Everyday Menus

It helps to have a set of interesting, easy to cook recipes in your everyday menu.

Fish tops this list when it comes to non-vegetarian cooking. Given the increasing health awareness( no red

meat, no high cholesterol food) fish is gaining favor with an increasing number of people. For us Easterners, Fish is usually part of our regular/everyday food, quite like the daal chawal of our Northerner friends or the Sambhar rice of the South. My friend G says " Keralites feel quite the same way about fish", so no meat days are literally so, 'no meat' but you can have all the fish you want to. My Dad used to tell us this story about how fish in the cities alongside the Ganges was be referred to as " Ganga ka phaal", thus fit for consumption across castes and communities.

Sorisa Macha or Sorshe Mach is one of the more popular and well known fish dishes from the East. It requires very few spices and gets done in a jiffy. There are of course variations of this dish, some prefer to use Dahi with the mustard paste, there are others who add a tomato or dried mango( Ambula in Odiya) and some make it just plain. I have sampled the dish across numerous households and it tastes good every single time.

Sorisa Macha

Ingredients

Fish(Rohu or Katla): 6/8 pieces( Do pack your fish in individual portions and freeze, that way you just thaw one portion each time. Also helps "portion control" ). When buying fish try and buy one that weighs at least 2.5 kilos, would have fewer bones to tackle.

Mustard seeds: 2 tbsps

Garlic pods: 2/3

Green chillies: 4( as per your taste)

Curd(optional): 2 tbsp

Kala jeera/Kalonji: 1/4 tsp

Turmeric Powder: 1tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard oil: 1 tbsp( this tastes best with mustard oil however if you find the smell pungent use any refined oil)

Corriander leaves: Finely chopped, for the garnish

Method

Rub salt and turmeric powder on the fish and let it stand for a few minutes. Lightly fry them on a non stick tawa with 1 tsp of oil.

Soak the mustard for about half an hour and grind to a fine paste with 2 green chillies and 4/5 pods of garlic( again you could grind this plain without the chilli and garlic)

Next heat a flat bottomed pan( always cook fish in a wide, flat bottomed pan, that way the pieces won't break), add a little oil. Let the oil smoke. Then add the kalonji and slit green chillies. Add the mustard paste and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then add the fish pieces and let the fishes soak in the gravy.

Add a few drops of raw mustard oil to finish off the fish. Garnish with the corriander leaves. Serve hot with fluffy white rice.

While we were at Kolkata we used to eat Gobinda bhog rice with our fish curries. I loved this small grained rice with a rich, fragrant smell.

This fish preparation works well for entertainment too. However your guests need to like the mustard flavor.

Note: You could also add mustard paste to the raw fish, let it marinate for about 30 minutes and then microwave the same.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!