Dudh Maach -- a Milky Fish Curry

Little Sis aka LS is not a gourmand. She might be a connoisseur of food. I am not exactly sure.

Any time I sit down to feed her, she asks with utter contempt in her voice "Eta ki ?" (What is this ?). That question makes me extremely nervous. I have a feeling that she expects me to say "Lobster Thermidor" or some such thing. I cannot get myself to say it is just plain old "Khichuri" so I try to distract and in most times end up popping a Purple Dinosaur in the age old VCR.

LS loves "Chickun" though and a "Chickun Jhol" makes her eat at least a quarter of the meal with no request for complicated recipes and fine French food.

A month or so back, me being the Bong Mom and all that introduced Fish to her. I mean Fish as food and not "Oh Fishy Fishy". Only I felt very guilty telling her that it was Fish because kids seem to have this love for rainbow colored "fishies" and I thought I will tell her the truth when she is able to beat up buster next door.
So we still tell her it is "Chickun" but I know she has her doubts because she keeps asking "Eta ki" repeatedly and taking pieces out of her mouth and scrutinizing them with a microscope.

Last week I made this fish curry for her. Big Sis aka BS totally loved it and the love continues this week. About LS I am never sure.

This Dudh Maach or Fish Cooked in Milk is a great fish curry that works with most kinds of fish and every age. I mean age of the person eating it. This is my Ma's recipe and we love it so much that it gets made very often at our home. That it is quick is a huge help. The light gravy has a subtle mustardy taste but amazingly there is no mustard in the recipe whatsoever.

You know how some people will strain their mustard paste and use only the mustard water to make their gravy, well this gravy tastes almost like that, only with zero amount of prep work.

And if you are feeling queasy and creamy about milk and fish, be calm, this is no where near creamy. I use 1% Milk and the gravy is very very light.

We have done this with Rohu (Rui Maach), Ilish (Hilsa) and Tilapia Fillet. The taste is great with all. If using the Tilapia fillet you can either shallow fry or bake in the oven. Enjoy this with fluffy white rice and you will never regret it.


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Dudh Maach - Fish in a Milky Curry

Note: Instead of Mustard oil I use Olive Oil or Canola for the kids who are yet to get used to Mustard and the taste is compromised only a little. So if you don't have Mustard Oil use your regular cooking oil. If you can get hold of Mustard Oil, well the taste then takes on a new dimension.

Prepping the Fish by Frying

If you are using steak pieces of fish clean the fish pieces and toss with turmeric and salt a. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Heat Oil(Mustard Oil preferred) in a Kadhai or Frying Pan. Fry the pieces of fish till golden on both sides.

If you are Baking Fish in the Oven instead of frying

Toss Tilapia Filet in salt, turmeric powder and 1 tsp of Mustard (or Olive) Oil. Bake for 20 mins @350F and then broil for last 5 mins. This is my Toaster Oven setting.

If using salmon fillet, rub the pieces with salt, turmeric powder, mustard (or olive oil) and then bake at 275F for 25 minutes

Make the Curry

Heat 1 Tbsp of fresh Mustard Oil in a Pan. Temper the Oil with 1/4 tsp of Kalonji/Nigella seeds and 4-5 green chili (slit the chili if you like the heat).There will be a lot of spluttering so it is wise to cover the pan with a splatter screen.

Meanwhile in 1 cup of Milk add 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder and mix till you get a nice daffodil yellow.

Add the milk to the pan and let it simmer till it comes to a boil. Be careful it might just froth and spill.

Now add 1 more cup of water and salt to taste, let the jhol simmer at medium heat. Once you see it bubbling add the fish pieces and simmer for 2-3 more minutes.

Switch off heat and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.Let the gravy soak up its flavor. Drizzle a few drops of mustard oil to jazz up if you wish.Serve with white or brown rice.

Begun Pora -- the Bengali Roasted Eggplant

Begun Pora -- the rustic suburban cousin of Upper East side Ms. Bharta is a very simple, easy and quick if you can rope in the husband, dish.

The only scary part in this whole thing is roasting the eggplant, on the open flame, till it is charred and your smoke alarm starts ringing and the sprinklers go on and there are good looking firefighters ringing your door bell.

That would call for some exciting drama and you might get on page 2 of your local daily but if you abhor paparazzi choose from the following options:

1.On a balmy Tuesday afternoon when the birds are chirping and the wind is gentle hand the hubby a beer and an eggplant. Ask him to put it on the outside grill and keep a watch. Tell him he might get Begun Pora if he is good and some wilting lettuce if he is not. However un-romantic this might sound, the Bong hubby will watch and give you an eggplant that is done just right.

2.On other afternoons when nature is not on your side, rub the eggplant with that golden yellow pungent Mustard oil of yours, sprinkle some salt and stick it into the broiler.In 45minutes to an hour the eggplant will be charred to perfection.

Puritans will insist that you are missing out on the smoky flavor this way, which is true but anything better than cleaning a messy stove or meeting a firefighter in cooking dungarees, I say.

So after that eggplant has been done by the husband or the broiler or the ripping flame as your case might be, let it cool. Remove the charred skin and scoop out the soft velvety insides. To this add some more of that Mustard Oil(yes, you must), fresh chopped green chili, finely chopped onions and fresh corriander leaves and then mix with your fingers. It is a sensational feeling.

Now me being me and wanting a novelty in even my begun pora, I roast some tomatoes and garlic and add it to the above mix.

Wrap it up in a roti and have your dinner. My roti making skills are terrible and the six year old claims she can roll a better one than me, so if such is the case wrap it up in a tortilla.

Now that was quick wasn't it ? Less than 30 minutes of your live time for a Bong dinner. You can also do the eggplant in the broiler a day before and just do the quick mash and mix when you are ready to eat.


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Begun Pora -- Roasted Eggplant

Wash an eggplant thoroughly. It is good if you can soak in water for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry completely
Score the tip with a knife.

Rub with salt and a tsp of mustard oil. Now broil in oven or grill it on the outside grill.
To broil in oven -- put in a baking tray lined with aluminum foil, drizzle some more oil on top and broil. It usually takes between 40-50 minutes to an hour.

For stove top -- "Smoke or roast the eggplant: Hold the eggplant over a low open gas flame. Rotate the eggplant 90 degrees every few minutes or so. The skin will gradually darken, the eggplant will start to sag, and you will notice a pleasant smoky smell. After about 20 minutes or half an hour, when the skin is completely charred, remove the eggplant from the flame. This step can be done by broiling or roasting the eggplant in the oven, but you will not get the same smoky flavour which makes this dish so good. Allow the eggplant to cool, then discard all of the skin, chop the flesh then mash with a fork." -- Source

Once the eggplant has cooled remove the charred skin and mash the soft, velvety flesh.

Add Mustard Oil and mix finely chopped onion, finely chopped green chili, salt to taste and finely chopped tomatoes. If you wish you can roast some tomato and garlic in the oven and add it to above.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Let it sit for a 10-15 minutes to soak up the flavor. Now scoop it up with a roti and eat.

Similar Recipes:

Baingan Bharta

Egg Muffins with Onion & Mushroom -- super quick

It is still summer vacation time around here. 2 and half weeks more to go, almost 3 for many. The first half of the vacation BS spent in idyllic bliss with the grandparents being here. The second half Mommy is in charge and things are not so idyllic any more.

For one Mommy is hyper and lazy at the same time. Instead of judiciously spending her time making alu parathas for the kids or giving them a much needed oil massage, all she wants to do is projects. Mommy's modern parenting bible says "doing projects with kids" ranks high up right after "say good job to your kids every 5 minutes" . Mommy sure hated supervised projects in her own childhood but now wants BS to give up the idyllic nothingness for such ruthless acts. Thankfully for BS, her little Sis ensures that no project that involves gluing, cutting or even detailed coloring gets done while she is around. The remaining short ones that gets done BS loves them.

One of the things we have been doing recently is inspired by Jaya and her little girl. From her post I got the Origami link and it is the perfect thing to do even when LS is around. We have done a Tulip with stems, a fortune teller(remember "Color, Color, what color") and a Pelican so far, It is easy, fast and fun. We use paper around the house, BS colors them and voila there is some new thing after all the folding.

Next is something we started for my pure own selfish desire. I wanted some Ganesha motifs on my walls and I thought why not make BS do them. So I got these 8x10 canvas, some acrylic paint and self-stick rhinestones. I sketched geometric Ganesha pattern on the canvas and BS colored them in and stuck rhinestones. We have done only one so far. But we plan to do two more in diff colors. I will show you all three if and when they get done, keep your fingers crossed.

Note to new Moms: Doing projects and saying Good Job in moderation is ok. Don't go overboard with them.

Now to the food which keeping in tune with my status this month is quick, easy and simple needing no more than 30 minutes of human involvement.

Since the day I started making Kalyn's Egg Muffins they have jostled everyone out to be my first love on "no-time-what-do-we-have-for-dinner" days. Practically that would mean every day but if you have something every day they lose their charm and do not deserve the attention of a first love so I save them up for "really-really-no-time" days.

This time out of a sudden whim I fried onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green chilis and made them the base for these muffins. They tasted so good that I thought to have them here lest I forget and never ever do the same again.

Note to myself: "Please, please make them again this week. They were delicious".


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Kalyn's Original recipe with Eggs
My previous recipe with egg whites

Egg Muffins with Onion and Mushroom

Heat Olive Oil and saute onions till soft

Add chopped tomatoes(cherry tomatoes in my case) and green chilli

Add chopped mushroom(baby portabella in my case) and saute. Season with salt etc.

Scoop out the onion-mushroom mix and put it in each of your muffin pan. You can top with grated cheese if you wish.

Beat eggs (egg whites only in my case). Season with salt, pepper, a tiny pinch of garam masala. Add it to each muffin pan

Bake till they rise. Eat them up quick.