BILATI DHONEPATA PEYAZ PARSHE MACH

 

MACH NIYE TUKTAK ; FISH -Y TALES!

I think I am a born fish lover! I remember, I was only six years old when I learnt to de-bone a chara pona / baby sized Bengal Carp that is quite boney! The maternal grandfather stayed with us as he was posted in Kolkata. Born & brought up in his home, we came to Kolkata mid 1976; with us he too came to stay in our home. He stayed till 1985, until his retirement! Every weekend, he would travel to his home 100km from Kolkata, in the Sealdah main line! In between these years, two years he stayed in a poorly managed "mess bari" opposite of R.G.Kar Hospital, under pressure from our maternal grandmother who was deadly against his staying in the daughter's home. He shared a very good rapport with our father, on whose insistence he again came back to our home. I always tell our mother that our father was not only good but his parents; my paternal grandparents were good too; they never questioned our father's proximity to his in-law's place, given his own parental home was far off! I have a question on my mind for long; I mean what communism has to say about patriarchy, chauvinism? A communist's behaviour towards the daughter-in-law's family may not have been nice! Unfortunately, that we cannot call a progressive mind! Bidisha cannot ever accuse our father of any misbehaviour; towards her or her family; the reason why she loved her father-in-law genuinely! After his death or before, she dealt with all of our father's official files; whilst I was not even allowed to participate in a discussion about what gifts to be given in a relative's marriage! I was told a daughter-in-law need not  interfere in "their family" matter! I was much relieved to get my own 550 sq.ft. home where I gave birth to the weirdest, but the most precious gift of my life! Back in track, the maternal grandfather would shop from DumDum Bazaar Monday through Friday and it was mandatory for me to see how the fish would jump; it was mostly live fishes in our home. Before he going to the office and me to the day KG school, he left the baby carp's head & single bone with little flesh attached to it and some rice; I ate that and learnt how to deal with a fish bone at a tender age. I could not teach our son that out of fear! Dadu was more fond of my little brother, both bonding over sports! 

CONNECTING FOOD WITH LIFE STORIES; OF TODAY & YESTERDAY!

What connection does the above family tale have with today's FISH CURRY share? There is definitely! Whatever came from the market, about 4-5 baby carps would definitely come everyday because the father & the grandfather had shaak bhaja, daal & chara ponar jhol before going to the office! The mother had to cook them by 8:15 am; yes, my family was the earliest to visit the market, DumDum Bazaar started business by 6:30 am! The father may not have required the dal, dadu did! I do not blame my mother if she did not take me to extra-curricular classes, the brother was born, then grew up to be a little naughty monster! Our mother's big helps were Muriwala of Joynagar, Naihatir Bou and later Shibani Mashi & Paran er Maa Dida! The curry she could manage in the morning was this; kalojeerey, kanchalanka phoron charaponar jhol / NIGELLA SEEDS & GREEN CHILLI TEMPERED BENGAL BABY CARP CURRY; some days with onion slices! During the season  of the CARIBBEAN CULANTRO / BILITI DHONEPATA, she would add its paste in the curry properly made later in the day! When the brother started going to the school, life got tougher for her! Being the eldest daughter in her family, people had big expectations from her, not monetary help though! Its also true that without her parent's assistance, she would not have been able to complete her graduation & BeD degrees! Her in-law's side of the family did not have any expectation of duty from her, only wanted more of warmth & visits from her. Today, I do tell her, "it was not okay alone that you did enough when the daddy's relatives visited, you had to visit them more and also call them more to your home as you did to your family! You were not balanced in discharging the duties"! Yes, my kind of daughters do exist! My paternal uncles, the two surviving keep good relation with our mother and also my eldest brother from the father's eldest brother. I think, our mother fed this RUSTIC, GLUTEN-FREE BENGALI CURRY to everyone in the family at some point in time, if not the guests! Not a single moment in her life was dilli-dallied, she was always in a hurry! She would not invite people, but there were always some people or the other in our home. When so, she could not but treat & feed them well; we were young & the father had no interest in household work!

WHAT IS THIS BILATI DHONEPATA PEYAZ PARSHE MACH?

What is MACH? It is  FISH in BENGALI! What is PARSHE MACH? PARSHE is BABY MULLET FISH! What is BILATI DHONEPATA? It is MEXICAN CORIANDER or CARIBBEAN CULANTRO? What is PEYAZ? It is ONION, in BENGALI! BILATI DHONEPATA PEYAZ PARSHE MACH is a quick-fix, done in a jiffy Baby Mullet or any smaller fish curry using onion, green chillies, nigella seeds, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, culantro or cilantro paste! It does not require a variety of spice powders or any spice paste but the only condition is that it requires very good quality, super fresh, less fatty oiled fish variety to be used! I had been very fond of this curry since my childhood and wanted it every morning with rice before heading to the school and college, else once back home! I so loved fish then too that during summers; I had to be served yogurt-rice with dollops of sugar and a fish piece taken out from the curry; which is a weird combination! I was in no way to sacrifice my share of the fish ever! The love continues but only for my choice of fishes. I like fresh baby mullets available in my hometown but not the full grown mullet fish found so fresh in the island! Its all about what you are habituated to; see below yesterday we ate a tamarind curry made with bigger grey mullet. Because, I am not fond of it, I made an additional omelet for us. Our lunch got heavy and then for dinner, we ordered the Canadian Pizza! The son is not around, so we get it in less frequency!

Today, I had a late lunch; was colouring my hair for a grey coverage and baked a vegan, gluten-free cake too! I did not even go for an exercise, what did I do the entire morning?

Today, Cristine did not cook the parathas well, the dough was stale too! This fish curry was done in November 26th, 2019; I remember de-boning the fish for the son who ate without knowing what he was eating. I remember the frown in the man's face who prefers fleshy, less boney fish like his mother! The rest what you see are dal with okra, either cabbage or banana stem veggie & boiled pumpkin! Because I do not get them super fresh here, I do not get it often!

INGREDIENTS :

PARSHE MACH / BABY MULLET : 7-8

BILITI DHONEPATA / MEXICAN CORIANDER / CAREBBIAN CULANTRO LEAF : 7-8

SLICED ONION : 1 TBSP

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 4-5

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1/2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY / KALONJI : 1/4 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2 TBSP [MY FAMILY ALWAYS USES MUSTARD OIL]

PROCEDURE :

We will clean the scales, stomach, head of the fishes well and wash thoroughly several times! We will marinate them with maximum of the turmeric & the salt! We will keep them aside for 15-20 minutes!

We will discard the two ends of an onion; peel, wash & slice it. We will wash the green chillies and slit them!

We will wash the culantro leaves well; chop & blend well, adding a little of water!

In a bowl of water, we will add the red chilli powder, rest of the turmeric, salt as required! We will mix it well!

In a wok, we will heat the oil & temper it with the nigella seeds! We will add the sliced onions & the slitted green chillies! We will give a stir!

Once the sliced onions turn golden; we will add the coloured water and bring the curry to a boil keeping the heat at low!

Once it has boiled for 3-4 minutes, we will gently add the fishes and simmer at low heat for 7-8 minutes!

Thereafter, we will add the culantro extract, gently stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes!

We should be done and have it with plain rice, both requiring to be hot!