Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Rui Maacher Dumpukht -- Fish Dumpukht





Salmon Leather is the next big thing in Luxury design. Don't turn up your nose, for its exotic, expensive and making waves. It is supposed to be Eco-friendly, because it is the ultimate in waste reclamation. Salmon leather is made from a part of the fish which is usually discarded, so the raw material here is basically a waste product.(More here)

If this intrigues you and you want to be a part of the fishy fashion scene request your sample here at Nanai.

Today I did not cook salmon, but you can if you wish. Instead I made Rui Maach er Dum Pukht.





There are two things about this dish.

First, it is delicious. I have made this dish for 3 times now and unlike me , all the three times I stuck to the recipe and all 3 times it has turned out to be oh so delicious. Trust me, each morsel of this gravy mixed with rice is pure pleasure. The gravy is rich and yet not heavy. The flavor of the fried onions lends a sweetness that flits through your palate. The cashews lend a creaminess that you wouldn't think you could achieve with so little effort.

The recipe in itself is very simple and straightforward. I have so far used only Rui Maach, the sweet water Rohu that I get from my Bangladeshi fish seller. But I have a hunch that it will work well with salmon, only thing is with salmon I would spice it up and broil the fish pieces like I did here. I got this wonderful recipe from Kaberi's Kitchen and she herself has also done it only with Rohu so far.

Second, though the name says DumPukht this is NO Dum Pukht. DumPukht is a technique of slow oven cooking, that is cooking on very low flame, mostly in sealed containers, allowing the meats to cook, as much as possible, in their own juices and bone-marrow. As Kaberi herself says, the original recipe called for slow cooking but to avoid raw smell of fish she did it her way. I don't think fish needs a lot of slow cooking anyways and so of course I followed her way.


Read more...










Rui Macher Dumpukht

What You Need

6-7 steak pieces of sweet water fish like Rohu or Buffalo Carp

Onion ~ 1 cup chopped
Ginger ~ 1"piece
Green Chili ~ 4
Cashew ~ 1/3 cup. I used broken cashews



Bay Leaf ~ 2 small
Dry Red Chili ~ 2 whole

Yogurt ~ 1/2 cup
Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika ~ 1/4 -- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric

Garam Masala ~ 1/4 tsp
Salt ~ to taste
Sugar ~ 1/4-1/2 tsp


Prepping the Fish

Wash the steak pieces of fish, clean and remove scales if needed. Marinate the fish pieces with little turmeric and salt and keep aside for 15-20 mins. Heat Oil in a Kadhai and shallow fry the fish till they are light golden with little browning on both sides

Making the Gravy

Fry 1 cup of chopped red onion till soft and translucent.

Make a paste of
fried onion,
4 green chili,

1" ginger peeled and chopped,
1/3 cup of broken cashew


Heat While Oil

Add 2 whole Dry Red chili and 2 small(or 1 large) bay leaf

Add the paste. Add about 1/4 tsp of sugar and fry the paste till you see oil separating out from the masala.

In a bowl beat 1/2 cup of thick yogurt to a smooth consistency. Add 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika and 1/4 tsp of Turmeric to it and mix well

Lower the heat and gradually add the yogurt to the pan. Do not add all yogurt at once . At low heat mix the yogurt with the masala paste and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add about 2/3 cup of water and let the gravy simmer. Once the gravy comes to a boil slide in the fish pieces. Cook for a 2-3 minutes till gravy reduces to desired thickness. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of Garam Masala and gently mix. Cover and let it sit to integrate all the flavors.



33 comments:

  1. How can this fish not be delicious Sandeepa with all that cashews. I have my salivary glands overacting.

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  2. this is an interesting take on fish. You are right. You can't slow cook fish because it will over cook. The cahsews would be the dum cook touch rich. Would make it quite nawabi. I like the way it builds on a core kaalia recipe and takes it forward

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  3. 1/3 cup Cashews, creamy galore, bet it tastes great. I have yet to cook with Tilapia, no idea how Rohu tastes. Looks yummy with thick gravy.

    Salmon leather? Interesting.As long as they are not killing them just for leather, why not use what they discard. Sounds good to me, will check out that site you have linked.

    Freezing rain here now on top of the snow, sleet and ice! Watching a great movie right now but got to get up to start dinner shortly.

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  4. Nice name and the curry looks very rich and yummy!!! its been a longtime since I had such rich fish curry!!!

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  5. this curry sounds grand and rich but it doesn't matter because the fish is a not-fatty variety, so I don't mind compensating with some cashews, will be a great treat to my palates :):)

    we don't get this Rui variety fish here but I can try this curry with similar ones from the same family....looks absolutely divine!!

    but how could you place that plate on your laptop Miss.Bong Mom????? poor laptop :):)

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  6. delicious fish...nice yellow colour...

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  7. After reading the first line- I thought Salmon turned into "Leathery" texture- but now want to check the link!
    The gravy is very rich, i may end up trying this one soon probably another fish!

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  8. This looks fab:)
    I recently started eating fish after being a vegetarian for many years, I am hoping to eat some authentic home cooked Bengali salmon that looks like this! I'm still a little iffy about cooking fish at home, but hope I can do it sometime soon!
    Btw,Will let you know once I post the video..will have to wait till after my mid terms:)

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  9. They have an endless collection: amazing, now I wonder: all the customers will be NON- Vegetarian?

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  10. Sandeepa looks delicious. I have never had a fish dumpukht - will try this for sure. I am looking forward to it as this sounds really rich and yummy.

    Rui maach to pabo na, need to try with something else.

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  11. Interesting! never heard of salmon leather so far. The curry looks delicious! Wanted to buy fish this weekend but the long lines at the counter put us off!

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  12. Salmon leather!! Must try this recipe with salmon, it sounds so good!

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  13. Hi Sandeepa

    This dish is surely going to taste heavenly, my culinary side of brain is saying so.

    But I thought it is equally satisfying visually and definitely be smelling great as well.

    Will try out this Saturday. Thanks for sharing

    Arundhati

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  14. New flavours in fish recipe...always attract my attention...this sounds aromatic and yum...

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  15. WHile reading your description how delicous it taste i am drooling then i see that gravy too. Well isn't it a terrible thing we canot grab them from our screen.

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  16. Indo

    Ha, ha really good things --> good taste :)

    Kalyan

    Try this or ask Banno. Really good and perfect for entertaining

    Asha

    That was 1/3 cup of broken cashews, maybe I should update :) It snowed here too today

    Ramya

    Thanks :-)

    AS

    He he, that is not mine, my daughter's :-)

    Rekha

    Thanks

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  17. Cham

    Yeah even I was thinking how non-fish eating ppl will take to it. But Vegetarians do buy all leather products and we know what it is made of, animal hide of course

    Ranjani

    I am planning to try this with Salmon soon

    SJ

    Okhane Rui pao na, serious ? Buffalo Carp bole ekta fish pao ki Asian Stores e ? Otao try korte paro. Amar to mone hoy bass diyeo bhalo hobe

    Sra

    You will see it soon I guess :)

    Nirmala

    Bengali fish dishes are cooked with very little spice, the intention is to flavor the curry with fish rather than lot of spices.
    Ha ha not mine, that laptop is Big Sis S's :)

    Jyo

    I would like to see how salmon goes with this. Let me know if you get a chance

    BWM

    Try korle bolo kintu ar suggestions o.

    KF

    Thanks :)

    HC

    No way, what would I eat then ;-)

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  18. ami ar maach na kheye thakte parchina.. ei shob mouthwatering recipe dekhe pagol hoye jachi. Bookmarked. Will do it first thing when I get the maach.

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  19. Sandeepa,
    mache'er gravy ta darun hoyeche ...dekhla e khete iche hoche :)..
    hugs and smiles

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  20. wow the gravy looks nice. Ami soddo mach khaoya shuru korechi aar khub lal lal kore bhaja chara khete parchina. really great recipe.

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  21. Love that first picture, looks so pleasing against that bright, sunny background. The dish looks delish!

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  22. ummm i am cravin for this now,..

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  23. Love the fish!!! I will make some this week. (I feel that writing this will somehow push me to actually execute!) ;) Cheers and thanks for the inspiration!

    SS

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  24. Love it....and with cashew..wow!

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  25. Is rui the fish which is a little less firm than the others? I must check with my Bong friend who has introduced me to river fish....I know I didn't like one particular fish which was a little too oily/soft for my taste...

    The gravy looks absolutely awesome - and look at that spare ingredient list - more is less indeed!

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  26. Hi Sandipa,

    This recipe is similar to the DoiMaach which I prepare.
    Though i stay in India and have recently shifted to Kolkata, still I just love reading your blog and your recipes.

    Your photographs are also amazing, keep up the good work, maybe someday you can write a book. Your book reminds me of another book which has lots of stories about food besides the recipes; The Calcutta Cookbook. Do read it if you can get hold of it. Publishers-Penguin
    Love, Purba

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  27. Thanks Shabnam

    Now that you say it, the end result does taste close to Doi Maach. I don't put cashews in my Doi Maach though

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  28. Am trying it for tonight.Planning on adding some golden raisins....as if it needs to be made more "nawabi".My mom does something similar.She does not use cashews in her recipe.Instead she adds little bit of coconut milk in the end.....just enough to make it rich and creamy without bringing in the coconut milk-y aroma.

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  29. This turned out awesome!!My fish-hater 5 yr old said it was so yummy that he could not stop eating:)

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  30. this recipe looks awesome. can i make this with katla mach?

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  31. Yum, got to try this! In my family this was always cooked very pale and elegant. No holud, and a handful of kishmish thrown into the doi, to become juicy and plump - a lovely contrast to the chunks of fish!

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  32. We made this today, and it was really yummy.

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