Saturday, February 8, 2020

Sorse Katla- Catla Fish in Mustard Sauce


The machh'er jhols and jhals of Bengali cuisine are a veritable wonderland with some elaborate and some ridiculously simple preparations. All with delicious results! From frugal recipes that require barely three to four ingredients apart from the fish itself to more elaborate ones involving an array of vegetables and spices, the sheer variety of fish preparations in a Bengali kitchen is mind boggling. And it is this variety that keeps me seeking and learning more and more.

But not all the recipes are new or alien to me. Many are what Moni cooked. Like this sorse machh, mostly made with the 'peti' or belly pieces of a fatty Katla or otherwise Rui which were always in stock in Moni's freezer, thanks to the weekly shopping at Khar market.

I'd got a lovely Katla for a Bengali cooking workshop I did recently and I had some of it in my freezer. Like Moni, I had separated the peti or belly pieces from the gada or back pieces, put into bags and frozen them. And like her I decided to do this easy sorse katla with the peti pieces. You can use the gada pieces too but I wanted to cook like she used to so it was just the peti pieces for me.

Sorse Katla

6-8 peti pieces of Katla (you can also use Rui or Rohu)
a few fresh green chillies
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp kalaunji or nigella seeds
turmeric
salt
mustard oil
fresh coriander

Wash the fish pieces and drain. Smear the fish pieces with salt and turmeric and keep aside for a few minutes.

Soak the mustard seeds in warm water for around 30 minutes. Drain and grind to a paste with a couple of green chillies if you like. Strain the paste to remove the harder husk of the black mustard seeds for a smoother paste. Moni often didn't bother and thus her gravy would be speckled with black. Soaking the seeds is essential as it removes the bitterness. If you are using powdered mustard you have to soak that too before using. This is essential as otherwise you will end up with a bitter inedible gravy/sauce and the dish will be ruined.

Heat mustard oil in a wok/karai and fry the fish lightly. Remove and keep aside.

Add a little more oil to the karai if required, heat it well and chuck in a teaspoon of kalaunji or kalo jeere as we call it.  Let it sizzle for 30 seconds and then chuck in a few fresh green chillies. I used bullet chillies that I had brought from Kolkata. You can use whatever green chilli you prefer.

Pour in the mustard paste and stir well. Add a little salt and turmeric, cook for a minute. Add half a cup of water, stir to mix. Then add the fried fish pieces gently into the mustard gravy. Once it boils reduce the heat, cover the karai and simmer for five minutes or so. Switch off the heat and drizzle some raw mustard oil into the karai. Cover and let it sit for a few minutes.

Garnish with some fresh coriander and serve with plain hot rice.

You can make this recipe using Ilish, Katla, Rui, Aarh, etc. but my favourite is with a good fatty Katla! This recipe, as you have seen, is simple and very frugal. That is why the ingredients are important. Use good quality mustard oil only. Make sure your green chillies are fresh and flavourful. These are the details that will make the dish shine.

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