CHUNO MAACH DIYE ALOO PEPE

SUNDAY OR MONDAY; IT IS FOOD THAT NEVER LEAVES THIS HOME! 

So long I am active; food be seen everywhere in this home, there be no shortage of food! I am out of home mostly to collect food or eat it. It was a Sunday yesterday, I went out to shop for my Monday's client, came back home, again went out for a walk locally. I had to enter the mall to get lunch for the man; this one meal of his I sponsor. Although I cook a lot on a Saturday, we usually do not touch them on a Sunday. I got him a KFC meal and myself decided to have home cooked food. Ask me why? I wanted to have the "ucche-bhindi-aloo-begun bhaja o makhon kanchalanka diye bhaat" asap. Yes, you heard it right! I am totally into the family veterans' shoes with regards to the food habits! I repeat, I was eager to have a lunch with a bitter gourd+okra+eggplant+potato fry with hot rice, butter and a green chilli. May be because I do not wait for a weekend to have outside food, I eat what I wish when, so the cravings are not much! I had clicked them as a proof!

The man does not have soft drinks, he has his own hard drinks all of the weekend. So, there and then I had the zero calorie coke, after a walk I needed it. Actually, I wanted a strawberry milkshake from Mac, then I saved that three dollars, because the coke had to be taken. I rarely have soda drinks; I dislike. But, I had that chicken n mushroom curry puff from Old Chang Kee because I was hungry and it was already 2 pm. Back home, usually I have a few cleaning jobs to be done because Cristine is not home on a Sunday! I had my lunch around 4 pm! The man did not want two packets of French Fries which I got instead of the potato mash with melted cheese. Alongside, we were watching movies and documentaries for the entire weekend; Crisscross; docu-feature on Osho Rajnish & Charles Shobraj!

THE HUNT FOR FOOD & RECIPES NEVER END AT THIS HOME!

The man had his lunch and would not want any oily stuffs until dinner. This lady had two malpua and three jeera cookies with her evening tea!

I think I have a malpoa addiction. I perhaps can eat it every day, it requires so much oil to fry that I do not do it often. After all these intakes, I was in fear because I ate double the amount of rice I should actually for lunch. I am never wise when it comes to eating. I served the man "dim sheddo aloo sheddo bhaat" and I had "khoi, kola, doi". Who asked me to eat the remaining little of rice with butter, salt and chilli, I could have refrigerated, right? 

Trust me! I cannot resist myself from eating, the thought of going on diet terrorises me. The little I do to help me eat is I go for a walk on a Sunday noon when I actually want to sit with the man, watch a series and plan our future courses. But a little of cardio is not enough for weight loss given my diet. I am 50+ now and planning since my 20's to get a slimmer self. I was made to do different exercises, I myself tried a few but I never succeeded because I love the word FOOD and dislike exercising & dieting. Anyway, I set good yogurt at home, right? I do, but nothing is like an "eksho gram er bhar e mishti doi"! 

WHAT IS CHUNO MAACH DIYE ALOO PEPE?

You will see Bengalis cooking similar recipes wherever they are, only if they want BENGALI FOOD on their plate. PAPAYA is indeed bland in taste but with immense health benefits. We were made to eat it regular, in dals, in curries, as boiled and mashed. It comes no where near to mashed potatoes / "aloo sheddo" in taste. But, yes, I always used to love my share of ALOO PEPER DALNA / POTATO N RAW PAPAYA CURRY! This recipe of mine is the most viewed one in the blog; quite surprising to me! Similar to it is chayote which cooks quicker and I like it too! But I stick to having and feeding RAW PAPAYA to my family and they eat it! Even in those days with our parents or in the present, adding prawns to a potato & raw papaya curry is considered a delicacy among us; I have the recipe CHINGRI ALOO PEPER DALNA existing in the blog! It was sometime in January that I prepared this semi-dry CURRY with RAW PAPAYA, POTATO & a Smaller Variety of FISH! It had been a family thing to throw in prawns and smaller variety of fish in different vegetarian dishes; I follow the same! For us, this addition enhances the taste. We enjoyed this CHUNO MAACH DIYE ALOO PEPE with plain rice, Mango Dal / Aam Dal & Spinach / Aloo Begun Diye Palong Shaak; on that day! For me it is a good meal, the rest definitely required a chicken or mutton or salmon or "aar maach er jhol" on the side!

INGREDIENTS : 

SMALLER VARIETY OF FISH : 150-200 GM

RAW PAPAYA : A SMALL SIZED OR THE HALF OF A BIGGER

POTATO : 1 BIG

GREEN CHILLI : 2-3 

GINGER PASTE : 1 TBSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1/2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP

OIL : 4-5 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We have to clean the stomach of each of the tiny fish variety we got home; you can rub them a bit on the kitchen top; I do not do always. Then, we have to wash the fish quite a few times, taken in a bowl. We will marinate the fish with a bit of salt & turmeric and keep aside for 10-12 minutes.

We will peel the papaya after cutting it into half! We will further cut half each of the pieces and thinly peel off the inner walls, else our curry would turn bitter. We will cube the longer pieces, wash them and marinate with little of salt and turmeric.

We will peel, wash and cut the potato into 8 pieces. We will marinate them with a little of salt and turmeric.

We will wash and slit the green chillies. In a bowl, we will take together the ginger paste, the rest of the turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander and cumin powders, salt. We will add 2 tbsp of water to it and mix well.

We will heat the oil in the wok and fry the fish, discarding the marinade. We will take them out. We will temper the oil with cumin seeds and a bay leaf! 

We will add the spice paste and stir fry well at minimal heat for 2-3 minutes. We will add the marinated raw papaya pieces and fold in well. We will cover cook for a pretty 7-8 minutes, stirring in between removing the cover.

At this stage, we will add the marinated potatoes, fold in well and cover cook for 4-5 minutes; stirring in between. Our families do fry the papaya & potato pieces separately, but I mostly do not to save oil.

We will then open the cover, add the slitted green chillies and the fried fish, fold in well. Thereafter, we will add half coffee mug of water to the wok and fold in well. We will cover cook at low heat for 5 minutes and remove the cover. We will add the sugar, fold in well and cook for another 1-2 minutes. We should be done.

It is now ready to be served! Have it hot for the best taste.