Macher Bata

My mother makes this Macher Bata withc pungent garlic paste, mustard oil and a generous handful of red chilli powder. The resulting dish should be fiery red in colour and should have an almost paste like texture. My mother cooks Macher Bata with a kind of thin long fish (I have forgotten the name of it), which has very small almost non-noticeable bones and a meaty taste. We eat this as a starter but if you can get along with its heat, I believe you can mop up an entire plate of rice with just the Bata, just the way I did.

Macher Bata

Serves 6

Ingredients:

250gm boneless fish

1 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tsp red chilli powder

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp mustard oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat the mustard oil in a kadai.

Add the garlic paste and sauté until they start to change their colour.

Now slowly release the fishes into the oil.

Sprinkle some salt to season.

Fry the fishes flipping the sides and start breaking them by pressing with the back of a spoon or spatula.

Add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder.

Continue cooking until the fish is totally disintegrated and the oil has started to separate.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

When the fishes start to come off the kadai and take the form of a lump, switch off the flame and serve hot as a starter with some plain white rice.