I’ve turned out a Bengali fish curry!!! YAY!!

It’s a Wednesday evening after work. There is nothing planned for dinner. There’s fish in the freezer and an (un)interesting option of turning out a coconut curry variation of a Malayali’s fish curry. I’m thinking of asking DH to order takeaway – the easiest choice for a lazy idjit like me.

I remember in time that I’m the one who insists we reduce our takeouts and stick to home-made food. I’m sure DH would agree to takeout – having ventured out to work after recovering from mild fever and cold, not gone to work for a couple of days, blah blah, etc. However, my ‘creative chef’ cap gets donned unknowingly.

I’ve got Rohu (a very bony river fish) and DH raves about Bengali fish curry. I saw on tele recently that Bengalis make their fish curry with Rohu. My search for ‘Rohu Bengali Fish Curry Recipe’ lands in Malini’s Blog that gives me a vague idea of ingredients and preparation. I called up a Bengali friend whose mom fed delicious authentic Bengali fish curry to DH while I was living in the Southern Hemisphere last year. My Bengali friend is a startup cook (forced to cook after marriage) just like me plead ignorance of the recipe – but she gave me a few pointers that “Malini” didn’t mention.

• Lightly coat the fish in turmeric and salt before shallow frying it. (Malini doesn’t have oil in the ingredients)
• Frying the fish is only for a couple of minutes each side
• No coconut oil for this recipe
• Fry some potato chunks and add that first to the curry
• After the potato absorbs some of the gravy then fish is added

The curry turned out very yummy. DH has gone for double helpings after an hour’s interval. I’m resisting myself hoping the curry will be tastier tomorrow.

Now, DH insists that it isn’t Rohu!!! Hmm, trial run with non-Rohu: Success. Actual run with Rohu? Will see if it will happen and there is an update to this post!