Kalo Jeera Diye Rui - Rohu with Nigella

It's difficult to get fishes here, more so when you are stationed in USA's one of the desolate less populated places like Perrysburg.  However, making the utmost use of the boon called Internet we finally have traced a market that sells fishes; Bengali fishes.

Starting from Boyal to Loitta, every fish that I know of was available there, except Bhetki. I was bursting with excitement and joy when I stepped into the market as if I had discovered a hidden treasure. For Bengalis, fish is an integral part of our cuisine and laying hands on our favourite food item in a foreign land seems nothing short of a miracle.

The recipe below involves simple preparation. My mother used to cook it pretty often during our growing years. It was what you say 'staple' in our home.

Ingredients:                                       Cooking time: 30-40 minutes ü  6 pieces of Rohu Fish ü  1 tomato ü  6-7 green chillies ü  1/2 tsp of nigella seeds or kalo jeera ü  1 heaped tsp of cumin powder ü  1 tsp of turmeric powder ü  1 tsp ginger paste ü  Salt to taste ü  Coriander leaves (chopped) ü  Mustard oil for cooking Method: 1) First of all, rub salt and turmeric powder on the fish pieces and then deep fry them in mustard oil. Keep them aside. 2) Make a paste out of tomato and green chillies using a blender. 3) Heat mustard oil in a wok and oil turns smoking hot, add nigella seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the tomato and green chilli paste. Sauté. 4) Add ginger paste, cumin powder and turmeric powder. Sauté again. If the masala becomes too dry, add a bit of water during sautéing. 5) Now measure out water as per your requirement for gravy. Sprinkle salt and let the gravy bubble up. 6) Slide in the fish pieces. Cook covered on medium heat for 2 minutes. 7) Spread the coriander leaves on top and mix in. 8) Serve hot with rice.