LOTEY SHUTKIR BHORTA

This preparation with dried fish is at least once in a month affair at this home. Purposefully, I do not make it once a week. In our family, any preparation with dried fish requires good amount of oil, garlic and onion and hence I avoid cooking it often. Else, we would want it every week. We cannot have dried fish undercooked, we have to cook it for a longer period. My family hardly uses any spice powder except for red chilli & turmeric powder in it. The amount of garlic, onion, green chilli, oil is what brings in all the difference to a dried fish dish. We love dried fish but not as pro eaters as those in Tripura & North East India or the Sylhetis of Bangladesh. 

We had neighbours of Sylheti origin in our Dum Dum neighbourhood. They used to say that they require dried fish / shutki maach dish too often, even in dals & chutneys. They spoke a dialect among themselves which is quite different from the usual Bengali we speak. What the rest of Bangladesh speak in we can understand but the language of Sylhet's I find difficult. At times, I do wish to do some research on such issues. If I come across a particular place or people, I wish to explore more and comb search the net. My problem is I can never pursue anything for long, to it's end. I keep engaged with the issue for few days and then forget all about it. This is a typical trait of insincere beings, they hardly can excel in life. However, this Bengali spicy dish with dried Bombay Duck  LOTEY SHUTKIR BHORTA is a life long love. These days it feels dried fish / shutki maach is my ultimate non-vegetarian love, then I fear of my health too. Of all the dishes I cook with dried fish, this particular one is most loved by the family.

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit relieved. Though I knew all the essential services shall remain open, I feared what if I go for my monthly check up and find the doctor's chamber closed? I went, it was open as usual but it doned such a barren look that I started feeling awkward. Usually, I reach around 9:15 am; though it's a 5 minutes walk from our home, the senior drops me there on his way to office. The chamber opens at 8:30 am and starts issuing tickets for the queue, the doctor comes at 9am. So, my number remains anywhere between 17-18-25 and I have to wait for a pretty 11/2 hours for my turn empty stomach. Yesterday, my number was 3 at 9:15 am and I went in straight. Instead of being happy, I was feeling awkward thinking how beautiful is normalcy in our lives. Here people suffer from normal flu throughout the year, there is crowd in the chamber every day, people are so scared that they are unwilling to step out for a check up. All of a sudden starting to like a bit of chirp around, a little demoralised me requested the doctor to give me two months' stock of the required medicines. He checked with my insurance details and complied. 

People of this island love dried fish dishes. In fact their sambal ikanbilis dish is similar to this recipe with dried Bombay Duck, onion, garlic, green chillies, red chilli & turmeric powders, oil which we call LOTEY SHUTKIR BHARTA. You see, I had to cheer myself up sharing a recipe we immensely love; even the condo's swimming pool had closed down, so is the gym according to Government directives. I just go out for short walks in the neighbourhood just because I cannot do the best form of exercise "yoga". If you are wise enough, do some stretching & yoga at home; eat in moderation.

The amount you see on the plate is what a nuclear family of 3-4 members can have three times a week. Remember, we need very less amount of it at a time to have with double the amount of piping hot steamed rice.

INGREDIENTS :

DRIED BOMBAY DUCK : 5-6 NUMBERS
SLICED ONION : 2 MEDIUM SIZED TEA CUP [OF TWO BIG ONIONS]
CRUSHED GARLIC : 1 SMALL TEA CUP
SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 6-7
RED CHILLI POWDER : 11/2 - 11/3 TBSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1TSP
KALONJI / NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 11/2 SMALL TEA CUP

PROCEDURE :

We will discard the head & tail end of each of the dried Bombay Duck fish and cut each in to smaller pieces.

We will wash them several time under running water as they have a lot of dust in them.

Thereafter, we will take them in a bowl and soak in hot water for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, we will peel, discard the two ends, wash and slice the onions. We will peel the required garlic cloves, wash and crush them. We will wash and slit the green chillies.

We will drain the water from shutki mach / dried fish pieces. We will not marinate with salt as they are marinated with salt and then sun dried.

We will heat the oil in a wok and temper with nigella seeds. We will add the crushed garlic and stir at medium heat for a minute.

We will lower the heat and add the sliced onions once the crushed garlic turn brown.

Once the onions turn golden brown, we will add the slitted green chillies. We will stir the entire thing for a minute.

We will now add the dried Bombay Duck pieces, stir and put the heat at minimal. We will cover cook it for 10 minutes, stirring in between.

We will remove the cover; add the turmeric & red chilli, salt as required. We will stir at the minimal heat for 2 minutes.

We will now add 1 small tea cup of water, give a stir and cover cook until the water dried up. We must uncover and check in between.