A No Name Dish

I earnestly requested him to name the dish, but the reluctant husband lazily stated to let the dish without a name. I didn’t want to take the honour to name the dish and on the contrary, my philosophical mind grabbed the pride to invite a no name dish in the world of flaunt where name comes first then the body. So this dish became famous in our menu as a “ no name ” dish. Whenever my taste bud needs a change, I would request him -“ machher oita banao na.”(Make that dish with fish). So It will be worthy to say that the dish got commonly noted as “Machher oita” (That one by fish) in our menu. Today I am going to share this special dish, which doesn’t own a name officially, from my Husband, Mr.P’s virtual kitchen book, which is entirely written in his mind and tried and tasted in our kitchen. Spilling of the outcome- it’s totally an outstanding dish which made me survived on, during the pick time of my pregnancy.

No need to tell, all the proud moms have a different story about their pregnancy, mainly when we limited our discussion on the ‘switching taste buds’. The moms only know how the nine months passed in facing the changes of moods and tastes. The first annoying part starts when you go through the morning sickness in the early few weeks. You will never know which smell is going to make you sick and purge. I feel lucky as I had a very limited period of morning sickness and very less things were there in my list which used to make me barf. During that period, I used to hate green peas, corn, cheese and Mexican food, which I was always, lusted for. I became too much prone towards spicy fried food. I still remember, I used to spent days after days only on white rice, plain lentil soup and besan coated capsicum fry. Plain fish curry or chicken curry used to make my face changed as if some vapid dish was served to me. In the foreign land we had to devour whatever food was cooked in the kitchen by two of us. So each day was then, an experimental day to cook a dish, which would be very nutritious, healthy and also delighted the mom’s taste. One day when I became totally exhausted of experimenting the verities of recipes on fish the husband saved me and took the charge of the kitchen by making this delectable dish.

After we got married and shifted to this foreign land, Mr.P made a rule that the weekends would be my rest day and he would cook. So usually in the weekends my husband rarely used to visit the kitchen and took me out for meals, trying out the different flavours of the world in the restaurants around the city. But this gaiety time, devouring outside food, constricted to more homemade healthy foods when we were getting ready to welcome the new guest of our life. Then the would-be dad became more responsible and started visiting the kitchen more often to help the would-be mom.

This no name dish is one of my favourite dishes cooked by him, which I enjoyed too much during my pregnancy and still now I would devour it whenever it is served in front of me, only the condition is, it would be made by my husband. The dish will give a commingled tangy, spicy and fried taste, which will make you wish for more and more to eat. This dish proved to us a very healthy nutritious pack for both the mom and the child. A few days back, the day before his birthday he cooked the dish as a return gift to me. We relished the dish as the same, in reminiscence of those golden days when we two were weaving the dreams, how to welcome the little bundle of joy of our life. And the little listener, recently turned 3, heeding the recollections like a fairy tale, savoured her daddy’s delicious cook.

Ingredients:-

Fish – 5- 6 blocks of less bony side/ from the belly side (Here the Rohu/Rui fish is used)
Potato- 2 small size
Tomato - 1 big
Onion- 1 medium
Ginger paste- 1 tea spoon
Garlic paste- ½ tea spoon
Turmeric Powder- ½ tea spoon
Cumin Powder- ½ tea spoon
Coriander Powder- ½ tea spoon
Red Chilli Powder- According to taste/optional
Green Chilli- According to taste/optional
Coriander Leaves- 1 cup chopped
Garam Masala whole- 2 of each
Cumin seeds- ½ tea spoon
Salt- According to taste
Oil- 3 + 2 table spoons (It may be increased or decreased)

 

Method:-

1. Tip the fish blocks in a pinch of salt and turmeric powder.

2. In a deep dense pan /non stick pan heat 3 table spoon oil. Fry the fish blocks and reserve.

3. Cut the potatoes in to medium pieces length wise. Roughly chop the onion. Chop the tomato.

4. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan (you can use a different if you wish). Temper with the cumin seeds and garam masala. Add the onion when they start to splutter. Fry the onion till it turns brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and the potato. Fry for few minutes more. Add tomato and fry till the tomato melts well.

5. Now add all the other ingredients along with the fish, except the coriander leaves. Break the fish blocks in to small pieces and mix altogether in a nice mixture. Cover with lid. Keep them cook in a low flame till the potato gets cooked. Keep on stirring in intervals to avoid the burn.

6. When the potato is fully cooked and the juice is dried up, high the flame and cook for few minutes more. Add the coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice and dal. You will surely enjoy it.