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classic bengali fish in broth
A few months ago, on a food-related podcast called “Eat Feed“ I heard them discuss a new cookbook called “Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent”. It’s almost a coffee-table book both because of its size, but also because of the quality of the photos and articles. Yet, the recipes are equally tantalizing. It’s somewhat expensive, but I was able to buy it with my birthday gift certificate.
There are so many great looking recipes, but I decided to start with something relatively easy, which was the Classic Bengali Fish in Broth. If you have all the ingredients, it’s an easy recipe and while some of them may seem exotic, don’t worry. South Asian cooking uses many, many spices and those you can’t find in your local supermarket are easily available online. We use Penzey’s, which is well stocked and reasonably priced.
Two ingredients may still be hard to find nonetheless. Nigella seeds are somewhat obscure, so we used sesame seeds. And mustard oil is not very common so for the four Tablespoons called for in this recipe, I mixed 1 Tablespoon of chili oil, 3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon of powdered yellow mustard. For the fish, we used tilapia, one of my new favorites, which was sturdy enough to withstand being cut into chunks and pan fried. We served it over rice along with Stir-Fried Dandelion Greens, Bangla Style.
Ingredients:
1 to 1-1/2 pounds cod fillets or steaks or another firm-fleshed fish such as tilapia
1-1/2 to 2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp turmeric, divided
3 to 4 Tbsp mustard oil (see note above)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (additional)
1 tsp Bengali Five-Spice mixture consisting of 1/4 tsp each of whole, untoasted black mustard, nigella (or sesame), fennel, fenugreek, and cumin seeds
1 tsp minced ginger or ginger mashed into a paste
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 cup cubed zucchini
1 cup cubed Asian eggplant (not the big black globe eggplants; may substitute thinly sliced potatoes or cauliflower florets)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups water
4 or 5 green chiles, stemmed, seeded, and cut into large pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
Directions:
1. Wash the fish, dry it with paper towels, and then cut into 3/4-inch pieces. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tsp each of salt and turmeric, then sprinkle onto the fish and toss gently to coat. Set aside.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp. mustard oil in a wok or a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and pan-fry until just touched with brown (you will probably have to cook in several batches, adding extra oil for each batch, then lift out, letting the excess oil drain off, and set aside.
3. Add the vegetable oil to the pan and place it back over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the spice mixture and stir-fry briefly, then add the ginger and tomato and stir-fry for about 1 minute, until the tomato begins to break down. Toss in the zucchini and eggplant and stir-fry for several minutes, until they begin to soften.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp turmeric and the ground coriander, cumin, and cayenne and stir to blend in, then add the water, cover, and bring to a vigorous boil.
5. Slide in the fish and the chiles, lower the heat, and simmer until the chiles and vegetables are tender, another 5 minutes or so. Stir in the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt, then taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro leaves. Serve hot, perhaps over rice.
Serves 4 to 5.
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