Doi Maach (Fish cooked in a yogurt sauce)

A couple of years back A and I visited Calcutta for the first time. I had heard so many things that I didnt quite know what to expect. Howrah bridge, rassogollas, hand drawn carts, old world charm, mishti doi all seemed to jump out when I thought of Calcutta. But after the visit I could remember only one thing. Fish cooked the Bengali way. Wrapped in banana leaves or cooked in a yogurt based curry, And this was after tasting it at a local institution called Kewpies which was recommended by my brother in law, S who is a pastry chef. I had never had Bengali food before and after trying their thali, I was quite enamored.

Since then I had been on the lookout for a Bengali style fish curry recipe. It was only happy coincidence then that A chanced upon this amazing book "The Calcutta Kitchen" by Simon Parkes and Udit Sarkhel at our local library. I was even more excited when this book referred to Kewpies. So I had to give the doi maach recipe a try. The original recipe called for bhetki which is a sweet water fish and recommended substitutions were either cod or haddock. I couldn't find either so I used sole instead and I thought it worked quite well though being very flaky it kind of broke down in the curry. The final product was still very satisfying. Also sole has a very mild flavor so if you are not a fish eater and trying to be one, I would strongly recommend giving it a try.

Ingredients

1 pound skinless white fish fillet (Cod/Haddock, we used Dover Sole)

1/2 tsp salt + extra to taste

3 tsp turmeric

2 1/2 cups plain yoghurt

1 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)

1 tsp red chilli flour

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp mustard oil if available (we used regular vegetable oil)

1 large dried bayleaf

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

- Wash the fish and rub it with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp turmeric. Set the fish aside

- Using a whisk, mix the yoghurt, chickpea flour, remaining turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin and sugar

- In a wide pan, fry the fish in a little oil on both sides. Remove and set aside

- In the same pan, add the bayleaf and onion and cook until light brown

- Add the spiced yoghurt and simmer on low heat for about 15 mins

- Arrange the fish pieces in the sauce, coat them and simmer for a few more mins

- Serve with steamed rice

Makes 4 servings

Black bean cakes with avocado and yogurt sauce

I find it hard to believe that the first month of this new year is already over. For me this month was mostly about unusually cold weather, of either me or A being sick and blogging much lesser than I would have liked. So in a way I am glad that January is over and I am going to pretend that its the start of the new year all over again with February (I know we are a little into Feb as well but thats ok by me). With this new beginning I am making a few New Year resolutions too. They include more cooking, more blogging and more reading. Not necessarily in that order but lets see which one gets done more.

Aditya came up with this idea for the black bean cakes based on a somewhat similar dish he tried at a local restaurant. So we decided to give this a try for lunch today by raiding the refrigerator and finding everything that could go into these. We ended up using a carrot, some corn and a can of black beans for the cakes. We were both tired of eating bread so we decided to top these with a little bit of shredded cabbage and top it with an avocado sauce. The avocado sauce was inspired by both guacamole and sour cream and we made it by blending avocado with some mint and jalapeno along with yogurt. The end result was quite satisfying. Heres the recipe.

Black Bean Cakes:

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 cup corn

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

lime juice of 1/2 a lime

2 tablespoons corn meal

- Heat around a tablespoon oil in a pan.

- Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.

- Add jalapeno and carrot and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

- Add corn, followed by salt and black beans.

- Sprinkle with a little bit of water and cook covered till the beans and carrots are soft.

- Puree 3/4 of the mixture and mix in with the remainder.

- Add corn meal (vary quantity depending on the wetness of the dough). Refrigerate for 10-15 mins so that mixture binds well.

- Use 1/3rd cup measures to spoon into patties.

- Coat with a little cornmeal/semolina and cook till brown on both sides with the remaining oil.

Avocado and Yogurt sauce

1 Avocado, chopped into chunks

1/2 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

1 tablespoon mint, chopped

lime juice of 1/2 a lime

2 tablespoons yogurt

1/2 teaspoon salt

- Combine all ingredients and puree together.

Serve the black bean cakes, topped with a little bit of shredded cabbage and the avocado sauce.

Makes 4 cakes.