CURRY AND SPICE: KAKILA / BOK MAACH DIYE MULO BHAJA

IS GAR FISH REALLY OUR KAKILA MAACH?

The little I could learn from the internet, it is indeed! I look back and can see a general picture in Kolkata suburb's wet markets! Specific fish vendors would sit with these kind of fish, "kakila, smaller parshe, a bit of puti or kechki, bayin maach / smaller eel, bhola"! You will know, they are small time vendors who lack financial ability. Well, I know some very well off fish vendors in Kolkata who own bigger homes in landed property or flats. They sell the pricier fishes; very big sized "Bengal carps, Hilsa, Aar, Boyal"! These are the vendors who have money power and you have to depend at least on one of them for your supply of bigger fish varieties. Then, if you are like what my side of the family is like, you will need some "chuna maach, khucho chingri" for the rest of the vegetables we cook to go along with the bigger fish curries and dal. Ideally, my side of the family still cooks two vegetable dishes, a dal and a fish or meat curry every day! Of the two vegetable dishes, one can be a saag / shaak / spinach dish; the other a vegetable medley with smaller variety of fish thrown in. There was an era, neither I or the brother considered a dish with a smaller fish good enough to call it a fish meal day; we wanted a bigger FISH CURRY! These days, I can have my meal with a shutki maach er bhorta / dried fish bhorta, chuno maach er chocchori / smaller fish & vegetables medley, maach er matha diye bhaja moong er dal / lentil curry with fish head! I do not think; my brother, the senior or the son can! There definitely had a meat or Bengal carp curry besides the platter you see; a dal, a shaak bhaja, a dish with radish & garfish; BOK MACH DIYE MULO BHAJA!

A LIFE THAT IS A TALE OF FISH, EATING AND COOKING WITH WHATEVER ATTRACTS THE MIND!

Quite nervous at the increase in sugar level; I got home a packet each of Jowar & Bajra Flour; yesterday! I started getting them back in 2019 and it stopped with the onset of Covid-19 when our movement got curbed. The husband refused to have chapatis made of multigrain flour; the son did not say anything. The son all this while did eat red / brown / black rice varieties, multigrain flour chapatis & porota, sprouted grain breads but the senior flatly refuses. He wants white bread, basmati rice, plain wheat flour & refined flour. Today morning; I prepared ruti for his lunch box using a mix of whole wheat + bajra + jowar atta; let me see if he can find it out & revolt. If he does not, it would mean he liked it.

This is just a cool, rainy season, we need a bed spread; thinking of the son in that dreadful, snowy winter; I am always in scare! He shares no information with us!

I did not let Cristine to make the dough; millet flour gives a lot of trouble. Indeed, I had problem rolling them; the dough got very soft after a resting period of 15-20 minutes; but I managed! they did not fluff up. In a nuclear family; how is it possible to prepare a separate dough for one person? I consider is a useless task, I eat ruti with less guilt if using multigrain flour. I will consider myself a winner, an expert the day I prepare a chapati totally with millet flour, not using any amount of wheat or refined flour in it!

RADISH WITH GAR FISH / BOK MACH DIYE MULO BHAJA!

It takes me down memory lane to a two roomed rented home in the suburbs of Kolkata; an almost broken legged wooden table, on it placed the neighbourhood's envy, owner's pride; a gas stove. The cooking got a bit faster; else in a clay oven; exactly the same amount of cooking was done. Cooking was not the only job to be done; the mother had to take care of the entire home, wash clothes; teach bhai and tolerate my "notun notun khabar er baina"! Amongst all these; she did not stop making "achar; bori; jam; jelly" facing extreme non-cooperation from the landlord. "khutinati ranna" is kind of a family identity; it got from their ancestral place. We fear loss of identity; so till date I must cook BOK MACH DIYE MULO BHAJA in the kitchen of a 1100sq.ft. rented space in a high-rise. A brother, his spouse, a man and the son may need only a rajma curry, a chicken bharta and fried rice or naan to smile at me or the mother; but we cannot. Even if; it gives us ample time to talk over phone for hours, start restaurant hopping right from the breakfast time. But I do not have the audacity to compare the family veterans expertise in homemaking with mine. I have a 24 hours help; the grandmother had to wash & clean the family dog, cow; swipe the garden; cook; get prospective customers for the coconuts & dried leaves to sell; prepare bori, achar; use a hand grinder to grind rice for use year long; separate the rice from the husk; entertain a flow of guests and multiple other works besides these! What do the feminists talk of; about multitasking? Because, I am a parasite, I do not blabber much against these people! Happiness is watching the son eating it if I de-bone the BOK MAACH; the man too does unless the fish is too boney. They refuse only against something that causes too much of aversion to their taste buds. The secret is, they eat such stuffs without knowing which vegetable they are eating. For that, we must blanch the radish and cook it in minimal heat for a longer period. Come, let us see what the family FISH & VEGETABLE RECIPE says!

Do you wish to see what I had for lunch today? Here it is! Multigrain Atta Chapati, Rice & Coconut Idly, Shojne-Kumro, Dhokar Dalna!

Now that all the leftovers in the refrigerator are done with, my head feels cooler! We can now proceed with sharing the recipe!

INGREDIENTS :

SMALLER SIZED KAKILA / BOK MAACH / GAR FISH : 5-6

RADISH : 2 STANDARD SIZED

NIGELLA SEED / KALO JEEREY : 1/4 TSP

DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3 [HALVED]

BAY LEAF : 1OR 2 SMALLER SIZED

GREEN CHILLI : 2-3 [SLITTED]

TURMERIC : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 4 TBSP [WE ALWAYS USE MUSTARD OIL]

PROCEDURE :

You might be wondering what would a fish dish taste like that does not use any spice powder or paste! Most of the family rustic recipes with vegetables or fish & vegetables are like this! You have to try once to know how they are! So, we are using two main ingredients for the dish. The fish must be fresh!

We will peel off the skin of each of the radish, discarding the two ends of them! We have to cut them in thin strips! We will wash the cut vegetable thoroughly and take in a microwave proof bowl; add a little of turmeric & salt to it; give a stir!

Cristine had cut the vegetable for me; the most difficult part of it!

I microwaved it at high for 5-6 minutes. In my family or most of the Bengali families; cauliflower, radish, cabbage is blanched before cooking! It helps stay steer clear of wind formation in us! My family does this part on stove top!

Once it cools, we will strain it and again marinate it with a little of salt & turmeric about 6-7 minutes before adding it to the wok!

We will clean & cut the fish into half or smaller pieces. We will wash & marinate them with salt and turmeric. We will let them rest for 5-6 minutes before we fry them lightly adding 4-5 tbsp oil in the wok!

In the remaining oil; we will add the bay leaves; halved red chillies & nigella seeds / kalo jeerey; give a stir!

We will add the blanched radish strips to the wok along with the marinade and fold in well. We will cover cook for 4-5 minutes at minimal heat!

We will remove the cover, stir cook for 3-4 minutes. We will add the slitted green chillies and the fried fish pieces and a little of salt to adjust the taste, if only required. We will gently fold in!