Fish cooked with bamboo shoot

I call this dish my 'Soul food' . Have seen this being prepared in our ancestral village since childhood. Fermenting bamboo shoot and pickling them are something I started taking up of late. When you have nothing special for lunch or dinner just add the fermented shoots to your dal while you temper or make a chutney with some mustard oil, salt  & a hint of bhut jolokia/ghost chilli & your boring meal will turn into an interesting and satisfying meal. So we had this fish curry yesterday as my bamboos seemed to be perfectly fermented. We loved it, though PB said he would have liked it more if it was a bit more sour. Point noted and I instantly added some some thekera water to my bamboos.



Ingredients:

Fish: 4 pieces (I used pabho/pabda/butterfish... You can use any other river fish)
Fermented bamboo shoot: 5-6 tbsp.
Onion: 1 small sized finely chopped
Garlic: 4-5 cloves chopped
Ghost chilli: 1/2 of one (you can replace with any green/red chilli)
Panch Phuron: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard oil: About 2 tsp for the curry and as required for frying the fish
Coriander Leave for garnishing
Water as required

Method:

Heat enough oil in a kadhai and fry the fishes till golden brown on both sides. Keep aside.

Heat 2tsp oil in another pan/kadhai . Add onion , garlic. Fry till light brown. Add salt and turmeric . fry for a second or two and add the bamboo shoot & chilli. Mix everything well. As I was using fermented bamboo so it already had water and I allowed it to cook as it is for 2-3 minutes covering with a lid. If you are using fresh bamboo add little bit of water and cover with the lid and cook till your bamboo is cooked well. Add enough water to make the curry. Bring it to boil. Add the fried fish pieces , cover it again and cook on low to medium flame for another 5 mins or so covering with the lid and keep on checking in between and also flip over the fishes.

Transfer to a serving bowl , garnish with some fresh coriander and serve hot with rice.

Note: Please do note that I have used fermented bamboo shoot where I have added chillies , salt& thekera -a souring agent (Garcinia Mangostana of Garcinia indica Family) while preparing it. We can always use lime juice instead of it.  So if you are using fresh bamboo shoot do not forget to add lime juice into this dish towards the end adjusting according to your taste bud.

 

Til aru maasor anja - fish cooked with black sesame

Here is an absolute authentic Assamese dish Til aru massor anja - fish with black sesame paste curry. I too have learnt to prepare this awesome dish very recently. Thought I should share with you all as its very easy to cook and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

Rohu Fish: 2-3 pieces (you can take any other fish)
Black sesame seed: 2tbsp
Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, black pepper: 2 tsp of them mixed
Paanch Phuron: 1 tsp
Onion: 1 small roughly cut
Ginger: 1 small piece
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Dry red chilli: 1-2 numbers
Bay leaf: 1-2
Black pepper powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt  to taste
Mustard oil: 1 tbsp. for the gravy & 3-4 tbsp. for frying the fishes
Fresh coriander leaves for the gravy: about 2tbsp roughly chopped
& few for garnishing

Process:

Clean and wash the fish pieces properly and rub salt & turmeric on them and keep aside for about 5 minutes. Fry these pieces in hot oil and keep aside.


Heat a pan and dry roast the sesame , coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper till the aroma of the spices comes out. Once done, let them cool.

In a mixer, take the above roasted masala, onion, ginger garlic, a handful of coriander leave, dry chilli  and few spoons of water and make a paste out of it.

Now heat oil in pan, add panch phuron, bay leaf and allow them to splutter. Pour the above paste into the pan. Keep stirring in low to medium flame and let the sesame gets cooked. After 1-2 minutes, add a cup of water and mix well. Cover with the lid in medium flame and bring it to boil, keep on checking in between. Add the fried fish pieces , combine everything well and once again cover with the lid in low to medium flame. Do keep your eye on it to avoid burning . In another 2-3 minutes , the gravy will start thickening. Immediately put the flame off. Your fish cooked with black sesame is now ready to be served.

Transfer it to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves or a coriander twig and serve hot with rice.

Ronga Lau pitika - Mashed pumpkin

In Assam, we love to eat smoked mashed dishes , whether it is mashed potato/tomato/sweet potato/egg plant/fish etc. One of the famous among them is ronga lau pitika (mashed pumpkin). Yesterday I made this dish for lunch but in a little different way. Instead of keeping the pumpkin raw boiled, I cooked it in oil with few spices to make this dish a bit interesting to eat. Very easy with few handy ingredients and very light to eat as well.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin: 1 cup cut into medium sized cubes
Onion: 1 medium sized grated
Garlic paste of 3-4 cloves
Green chilli: 1 chopped
Panch phuron: 1tsp
salt to taste
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Fresh coriander for garnishing
Mustard Oil: 1 tsbp

Method:

Par boil the pumpkin pieces in a saucepan with sufficient quantity of water. Once cooked, keep under running tape water, strain. Take a fork or spoon and mash the pumpkin pieces and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Add paanch  phuron and allow it to splutter. Add the chillies & onion and saute for about a minute or two or till translucent. Now add the garlic paste, coriander powder and fry. Time to add  the mashed pumpkin. Mix with all other ingredients , add salt and cook for about 4-5 minutes covering with a lid checking in between in low-medium flame. Once the pumpkin is cooked completely and takes a light brown colour, put the flame off.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice & dal.

 

sojina aru xoriyohor bhaji - Drumstick with mustard

Do not we love this special preparation of Assam ? As a child I was not very fond of sojina (drumstick) . But with time passing by I have developed a liking for this particular vegetable. Most of the times I cook this with toor dal with lots of garlic & onion. Today I specifically bought these sojina for this preparation only. A simple recipe as most of our Assamese recipes are , with very minimum spices. A real delicious one. Do try in your kitchen and share your feedback too.

Ingredients:

Drumsticks: 3 tender drumsticks (you can increase the number as per your servings)
Yellow Mustard seeds: 2 tsp soaked in water for about 10-15 minutes
Onion: 1 medium sized
Garlic: 5-6 cloves
Tomato: 1 small sized cut into wedges
Green chilli: 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Mustard oil: 1 tbsp.
Water as required

Method:

Scrap the out hard layers of sojina and wash properly. Cut the sojina (drumsticks) into 2 or 2 1/2 inches lengthwise.

Make a paste of mustard seeds, onion, garlic, chilli in a mixer.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the above paste and fry for a minute or two and add the tomato, salt & turmeric powder and mix them well and cook till the tomato gets tender and pulpy. Now add the sojina and mix with all the ingredients and cover with a lid in low to medium flame for 2-3 minutes checking in between. Add sufficient water say about half cup. Cover again with the lid and cook till the sojina cooks and the gravy becomes thick.

Now your sojina aru xoriyohor bhaji - drumstick with mustard is ready. Serve hot with rice.

 

Ghost Chilli Pickle

I am not a very pickle loving person and not tried my hands on pickling as I always find the pickling process little time consuming and there is a chance of damage if not follow the proper process. So I always had neglected pickling. Recently my sister who lives in Assam had sent few exotic vegetables from Assam. Along with that she sent me few ghost chillies also. This is also known as bhut jolokia in Assam. As there was no other way to keep those chillies fresh for a longer time other than pickling them. So I started the process and the result just came out perfect. Now I take tiny portion of it in my lunch/dinner to get a watery eye and runny nose. Ghost chilli is considered as the Hottest Chilli in the World also as per the Guinness Book of World Records.

Very simple & easy process of pickling these red hot babies!!

Recipe of this pickle is as per the chillies I had.

Ingredients:

Ghost chillies: 19 numbers (this is all I had with me)
Salt to taste
Mustard Oil: 100 gms approx.
Juice of one lime
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
White mustard seed:3-4 tbsp. crushed
One clean glass/plastic jar

Direction:

Wash the chillies and sun-dry for 2-3 days. Cut them into small pieces wearing hand globes. In a kadhai/pan heat the oil and add the crushed mustard seed and saute for a minute and put the flame off.

In the cleaned jar, put the chillies. Once the oil is cooled, pour it into  the jar, add the salt, lime juice, vinegar and tighten the lid of the jar and shake it once so that everything combines and mixes well. Sun-dry this every day for a few days keeping the lid/cover open. Your pickle is ready ...

 

Khorisa maas (fish cooked with bamboo shoot) - An Assamese delicay

Khorisa maas is a speciality of Assam. Khorisa is grated bamboo shoots in raw, fermented or pickled form. I just love that aroma of the fermented bamboo shoot. As my sister had sent some bamboo shoot as well from Assam, I have fermented them first before using it in any of my fish or chicken dish. One can use bamboo shoot raw also. But I did the fermenting part as I wanted to keep them for a longer time and use as and when I require ..

Rohu fish: 4 pieces
Onion: 1 medium sized grated
Garlic ginger paste:1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
White Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp
Tomato: 1 big sized finely chopped
Mustard oil: 4 tbsp
Bamboo shoot: 3-4 tbsp. (I used fermented one. if you are using raw, grate/cut them into thin slices and add)
Green Chillies: 1-2


Direction:

Wash the fish pieces and rub salt and 1 tsp of turmeric powder on the pieces and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp. of oil in a deep bottomed pan and fry the fish. We do not need to crisp-fry them and make them golden brown as we are going to make a curry only with the fish. Keep the fried fishes aside.

In the same pan, add & heat rest of the oil if required. Now add the mustard seed, chillies and allow them to crackle. Add the onion and ginger garlic paste and saute them for a minute or two. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt and stir till the masala leaves oil. Now add the chopped tomato and stir and mix with the masala. Cover it with the lid and cook in low flame till the tomatoes gets pulpy. Add about 1 cup of water to it and again cover with the lid for 2-3 minutes checking in between. As the gravy thickens, add the fish and combine with the gravy masala. Soon after that add the fermented bamboo shoot and give it a nice mix. Let the gravy boil for some more time uncovered. In another 3-4 minutes your khorisa maas would be ready.

Serve it with steamed rice and enjoy this super simple easy to make dish yet full of great flavour and aroma .

 

Paturi - Grilled/Steamed fish wrapped in banana leaf

This sunday was a fisshyy day for us. Along with the mashed fish , I prepared paturi also for lunch. An awesome preparation with sharp pungent mustard paste and mustard oil. I did not follow the original recipe of Paturi prepared in Bengal. With my own twist and ideas I made this paturi today and trust me it came out very tasty. Every one in the family just loved it though they are not very fond of eating fish. There are different versions of making paturi , steaming is one version. I did it by grilling the paturi on my tawa/pan

Ingredients:

Rohu Fish: 3 pieces
Onion: 1 medium sized (half grated and half thinly sliced)
Ginger & Garlic crushed: 2 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Green Chillies: 2-3 slits
Mustard paste: 2 tbsp.(soak in water for sometime and grind it to a paste )
Mustard oil: 3 tbsp.
Banana leaf: 1 big sized . After you clean the banana leaf with water, heat it over the flame for sometime on both the sides to avoid the breakage of the leaf while wrapping the fish.

Method:

Clean and wash the fish aside. Marinate the fish with mustard oil, salt, mustard paste, crushed ginger & garlic ,grated onion. Rub the marination properly on the fishes and keep aside for about 20-25 minutes or so.

Place the fishes on the glossy side of the banana leaf at the centre along with the marination and place the chillies & sliced onions on top of it. Pour in all the remaining masala on the fish pieces. Now fold the banana leaf from all four sides and make it a square parcel. Heat a non-stick tava/pan and place the fish wrapped in banana leaf on it and cover with a lid for 10-12 minutes. Flip onto the other side and cook the other side also for another 10-12 minutes.

Remove from the flame once it is done. After 2-3 minutes open the wrap and serve as it is  hot with rice , dal & some chutney/pickle.

 

Maasor pitika (Smoked mashed fish) - An Assamese speciality

I have been thinking of making this dish for quite some time and I just love this mashed fish with lots of onion & mirchi. I can have it with plain rice and dal. But no one in the family is a big fan of fish other than me, so I intentionally delayed in preparing this dish. Today I just could not let myself go without doing this in the kitchen. Sent the husband to get the banana leaf in the morning to get me going. Very happy to share this recipe with you all . Though Assamese dishes has less scope of garnishing , still I tried to make it look little interesting.

Ingredients:

Rohu Fish: 2 pieces (you can take boneless fish also and as per your number of servings)
Onion: 1 small sized finely chopped
A handful of Chopped fresh coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Juice of half lime
Chopped green chillies: 1-2 (you can adjust as per your taste & ability)
Mustard oil: 1 tbsp.
Banana leaf of medium size. After you clean the banana leaf with water, heat it over the flame for sometime on both the sides to avoid the breakage of the leaf while wrapping the fish.

Method:

Wash the fish pieces and rub some salt and few drops of mustard oil nicely and keep aside. Place the fish on the glossy side of the leaf at the centre and fold it from all four sides and make it a square parcel. . Heat the tawa/pan and place the fish pieces wrapped in banana leaf. Keep the flame on low. Grill on  both the sides of the fish for about 10 minutes. You will get to see the fish colour changing to light brown and release water. Remove it from the pan and let it cool.

Once it is cool, in a mixing bowl mash the fish pieces with your hands. If you are using fish with bones, you can remove the bones while mashing also. Now add the chopped onion, coriander, chopped chillies, salt, mustard oil, lime juice and mix them all with the mashed fish properly. Check for the seasoning before serving. Enjoy this delicious healthy dish with plain rice & dal & some chilli pickle.

 

Bilaahi Tengar Maasor jul (Fish with tangy tomato curry)

Masor Tenga (Tangy Fish Curry) is a light and tangy dish, and is one of Assam's signature preparations. The key ingredient in a tenga is the use of a souring agent which lends the dish a tart tangy taste. In this recipe nice red tomatoes are the souring agent .
 

Ingredients:
 
Rohu fish: 4 pieces
Nice red ripe tomatoes: 4-5 medium sized  (cut them into thin wedges)
Onion: 1 small grated
Garlic and Ginger grated : 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder : 1 tsp
Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Bay Leaf : 1
Dry red chilli: 1
Cumin seed: 1tsp
White Mustard Seed: 1 tsp
Mustard Oil: 4-5 tbsp.
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Water required for curry



Method:
Rub the fish pieces with the 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp salt and marinate with a dash of lime for 5 minutes. Heat the oil in a deep bottomed pan and fry these fish pieces. Reserve the oil.
 
For the curry:
In the same oil, add the bay leaf, red chilli, white mustard seed and cumin seed. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions, ginger & garlic.  Now add the 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and a pinch of salt, cumin powder and mix them. Now add the tomatoes and stir well.. Cook the tomatoes covered with a lid in low flame till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy. Now pour some water and bring the curry to a boil. Add the fish and garam masala powder and stir continuously till the curry gets a little thicken. Now add 1/2 tsp of lime juice and mix.
Add chopped coriander and simmer for a few seconds. Transfer to a bowl and serve hot with rice.

 

Boiled fish curry - Assamese Style

This dish is again I have learnt from my mother. Even now whenever I visit Assam , I request her specially to cook this for me.

 

This dish is a speciality of Assam as well as Bengal where the fish need not to be fried to make the curry. This dish has a great flavour with lots of onion , garlic, ginger ,crushed pepper..Usually this is made with Ilish fish but other fishes like rohu also goes well.

 

Ingredients:

 

Rohu Fish: 3 pieces

Grated Onion : 1 big sized

Grated ginger: 2 tsp

Grated garlic : 2tsp

Crushed black pepper: 1 tsp

Black pepper corn: 5-6

Salt to taste

Green Chillies: 2-3 (Slits in between)

Mustard oil : 3 tbsp.

Water as required

 

 Method:

 

Clean and wash the fish pieces properly. In a mixing bowl add onion, ginger , garlic, crushed pepper, pepper corn, salt, chillies and the fish pieces and mix well so that all the ingredients coat the fish pieces. Now to this pour the mustard oil and mix. Transfer this mixture to a pressure cooker and add water (limited quanity of water is required to boil this else the curry will be very runny which we do not want it to attain). Pressure cook upto 3 whistles. Let the cooker release its pressure on its own.

 

Transfer this boiled fish curry to a hot kadhai /pan and bring it to boil for about 2 minutes and put the flame off . Transfer this curry to a serving bowl and throw in the remaining slits of chillies into the curry and serve hot with rice

 

Masoor dal vada with curry leaves gravy

This is one of my mother's hit recipes at home. We used to have a big curry leaf tree in the backyard. She used to pluck them fresh and make this dish out of it. Sometimes in place of these vadas, she would put fish - xingi maas ( Stinging catfish) , which is actually a very healthy dish.

Ingredients:

Masoor dal soaked in water: 1/2 cup
Curry leaves: 1 cup
Grated medium sized onion : 1 (divide into half)
Ginger & garlic paste: 2 tbsp.
Chopped green chillies: 2 pcs
Chopped Fresh coriander: 2 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder:1 tsp
Besan: 1 tbsp.
Oil for deep frying & for the curry

Method:

Make a thick paste of the masoor dal in a mixer adding a small amount of water. Add half of the grated onion, 1 tsp of ginger and garlic paste, salt, green chillies, chopped coriander and besan and mix well. Now in a deep bottomed pan heat oil. With the help of a spoon take the mixture portion by portion like small balls and deep fry them and keep aside .

For the gravy:

Grind the curry leaves in a grinder with little water. Strain the puree and keep aside. We will use only the juice of the puree not the pulp else it will give a bitter taste. Heat oil in a pan. Add the remaining onion, ginger &garlic, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and stir. Now pour in the juice of curry leaves and mix well. Cook by covering with a lid and bring it to boil. Now add the fried vadas into this gravy. Cook by stirring the gravy until it thickens. Once it attains the required thickness put the flame off and transfer this to a serving bowl. Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve hot.

 

Assamese Delicacy "koldil'or logot murgi manxo" (banana flower cooked with chicken)

A top favourite dish of Assam , quite unique and very tasty.. Goes well with rice/roti

1. Chicken with bone - 400 gms
2. Banana Flower - 1 pc
3. Onion - 2medium sized
4. Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp each
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. salt to taste
7. Bay leaf - 2-3pcs
8. Dry red chilli - 2pcs
9. Coriander powder - 1tsp
10.Jeera powder - 1tsp
11.Crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
12.Garam masala - 1tsp
13.Chopped coriander leaf for garnishing
Procedure:
1. Cut the chicken into small pieces, make the pieces really small ,wash properly and keep aside.
2. Now grate the banana flower in a grater after peeling off the outer not so soft layers until u find a off white part of the flower.
3. Immediately after grating, soak them in tap water with little bit of salt for sometime so that the colour of the grated flower does not get changed to black after coming in contact with air
4. Now in a deep pan heat one small bowl mustard oil .
5. Add the bay leaves, dry red chillies and let them crackle.
6. Add the onions, ginger garlic paste and stir them properly until the colour turns to golden brown.
7. Now add all the dry masalas - coriander, jeera, 1/2 tsp of crushed black pepper, turmeric, salt to taste and keep stirring them until the masala leaves the oil.
8. its time to add the chicken pieces now and mix well with all the masalas. Now keep the flame in medium heat and cover the chicken with lid. Keep stirring in between in every 3-4 mins.
9. Once the chicken is half cooked, strain and squeeze the grated plantain/Banana flower to remove extra water and mash them nicely using your hand to avoid any lumps to get form out of it and mix with the chicken and stir continuously until it mixes well with the chicken and rest of the masalas.
10.Cover with lid and keep stirring in between in low flame so that it wont get stick to  the pan and burn.
11.Cook them for next 10-15 minutes checking and stirring in between. Once it is cooked, add the garam masala powder, remaining 1/2 tsp of crushed black pepper and give them a nice mix.
12.Remove from flame after another 3-4 mins.
13.Transfer to a bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

An Assamese delicacy "Khar diya maati dail" (Black lentils with alkali -soda bicarbonate)

A traditional meal in Assam starts with a khar (alkali or soda bicarbonate) which remains unknown to most of the Indians. The cuisine of  Assam/North East is different from that of the other parts of the country in a sense that it is very light, uses minimum spices.  Khar is one of the delicacies that people in Assam relish.

Ingredients:
1. Black gram dal (1/2 cup)
2. Peeled Raw papaya (ideal quantity 4 pcs)
3. Peeled Bottle gourd (ideal quantity 4 pcs)
4. Onion - 2 tbsp
5. Ginger garlic paste 1tsp each
6. Soda bicarbonate - 1tsp
7. Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
8. Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
9. Dry red chilli - 1or 2 pcs
10. Bay leaf - 2pcs
12. salt to taste
13. coriander & mint leaves for garnishing
14. Mustard oil for tempering
15. Panch phuron 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
1. Soak the dal overnight. Next morning wash them properly and strain.
2. Cut the papaya and bottle gourd into medium sized cubes
3. Pressure cook the same along with the dal with sufficient amount of water up to 2-3 whistles.
4. Once the dal and vegetables are cooked, heat mustard oil (3-4 tsp) in a deep pan .
5. Now add the panch phuron, bay leaves and dry red chillies and allow them to crackle.
6. Add thinly sliced onions into it and stir them until the onions get soft and light brown.
7. Now add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder , salt, coriander powder and give them a nice mix for about a min or so.
8. Time to add the pressure cooked dal and the veggies into it, stir  and bring them to boil.
9. Add soda bicarbonate and stir well. The colour of the dal will change immediately to brownish black after adding the soda.
Allow the dal to boil for another 3-4 minutes and then put the gas off.
10.Transfer the dal to a bowl and garnish with chopped coriander and mint leaves  and serve hot.