Kumro Pabda - Pabda Fish with Pumpkins

My days are going really busy these days. Hence I am unable to update my post as frequently as I used to. I am really sorry for that but I will get back to my frequent mode once the course that I am doing is over.

 

Facebook is a boon in one way that it has brought so many of my friends, separated after college or university, together in one place for interaction which otherwise we would not have been able to do. Recently one of my fellow batch mates in University contacted me over Facebook and she being near our city in Illinois we didn't let the chance go for a get-together and there we went driving for 3 and half hours to her place last weekend and her baby is so cute and adorable that you would just feel like cuddling him throughout the day. We had so much fun at her place and she cooked this delicious Kumro Pabda among a slew of other items which I ravenously consumed. Her husband is a good chef and loves experimenting with food and on that note though we met each other for the first time, we got along instantly. He shared some recipes with me and I cooked this Kumro Pabda at home yesterday. It is a simple neat preparation but awesome in taste. A must try if you love pabda.

Ingredients:                                                             Cooking time: 30 minutes

ü  6-7 pabda fishes

ü  250 gm pumpkin (chopped)

ü  2 large tomatoes

ü  5-6 green chillies

ü  1 tsp turmeric powder, plus extra for rubbing on the fish before frying

ü  1 tsp dry red chilli powder

ü  Salt to taste

ü  2 tsp sugar

ü  1/2 tsp panchphoron (a mix of five spices - nigella seeds or kalonji, methi or fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds and saunf or fennel seeds)

ü  Generous amount of mustard oil

Method:

1) Heat oil in a wok. Rub salt and a pinch of turmeric powder on the fishes. Fry the fishes in smoking hot oil on medium low heat until brown in color. Take them on to a plate and keep aside.

2) Into the same oil, add panchphoron and allow it to sputter. Add pumpkins and shallow fry till pumpkins begin to change color.

3) Meanwhile, grind tomatoes and grind chillies together into puree. When pumpkins are fried with a nice golden hue appearing on the surface, add the puree, turmeric powder, dry red chilli powder, sugar and salt. Sauté the mixture for 5 minutes.

4) Add 1 or 2 cups of water to make gravy. Bring the gravy to a boil. Add the fried fishes and cook covered for 3 minutes.

5) Garnish with red chillies and serve hot.