Fish tales!

MACHER MAKHA SALON
The term 'makha' means to mingle or blend. All makha dishes do not go through the classical process of first making gravy in hot oil and then introducing the main ingredients to cook in them. Usually in the rural areas, the cook will prepare this dish in an earthen pot, leave the pot over a very slow flame, and attend to other pressing jobs in the kitchen.

Ingredients
1 kg kalibaus/kholcha fish, darne cut into small pieces, or any small dressed fish
4 tbsp mustard oil
4 onions, finely chopped
6 tsp garlic, paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
10 green chillies, slit
2 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin powder 
½ cup water
20 garlic cloves, peeled
10 long leaf cilantro (bilati dhone-pata)

Method
Mix all ingredients in a korai/wok, cover with a lid, and place the korai/wok over a medium flame. Cook stirring occasionally for 10 to 15-minutes. Shake the korai once or twice to arrest catching. 

Note: In macher makha salon, vegetables may also be included, if using pulpy vegetable like lou (bottle gourd), omit the addition of water. For a 'shutki' version add additional ten peeled garlic pods + 100g of 'chepa shutki' (fermented puti fish) to the above ingredients and you will have a wonderfully aromatic - irresistible dish of shutki makha salon.

MOLA MACH TOK
During the summer seasons, 'tok' (sour salon/torkari), are consumed as a healthy food; it assists to put up with the scorching heat with a light meal. Nearly all toks are cooked with small fish, and have water gravy, with minimum amount of spice and oil. The souring agents used are: raw mango, Bengal olives, green tamarind, koromcha, amloki or others.

Ingredients
½ kg mola fish
2 raw mangoes, skinned and sliced
4 onions chopped
10 green chillies, slit
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp salt
4 cups water

Method
Score out the innards of the fish; trim off the fins and tails. Rinse, drain and pat dry. In a deep pan/deghchi, mix all the remaining ingredients, drop in the fishes, and coat them with the spice. Place the pan/deghchi, over a medium flame, lead contents to a simmer and gently cook until the fishes are tender.

Note: For a 'makha-jhol tok' (thick sour gravy), add only ½ cup of water instead of 4 cups and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, sprinkle with chopped spring onions or spring garlic.

CHAPILA CHALTA TOK
Chapila (Indian River Shad) is found in middle and upper reaches of rivers affluent to the Bay of Bengal, chiefly the Ganges and the Brahmaputra systems. Also occurs in ponds, beels, ditches and inundated fields.

Chalta, a.k.a. elephant apple, originally from Indonesia, is a large greenish-yellow knobbly fruit, with a hard protective rind, borne by a large tree related to the orange. Unripe fruits have an acidic flavoured edible pulp, often made into pickle and chutney. A hot and peppery 'chalta-chatni' is very popular in Dhaka, sold by wandering hawkers, especially at the gates of schools, and hostels.

Ingredients
½ kg Chapila Fish
1 Chalta (Elephant Apple)
4 Onions chopped
10 Green Chillies, slit
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Red Chilli powder
4 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups water

Method
Tear out the outer covering of the chalta, and discard. Cut the remaining chalta into four pieces, and pound them in a mortar until soft. Soak chalta in water for two hours. Discard water, and slice the chalta into long strips. Dress the fish. Darne cut the fish into small pieces. Combine: chalta, fish, onions, green chillies, turmeric, red chilli, oil, sugar, salt, and water, in a korai/wok.

Place korai/wok over a medium flame. Lead the fish combo to a gentle simmer and cook until the oil floats to the top.

Tip: Use two raw mangoes, skinned and sliced, if chalta is unavailable. If you want to use seafish use moori fish (selar boops), also called salar and Ozeye Shad.

RANGA KOI LEBU SALON
Ranga koi/red snapper is a marine fish species: juveniles and young adults occur in the Sundarbans mangrove estuaries and in the lower reaches of freshwater streams. Red snappers are popular with small families cooking for themselves, the size is on convenient to cook it whole, darned cut, or filleted.

Ingredients
1 kg red snapper, dressed 
½ cup soya oil
1 tsp + ½ tsp turmeric power
1½ tsp salt
1tbs + 1 tbsp lemon juice
10 green chillies, chopped 
1 stalk lemon grass
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tbsp onion paste
1 tsp red chilli paste
2 tbsp mint (pudina), crushed
1st extract of coconut milk
2nd extract of Coconut milk
4 tomatoes, wedged
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 gondho lebu (lemon)
1 tbsp galangal, sliced (optional)

Method
Peel the rind of the lemon, and with a sharp knife scrap out the white mesocarp, and discard. Slice the peel into long julienne then across into small pieces (zest). Cut off the green top of the lemon grass and discard. Cut and discard fibres from the root end. With kitchen millet, crush flat the blond part of the lemon grass, set aside. Dress the fish, with a sharp knife cut deep gashes on the fleshy sides of the fish.

Marinate fish with: 1 tsp turmeric, salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a korai/wok, and then add: green chilli, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, onion , ½ tsp turmeric, red chilli, pudina, 2nd extract of coconut milk (1 tbsp galangal slices, if using). Bring contents to a boil.

Next chuck in: fish and tomato. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour in: 1st extract coconut milk, lemon jest. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes.

Check salt and adjust seasoning. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with cilantro.

RUI MACHER GHATA
Rui or rohu is the most sought after fish after hilsa. The size can be as big as a metre long, 'paka rui'. It represents the fish kingdom in all our celebrations, and is judged as the most coveted gift. Its Latin nomenclature is in praise of its reddish (rohit) tint.

Ghata is a jumble (a preparation where the ingredients are 'half-mashed' and merged), made with all types of fish and vegetables. We are a straight forward nation and love to keep basic in matters of terms and nomenclature, so a jumble (ghata) is a jumble to us. 

Ingredients
1 rui fish, steaks
2 tbsp ghee
4 tbsp oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1½ tsp cumin powder
2 tsp gorom mosla powder 
2 tejpata
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp salt
6 potatoes cut into fine julienne
2 aubergine, cut into small pieces
1 cauliflower broken into small floweret
2 carrots cut into fine julienne
5 green chillies, chopped

Method
Fry fish steaks in oil, until crisp. Strain out and let cool. Once the steaks are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, and de-bone the fish. Flake the flesh, and set aside. Heat oil in a korai/wok. Toss in: cumin seeds and tejpata. Sauté for few seconds, lower heat and add all the vegetables and green chilli. Sauté for 20 minutes and then drizzle with ghee. Stir everything with a wooden khunti, and then stir in the following: fish, ginger, cumin powder, turmeric, red chilli, salt and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil.

Cover with a lid, lower the flame and cook until the vegetables are tender. Lightly smash the vegetables with the khunti and combine all the ingredients into a jumble. 

CHITOL KOOFTA
Chitol fish has been eulogised in Ancient Indian literature as Chitrafala - as pretty as a picture; it is truly a beautiful specimen, all silver with a 'feather' running from the tip of its tail all along its underside.

The flesh is succulent and rich with soft fat. The hump is quite bony, therefore more often than not ground to a paste to be made into koofta/fish balls. The mashed fine bones lend to the rich taste and give the kooftas a spongy body, much relished by the gourmet. The remaining part that is the 'paytee' or the belly section has large thick bones with large amount of fatty meat in between. The paytee is good for bhuna.

Ingredients
1kg chitol fish hump (gada)
1½ tsp ginger, minced 
2 tsp garlic, minced
3 tbsp onion, minced
3 tbsp cilantro, minced
6 green chillies, minced
1½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg, grated
½ cup mustard oil 
1 cup red onion, sliced
4 tomatoes, chopped 
2 tsp tomato puree
2 tsp ginger paste
3 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Method
Scoop out the flesh from the hump. Retain the skin. Pound the flesh in a mortar, and take out the big visible bones, set flesh aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the following: minced ginger, minced garlic, minced onion, minced cilantro, minced green chilli, 1½ tsp salt, nutmeg, and de-boned flesh. Knead to a soft paste. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Fill the skin with this spiced fish-paste and shape it into a baton; the size of the baton will depend on the size of the skin. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a korai/wok and shallow fry fish baton on all sides. Cook until the skin becomes crispy.

Transfer the baton to a chopping board and diagonally slice it into 2½ cm cubes. Set aside.

Add the remaining oil to be korai/wok; lob in the sliced red onions, sauté until translucent.

Now add the following: ginger paste, garlic paste, red chilli powder, kasuri methi, coriander powder, cumin powder, 1 tsp salt, turmeric powder, 2 tbsp water. Sauté stirring vigorously for 20 minutes.

Next, stir in: chopped tomato and tomato puree. Cook until tomatoes disintegrate. Pour in 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Drop in the cubed fish pieces and cook until gravy reduces 
by ¼ of its volume. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Photo: Collected