Sunday, July 18, 2010

MACHHER JHOL WITH BADI AND VEGETABLE, summer delight

Nowadays I am in a great mood to cook non-irritating dishes because of the high heat and humidity. So I’m cooking many dishes including stir fried vege south Indian style, Pachhedi, Oriya style Santula, thin sweet and sour tuar dal with a traditional pleasant seasoning etc. 
This is a very simple and common Bong style dish where seasoning and the oil to turmeric ratio makes all the difference. This is generally eaten with rice with little of lemon squeezed into, while eating. 
Please don't worry, before these summer dishes become irritating because of continuous use, I shall come up with real great dishes. In fact I am in the process of making few; as my old friend is coming for dinner. 
THE RECIPE 
This is a simple jhol ( very thin gravy) with out any spice, onion , garlic etc but a little seasoning and turmeric is used to emulsify the thin gravy to a uniform light brown color. This is very bland curry , but I like it. 
INGREDIENTS 
1, Fish 6 pieces ( any fish, including small ones, will do.) I have used Rohu), marinated in salt and 1/2 tsp Turmeric.
2. BaDi 10 no or more. (This BoDi must be Bong or Oriya style designed to be used in curry. Punjabi masala BoDi is unsuitable for this dish.)
3, Green chili 4 ( 2 for seasoning 2 of more to be added separately)
4. Vegetable ( any one vegetable like Egg plant, raw banana, parmal, ridge gourd, Amaranth, potato etc)
5. Turmeric powder 1 heap tsp
6, Mustard oil or any other oil 2 tbsp.
7. Red chili powder is optional . I haven't used here . The green chili is good enough
Seasoning. 
Here I will use 3 phoDon ( means 3 type seeds for seasoning or tempering).
1 tsp of combined , Fennel, Methi and Randhuni seeds ( Randhuni is wild Celery, you can use normal Celery seeds)
2 red chili and 2 green chili
(The conventional seasoning is kala jeera or panch PhoDon)

THE PROCESS 
marinate Fish in salt and 1/2 tsp Turmeric., keep for 15 min or more.

Keep handy ,  Badi and green chili and seasoning , 
Cut vegetables. ( I have used egg plant as I did not have the raw banana or ridge gourd, my favorite for this dish) 

seasoning 
Fry the fish and the BoDi. The fish should be surface-hard fried. Sallow fry at high heat to brown the surface and fast. The inside will remain soft and juicy. A prolonged and slow fry will dehydrate fish to a great extent. The Badi  is to be fried brown.
Take 2 tbsp or more oil and any left over oil from fish or BaDi frying. Give seasoning in the following order..slitted green chili, 30 seconds followed by the red-chili and spice together. As the aroma comes , immediately add the vegetable and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 cups of water.
Egg plant added 
Water added. Isn't it looking frightening ? Some Brinjal pieces floating on transparent plain water ? 
Now the real steps..add one tsp Turmeric, 2 tsp mutard oil raw ( for bongs) , salt and more green chili, whole,  and bring to vigorous boiling, add Badi and cover. Boil for 5 minutes and see if the jhol has become light brown and emulsified and uniform in color..i.e no oil or water separation. If you see dark brown oily surface, add 1/4th tsp Turmeric , more water and fish, continue boiling for another 5 min or more.Remember the BaDi will soak up lot of water. The jhol is ready , to be eaten with rice and  lemon ( preferably " Gandho lebu" means the lemon which has a distinct strong lemony fragrance apart from being sour.)

Dear Friends
I read all the blogs of yours , but have become bit irregular in putting my great appreciations in the comment form, will catch up soon.

34 comments:

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

non irritating food. naamta darun. garome sotti khub halka khabar khete ki bhalo lage. aar eita amader favourite. the pre requisite for this dish is the fresh ingredients. bhalo mach pele amra khub banai. oi tuar dal er recipe ta please share korun na. tak mishti dal khete darun lage.

Gauri Gharpure said...

always used to wonder abt the liberal use of turmeric in some dishes.. :) can you give the recipe of making shukto sometime?

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Gauri
Yes I use huge quantity of turmeric , and I dont tell any one...
I havent cooked sukto recently ..
Please try this at Sayantani's blog, awesome. I have cooked many times. http://ahomemakersdiary.blogspot.com/2010/02/shukto-bitter-vegetable-curry-in.html

Also there must be good sukto recipe at Sharmila and Bong Mom

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sayantani
If I have to tell you how to make Tak misti dal...it will be like Maa-r kachhe mama BaDi-r Galpo..ha ha

The one I make , boil HaraD dal with salt and turmeric..when it is soft add tetul gola and boil further ( use raw mango now as it is available). Then add Jaggery ( sugar is also OK. It should be high on sour and sweetness ( ChaDa misti ...chaDa tak)
Now take bit of oil and give red chili and mustrad sombora. Thats all. Some people give Panch PhoDon seasoning too. In a Oriya version , you can use Curry patta, Mustard and red chili sombora ..Actually the Harad dal flavor aqdds to the taste ..dont try with other dal.

Pari Vasisht said...

A simple non-irritating food, I will replace the fish though.

Satya said...

Hi Ushnish ,
i happened to suddenly come across your blog...you a lovely collection of recipes and suprised to see you have time to cook with all the traveling : )nice photos of all travels. my hubby and myself enjoying see some of your travel posts and got inspired...it would be nice if you could your travel blog more informative with restaurants and stay information...this way we feel new travellors can benefit without fear of seeing new places as it is coming from a reliable source like yourself...my hubby actually mentioned this as he says lonely planet.com does the same.Hope you dont mind this tip as we feel you have wonderfull experience of travel to all these lovely places...

if you get time do visit my blog

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Parita said...

I am sure D would love this :)

Pavithra Elangovan said...

WOw mouthwatering dish and i love the tadka and the recipe as well. But I have to replace fish with someother thing... the color and the dish is truely tempting.

PJ said...

non-irritating foods are the best for the summer heat! this fish curry sounds delicious. i didnt know randhuni is wild celery seeds.. always wondered if celery was used in traditional indian cuisines.

aipi said...

Hi Ushnish - saw your comment on my blog. I am glad you like the bihari recipes. Although I am a vegetarian but given the region I come from borders west bengal, I grew up definitely watching a lot of fish curry being cooked and eaten and I can tell you, your version above looks awesome. Appears that you are very well traveled so I assume your food must reflect that. I will surely browse through your blog to look for any vegetarian stuff I can find and try it out. Glad to have found your site. Do keep in touch.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

I liked the term that you have used for this preparation "non-irritating food" :-) Ami ekta pyaaj na diye pari na....holud apnar motun hi generously di. Plain bhaat er shaathe darun lage gorom kal e ....wonderful...Keep rocking...

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Prajakta
Wild Celery seeds are used in Bong dishes for sure...I will try to come up with a fish curry using Celery seed paste and also as a seasoning in Masoor ki dal.
I have doubt if the wild Celery is really available in bulk nowadays....and must have been replaced by seeds available commercially...but doesnt make a diff in taste or flavour as I have used both,
Now must go to your site to see what is waiting for me.
have a nice week

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Gauri
I have replied to your blog. Try Sayantani's sukto..amazing !!!

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Pari
The taste is very bland...how it will taste without fish I dont know. But I do make mixed vege, with lot of water like a soup with this recipe. The taste comes from the seasoning and use of turmeric and oil. You wont get turmeric smell, but dont fry the Haldi, then it will smell of haldi.
Tr chopped onion and smashed garlic after seasoning...
have a nice week
ushnishda

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Aipi
Thank you for your appreciation. I am going to see all that you post...my pastime..

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear satya
Thank you so much. I have responded at your blog.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Pavitra
I know you are Vege...but I did not give a vege option...Please read my comments at Pari above..and then only try..you wont lose anything if you dont try this recipe.ha ha

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Deepa
you said it. A dash of onion makes lot of difference.I make it too. But lazy people like me make short cut and mask it by Gandho lebu.
Try a PaNch or tin ( 3) Fodon with few smashed garlic with skin on,( dont use chopped garlic) followed by onion.... amazing flavor.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear parita
Thank you...but this dish is very bland without fish..but the turmeric makes all the diff.
You can use bit of garlic , onion with vege...soup like final product and eat with toasted few breads...

Kanchan said...

Loved your fish curry !

Monday morning drooling over fish curry... whole week i'm gonna feel the need for fish now :)

Loved your variety .. its totally different from the fish curries I have.

Devasena Hariharan said...

Different and new to me! what's BaDi. Is it a crispy..

Looks inviting and tasty. Hope someday I visit you and aunty to taste this jhol.

Vrinda said...

Nice simple recipe..Never tried mustard oil in my cooking,will try it sometime...

Preeti Kashyap said...

Such a simple and fuss free recipe! looks yumm...i love turmeric flavor to the dish with out the usual ginger-garlic and heat inducing onions.

Fathima said...

that looks like a nice fish curry.. I am a big fan of fish curries that have fried fish in it... It always enhances the taste of the fish ...

Kalyan Karmakar said...

Ghosh Kaku this sounds like the patla machher jhol that they used to serve in the thali in Hotel New Bengal. Used to be like connecting with home when I had just landed at Mumbai years back

Nandinis food said...

Wow! I love any dish with fried fish! Nice rhyme, eh? I'm being hyper right now and I wanna gulp some immediately!

sangeeta said...

coming after a long time and this no fuss recipe is yummy i know.... the plain urad bodi tastes good with brinjal n i make that in pressure cooker without fish sometimes..

Sarah Naveen said...

I love Fish....This looks absolutely delicious..

Chetana Suvarna Ganatra said...

Dear Ushnishji,
I never knew u r back rocking ur blog...lemme chk wat I missed.
Btw dis is just too good n de fish pic is making me hungry. Sadly I hv a egg sandwich n tomato soup for lunch n now m thinking whether to eat it or skip it.
Also wondering whether we get those Bengali vadis here, got to chk.
Cheers.

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

Yummy fish curry.Nice combo.I love all kind of fish.Back home,in north Kerala(Malabar area) we used to get lots of fresh seafoods.We can't have food without fish :)
Have a nice weekend
sree

SpicyTasty said...

Hi, Lovely recipe. Looks wonderful.

? said...

Good to read your posts and recipes Ushnishda;
We also eat non-irritating food thruought summer; endless do's and don't based on ayurveda.
Don't often follow it but it works in summer! :-D
have responded to your Q! Did it in my previous post too.

Pravs said...

interesting recipe. what us boDi ?

Unknown said...

I was looking for Badi Recipe since my Granny is no more to make and send them to me.. I landed up in your website.. Nice to see a Chemical Engineer turned up his kitchen into a laboratory..:)