Tomato Maach / Fish in a silky smooth Tomato Curry
This Tomato Fish Curry
resembles a bit of Kalia but brilliantly doused with ripe red tomatoes, this
silky smooth curry is also distinctively different from that one. A fish curry that
I found in between the worn out pages of an old Bengali cookbook has recently become one
of my prized possessions.
The book has two versions
of tomato fish curry. One...I am familiar with, which is prepared with nigella
seeds and lots of tomatoes but this one I came across for the first time. The
original recipe calls for the “bhapa” method, where all the ingredients along
with the tomatoes and onions and the spices are placed in a kadai with a
generous amount of ghee and then cooked until done. I tried that method...but
really was not happy with the outcome.
I and my husband both
prefer to add fried fishes into the curry rather than cooking the fish along
with the curry...so the previous flavour did not quite go along our taste buds.
Therefore I decided to make the curry using conventional method...and this time
the recipe clicked. A striking red curry with thin oil floating on top of it is
perhaps one of the most tempting fish curries...I have seen so far....
Tomato Maach / Fish in a
silky Tomato Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 thick pieces of fish
(use the fish of your choice. Generally Rohu will work well with this curry)
½ of a medium onion – grated
2 ripe tomatoes – pureed
1 ripe tomato – finely chopped
2 green chillies – finely chopped
½ inch ginger – paste
2 tbsp ghee
2-4 tbsp oil to fry the
fish
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt
½ tsp sugar
A handful of fresh coriander
leaves – finely chopped
Method:
Marinate the fish with 1
tsp turmeric powder and salt and keep aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and shallow
fry the fishes until they turn lightly golden. Take them out of the pan and
keep aside.
Heat the ghee in a kadai
and add the grated onions into them.
Sprinkle some salt and
sugar and cook the onions until they become translucent and golden around the
edges.
Add the ginger paste and cook for a minute or so.
Add the chopped and pureed
tomatoes and chopped green chillies to them.
Mix them well and cook
until you see the oil at the edges.
Add the remaining turmeric
powder and red chilli powder and give a good mix. Add a little water and cook
the spices for a minute or so.
Add ¼ cup of water to them
and simmer on medium flame until all the water dries out.
Add ¼ cup of water again
and simmer. Repeat this process 3-4 times or until the curry turns real smooth
and mushy.
Season the curry
accordingly and add 1 cup of water.
Add the fried fishes and make
sure they are well under the water.
Put cover and cook for
10-12 minutes on medium flame.
After 10 minutes open the
cover and simmer until you have your desired consistency of the curry.
Taste and adjust the
seasonings.
Sprinkle some chopped
coriander leaves on top of them and put off the flame.
Serve hot with some plain
steamed rice.
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