TANDOORI MOSHOLAI POMFRET ER GAMAKHA JHOL

Weekend arrives, we will do some elaborate cooking and how beautiful it looks when we place all the spread on the table. That is the scene at our home on Saturdays at around 4 pm. For the next two days till Monday I will not cook. I usually have my lunch at 5 pm on Saturdays yet quite energetic to attend a party or get together if any. As I always say do not follow me, I do not follow any routine in life, a bad example of discipline. I was not this until I was at my parent's home, the mother was strict about maintaining time. The marriage got me here where people had tea at 10 pm, dinner at 11 pm, everything opposite of the environment I grew up in. Crowded all day through, I found myself amidst a zoo and got peace taking refuge at my sis-in-law's room. She is the one who I found nearer to my nature. Girls do have to go through that ordeal of adjusting in strange homes in their mid-twenties.... to feel and say that I do not need to be a feminist, I came across some excellent males in my life. Coming to the point, after much of cooking-shooking, the mother thinks I am not doing enough, I feed stale food to my men..... I refuse to be like her, never could reach that energy level.

By the way, how does the pomfret curry look? I am not fond of it but it is a regular at home because my men love it, Cristine too. My dislike for pomfret started during my pregnancy, after that I never could like it, though I have it a bit when done with lots of spices, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato. We were at middle school when this poor man's fish flooded the Kolkata market. Hence, it was welcome at the month  end  in the middle class homes as our's. Mani used to cook it with lot of spices, different from our usual 'ada-jirey batar jhol'.... ginger - cumin paste fish curry. She even batter fried it with a spicy marination. Within few years it's price went up. These days I try to have pomfret, I see I can if I cook it with lot of spices. I prefer the batter fried version, marinating it with a lot of spices and lemon juice. I like my curries red, there is too much use of Kashmiri Mirch in my kitchen, my favourite is the Everest brand.... alternatively Selvi's. 

When we are talking red today, I felt the urge to talk about another 'red'. Are you aware of the "Binti Movement" or following their Facebook page? Please do, they have a very strong message for all of us. It is time we stop accepting all that taboo associated with 'menstruation'...... and believe there is no 'hush hush' matter in it. Till date, I cannot touch anything related to God during those five days of the month because the mother taught so. If I do otherwise.... my mother or grand mother may attempt suicide, I accuse myself too for been so prejudiced. As I said, I am not a good example to follow, do your bit for a cause .... support mission Menstrupedia.. I got to know about this mission from another blogger friend in Twitter .... writer_foodie. 

Any talk about the Binti / Menstrupedia remains incomplete, if I do not tell you about a real life incident ... one of some that makes me believe there are more good men then bad. It was 1990-91 may be. I was chatting with four of my boy-friends at 11A Bus Stand near our college.... Angsuman Hazra, Anjan Das, Aveek Dutta and Kunal.... the naughty products of Don Bosco, Liluah. The girls were not there on that day, perhaps they were attending class like any good girl. Without my knowledge, I started bleeding and spoilt my skirt. We got up and were walking towards the college, just then they noticed it. It was winter, as usual Kolkata winter never drives me to an urge to wear sweaters. What they did? Angshu lent me his sweater, tied it around my waist and all four escorted me till I rode the bus leading towards home. Friends are friends.... boy or girl.... Angshu, if you are reading this... you will only agree and your beautiful wife would not mind I am sure. My love for some men around stops me from been a so called Feminist, neither does it stop me from standing strong beside 'Nirbhaya'... that is a humanist call. We should stand up for a cause.

I will be wrong if I say my girl friends do not mean anything to me. I have come across a couple of loving ones. Today, I wish to talk about two of them.... my left and right hand. I will talk about the rest in different posts. The two are... are.... are... well... one is our very own Asha Parekh aka Tanushree Choudhuri and the other.... no gifts for guessing ... the vibrant Chandrayee Dasgupta.... from school till date and forever. Who is the binding force of the three... me off course. Both visited us in the summer of 2015 and the four of us went back to the 80's.... the day they went back, I could not enter home until the evening, got in when the husband came back... such an empty look it had. The stupid Tanushree is averse to social media and threatens me echoing my husband ... do not drag me into all these. She has an excellent hand in stitching, aspired to get trained at NIFD, got married instead after meeting her handsome. She is again into her passion after the son grew up... he is a budding cricketer perhaps playing for the Andhra Pradesh team? They stay in Vizag hailing from Sodpur, Kolkata suburbs. About Chandrayee, well she is a teacher teaching at higher secondary level back in Kolkata.... haha what do I write about our equation?... We fight with all might and then patch up with kisses... because my stomach aches if I do not share my heart with her. She accuses me of not loving her that much as she does and I accept.... 

I am that wave ... touching the shore and slipping away... at once... or the lonely bird you see above each evening.... a free spirited bird not to be caged... that is my whats app status.... you can see it if you have not blocked me as yet like some .... it feels funny to view myself as a dangerous, harmful material ... hahaha .... its all fun.... no pain babes... a series of mutton and chicken curries in line.... only botheration is of some dear veggie friends and off course blog visits. By the way, what is the colour of insults, pain, etc., etc...... it paints your face red, right?..... Anyway, red is my family's favourite colour and of my second home too.

I cannot differentiate between who are good or better than the other.... a man or a woman... we should never generalise it, thats how I feel. Then, I am not literate enough to think otherwise and prefer to cook something instead.... Two Ks keep me happy... kids and kitchen. I am on my way to a musical night this evening, on an invitation from a beautiful rose, before that I wish to share this pomfret curry recipe cooked with tandoori spice mix. I lightly grilled the spicy marinated fish before adding them to the curry. This way I could save some oil. You can also deep fry the fish. They say spices are good for us but not oil.... I have not done any research on it, hence cannot say anything for or against it... I only know I cannot listen to cooking in one table spoon oil each day with minimal spices... Karina... Twinkle... Priyanka will remain a dream.... no matter what... I loved the fat, pimpled face, oil drenched plated braid girl of sixteen then too ..... boy or a girl... love yourself enough not to give into any insults. Come let us do some cooking and sing together with Ranvir.... Aai Dil Hai Yeh Mushkil....

INGREDIENTS :

Pomfret [silver] : 6
Tandoori Masala : 11/2tbsp[I use Everest]
Onion [sliced] : 2tbsp
Tomato Paste : 1/2medium cup
Garlic Paste : 1tsp
Ginger Paste : 2tsp
Cumin Powder : 1/2tsp
Coriander Powder : 1/2tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 11/2tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp + 1/2tsp
Lemon Juice : 1/2small cup
Cumin Seed : 2-3 pinches
Cinnamon Stick : 2 one inch size
Cloves : 2-3
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Salt : As Required
Oil : 3-4 tbsp

METHOD :

Clean the stomach of each pomfret and wash thoroughly.... they have small, white, soft scales. Apply 2-3 tbsp lemon juice and little salt. Rub well and keep covered for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour. Wash thoroughly again.

Marinate each of the fish with the remaining lemon juice, little salt, 1/2tsp turmeric powder and tandoori masala. Keep aside for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Grease a grill plate with little oil. Apply 1tbsp oil to all the fish and rub well.

Grill for 5-6 minutes, take out and turn over. Do not forget to wear your gloves.

Grill for about 4 minutes, rest of the cooking will be done in the curry atop gas stove.

Heat the oil in a wok, temper with cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and green cardamoms. Add the sliced onions and stir.

Fry the onion till golden brown.

Add the ginger and garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and fry till the oil separates from the mix.

Add the red chilli, cumin, coriander and turmeric powder, salt to the mix and stir for a minute.

Add the water and bring to a  boil.

Once the gravy boils, gently add the fish. Use a bigger wok, we will not let the pomfrets break. However bad I look, I am very particular about the look of my home, my food.

Let boil at the medium to low heat for 3-4 minutes. We wish for a thick gravy. Once done, we will transfer the pomfret curry to a serving bowl and serve with piping hot steamed rice.