp[optional]
Bread Crumb : 1 coffee mug 
Egg : 1- 2 [beaten] [Alternatively a batter made of 2tbsp Refined Flour & little water]
Refined Flour : 2tbsp
Chaat Masala : Little to sprinkle atop the fried stuff
Oil : 200-250ml [to fry]

PROCEDURE :

Wash and cut the fish fillets into smaller pieces and boil them in enough water for 5 minutes adding little salt. Else we can microwave it at high for 7-8 minutes. Once cool, drain the water and mash it with your right palm.

Pressure cook the potatoes in enough water up to 1 whistle adding little salt. Once cool, peel and mash them.

Heat the oil in a pan. Temper with minced garlic and ginger. As they give a nice aroma, add the sliced onion. Fry till brown.

Add the mashed fish fillet to it and keep stirring for 4-5 minutes till the water released dries up.

Add all the spice powders and turmeric. Stir well for 2-3 minutes.

Add the mashed potato, salt and sugar. Fold in very well. Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add the refined flour and fold in well.

Once cool, shape as you wish. Roll onto the bread crumbs taken on a plate. Put onto the beaten egg and then again roll onto the bread crumbs, just as below. I mean, we will repeat the exercise. At times, instead of eggs, I use a paste made with refined flour and water too!

Our fish chops are ready to be refrigerated. I refrigerate at least for a day any kebab or breaded stuffs before frying them. I have learnt this from others in the trade to avoid breakage while frying.

Shaping them was Cristine's credit; I had only shown her how I want them. 500 gm of fish fillets would give you 18-20 croquettes.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the fish chops in batches, at low heat. Keep splashing oil on the top while frying.

Once done, transfer them on a tissue paper to get rid of excess oil, as below.

After sometime, transfer them to serving plate, sprinkle little of the chaat masala on them  and serve with your choice of salad, tea / coffee!