Fried Fish Parcels (with Turmeric leaf)

Few days back, I had posted the recipe for fried fish parcels using the banana leaf. Loved the flavour that it imparted to the fish and wanted to try out the recipe using various other kinds of leaves like pumpkin, saal, etc which are generally used in the villages of Odisha. But since I could not get my hands on any of these, my Mom suggested that I give it a try with turmeric leaves. With Prathamashtami celebrated a few days back, some of these leaves were still lying in the fridge. I had eaten enough Enduri during the past week and so I decided to put these super aromatic leaves to a different use.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

• 4 pieces of Mirkali fish (Rohu/Bhakura is also fine)
• 2 tsp mustard-garlic-coconut-green chili paste 
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard oil
• 2-3 green chilis (slit lengthwise)
• 2 pinch turmeric
• 1/5 tsp salt
• 2 tsp mustard oil for frying
• 8 pieces of turmeric leaf


Preparation - Wash and marinate the fish with salt, turmeric and mustard-coconut paste. Leave aside for 10 mins.


Make a cross with two turmeric leaves. Place a piece of fish in the centre. Drizzle mustard oil over it and place 2-3 pieces of slit green chili. Close the parcel and secure it with a string.


Cooking - Heat the mustard oil on a pan. Once it gets smoking, add the parcels and immediately lower the flame. Once the leaf on the bottom surface has turned brown with black spots showing at some places, flip it over. Let it sit on the pan till the leaf turns brown. (it takes roughly 7-8 minutes to cook on each side)


Switch off the flame and remove the pan. Keep aside for 5 minutes.


Carefully open the parcels and discard the leaves.


Serve hot with white rice and dal.

Note - For the mustard paste, the ratio of the ingredients is ' 2 tsp black mustard seeds : 2 tbsp freshly grated coconut: 4 garlic cloves : 1 green chili '. 

Illishi Maccha Jholo (Masala Dia)

A special recipe for this weekend.................

Hilsa or Ilishi is also referred to as the Indian Shad. Its streamlined body with a golden sheen make it quite a beauty . Much celebrated in Odisha, West Bengal and Assam, the best ones are caught from the Padma river in Bangladesh. It is quite rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and hence good for maintaining heart health.

As it is quite expensive these days, it is considered at par with mutton and hence made only on special occasions or when guests are coming over. It is among those recipes that have been missing from my blog for so long simply because I have overlooked them. (I wish I could spout some gyan about how they are becoming extinct due to rampant fishing and hence I am doing my bit to save them...but that would be a lie.)

Preparation time - 20 mins

Ingredients  -

Hilsa/Indian Shad - 4 pieces
Onion - 1 large
Garlic - 8-9 flakes
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
green cardamom - 2-3 nos
cinnamon - 1 1/2 inch
cloves - 4-5 nos
bay leaf - 1 no
tomato - 1 no, medium sized
potato - 1 no, medium sized
1 tsp chilli powder
1/3 tsp meat masala (optional)
salt to taste
turmeric
5 tsp Saffola Rice Bran oil

Preparation - Marinate the fish with salt and turmeric for 10 minutes.

Chop the onion into small pieces. Make a coarse paste out of the ginger and garlic.

Chop tomato into small pieces.

Cooking - Heat 2 tsp oil in non-stick wok. Add the fish and fry on both sides till cooked through. Remove and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil to the same wok. Add all the whole spices and fry till fragrant.

Add onions and ginger garlic paste. Fry till the paste starts turning a light red/deep pink.

Add the tomatoes along with red chilli powder, meat masala, 1/3 tsp turmeric and a little salt. Cook covered till tomatoes turn mushy.

Add the potatoes and fry for 3 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups hot water and bring to boil. Add the fish and adjust salt. Cook covered till potatoes are done.

Serve hot with white rice.

Maccha Besara Jholo (Its' Chadaa Khai Today)

Well......while the Panchuka period officially got over by Sunday (Kartika Purnima), the succeeding days of Monday and Tuesday had many people putting their 'Chadaa Khai' plans on hold. Hence the majority of us who had forsaken non-vegetarian items for the Kartika month (or atleast the Panchuka period ) will be eating out to our heart's content today.

Here is the 'Maccha Besara' that my mom made for Chadaa Khai. However if you are not particularly budget conscious ( and i really mean it as the prices of Non-veg goes through the roof during Chadaa Khai in Orissa ), I would recommend the  mouth-watering Kancha Illisi Tarkari, or the very delicious Mansa Kasa (though you can also opt for Mutton Rogan Josh if you like light gravies). For the Chicken lovers, there is the Classic chicken curry or the Chicken Kasa waiting to be sampled.

It's my special dish for today. Needless to say Mom's cooking is always special (more so if you are staying away from her). Get the recipe below:

Preparation Time : 20 mins

Ingredients :

• 4-5 pieces Rohu fish 
• 1 large potato 
• 2 medium sized tomato 
• 1 small onion
• 1-2 green chillis
• 4-5 tsp mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 1 small piece of dry mango (ambula)

For the mustard paste :

• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-6 garlic flakes
• 1 dry red chilli

Preparation: Add salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric to the fish pieces. Allow to marinate for 10 minutes.

Dry grind mustard, cumin and red chilli. Add the garlic flakes and a little water. Grind into a smooth paste.

Chop tomato and onion into small pieces and keep aside. Peel and cut the potato into chunks.

Cooking: Heat a non-stick tawa or skillet. Drizzle with 3 tsp oil. Add the marinated fish pieces and cook on both sides till light brown. Remove from tawa and keep aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a wok. Add the potatoes. Fry till light brown, then remove and keep aside.

Add the chopped onion and green chilli . Saute till the onions turn translucent.

Add chopped tomatoes and sprinkle a little salt on them. Keep covered for 1-2 minutes till they turn a little soft.

Dissolve the mustard paste in 1/2 cup water. Drain into the wok slowly while taking care to leave any solid residue in the cup. Add another 1 1/2 cups of water.

Bring to a boil. Add the fried potato and fish pieces. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and add more salt if needed. Cook covered till the potatoes are done. Add the dry mango and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Mash 2-3 pieces of potatoes into the gravy if you need a thicker version.

Drizzle a little mustard oil (about  1/2 tsp) over the gravy if you like the raw smell of mustard oil. Switch off the flame.

Serve hot with white rice.

Fish Egg-Sesame Fritters ( Maccha Bihana Bara )

'Maccha Manjee' or fish eggs ( roe ) are a seasonal delicacy and much relished by many Oriya folks. The eggs are usually present in a thin membrane like sac or pouch, which needs to be removed before cooking. It usually takes minimal seasoning and very less effort to prepare them. But one needs to be very cautious while buying them as they can often lead to food poisoning. Never buy fish eggs unless you believe that it has been freshly removed from the fish. Seeing is believing, that is the thumb rule to be followed.

My husband happens to be very fond of these. Today being a Saturday, he religiously made a trip to the nearest Bengali fish stall to shop for 'Maccha manjee' and purposely chose a fish which had eggs in it ( u need to press the belly of the fish and if it yields a bit, then u have got it ). Some people avoid such fish as eggs tend to make the fish less firm. But such argument will not hold water if you are crazy about the stuff.

After getting his prized catch home, he cleaned and seasoned it with much excitement . H decided to experiment ( Surprise : O ) with his much loved recipe. I guess the unopened packet of sesame seeds kept on the kitchen counter was bothering him too much ( well..i am hoarding too much stuff these days thanks to my blogging ). But the sesame added a new and interesting flavor to these fritters and we all enjoyed it.

Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 10-15 mins

Ingredients - Fish eggs ( 200 gm ), white sesame seeds ( 4 tsp ), chilli flakes ( 1 tsp ), 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp besan, 1 tsp corn flour/rice flour, salt to taste, oil for deep frying.

Preparation- Carefully remove the sac from the fish eggs. Mash them and wash thoroughly with water. Add all the remaining ingredients except for oil.

Allow to marinate for 10 mins.

Cooking - Heat oil in a wok. Take spoonfuls of the above mixture and drop carefully into the oil. ( Be cautious as it the oil may splutter )

Fry on both sides to a deep brown color.

Remove and keep on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot as a side dish with rice or as a snack.

Fish head with baby potatoes and dried lentil dumplings

A very basic curry made with crushed fish head and potatoes, this one is symbolic of the very essence of Odia cuisine. Practicing frugality and making the most out of the scarce resources, the Odia women in rural areas come up with the most ingenious recipes to feed their families. This one for example used just the fish head (and also tail in some cases) with a large quantity of potatoes and onions. The abundance of potatoes make it somewhat sweeter in taste than the regular mustard gravies. The fat in the fish head melts and permeates the curry to give it that undeniably awesome flavor.

Cooking Time Required: 15-20 mins


Ingredients -

• 1 no. Maccha munda/Fish head 
• 1 tsp mustard-garlic paste
• 1 mediu sized onion 
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 
• 10-12 baby potatoes / 1 large potato (if baby potatoes are not available)
• 2 nos dry red chili/green chilli 
• 8-9 nos boris/dried lentil dumpings ( optional )
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 3-4 tsp vegetable oil ( mustard oil is preferable )

Preparation: Clean the fish head thoroughly. Add salt and turmeric and keep aside for 15 mins. (Any large sized freshwater fish weighing 1 kg or more will do.)

Wash and cut the onion into chunks. Cut the baby potatoes into two.

Cooking: Deep fry the fish head till crispy, crush nicely and keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wok. Fry the boris/lentil dumplings to a reddish color and remove from the wok.

Add the remaining oil followed by the mustard seeds and broken red chillis . Allow seeds to crackle.

Add the onion chunks and stir fry till translucent. Add the baby potatoes at this stage and fry for 3-4 mins. Add the crushed fish head along with 1 cup of water, mustard-garlic paste, salt and turmeric . Bring to a boil.

Allow to simmer for 5-6 mins while stirring at intervals. Remove from fire, add the fried boris and keep aside for 10 mins.

Serve with rice and dal.

Note: Add 2 green chillis while making the mustard-garlic paste for upping the spice
content.

This is an old photo where I have used baby potatoes. For an added twist, this recipe is also prepared with dried/smoked fish.