Doi Maach is again a very Bengali dish. However, contrary to the recipes I usually post from my family heirloom, this was not very common in our household. My mum rarely made it. All my memories of this dish is from having it at other people's houses or at some wedding party or such communal event.
Back in India, especially in Bengal, though we are close to the sea, freshwater fish is more popular than sea fish. We call freshwater fish as sweetwater fish. The preference for sweetwater fish is because there is so much surface water in the country, it is readily available. Seafish is more common in the coastal areas. The megapolis of Kolkata sits on the mega-river Ganges, and there are many tributaries to this majestic river, all teeming with fish. Along with that, in the villages and towns, there are innumerable little ponds, local water pools. In our family village, Joynagar-Majilpur, our forefathers had large tracts of land and houses, and almost each had these large pools. Water from these pools were used for washing, laundry, and other sundries. There were fish in these pools as well. These were sometimes caught and eaten, but mostly left for preserving the ecosystem. Growing up we used to visit the ancestral home once every few years, during the Puja or for a family member's wedding, and I spent quite some happy times sitting by these pools, watching the fish break the surface.
Buying fish is an art! My earliest memory is of going to the fish market with my father, walking through the blood soaked raised platforms in the market, looking at fish. Most of this fish is caught that very day and at that time, some 30 years back, there was not too much ice around. The fish lay on the slab, staring back at you. My father would carefully examine the gills and the eyes. The gleam of the eyes and the redness in the gills can tell you how fresh the fish is. Once the fish is picked, there is some haggling on the price. Then, the fishmonger descales the fish and cleans it. Then he/she cuts the fish into steaks. Very rarely do we have fillets of fish. Most sweetwater fish have little bones in them, so we don't filet them and cut them into steaks instead, with the backbone in the middle.
Ingredients
Fish - 5 fillets of sea bass
Turmeric
Salt
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Whole Garam Masala - Black Cardamom, Cloves, Bay Leaves, Cinnamon, Red Chilies
Asafoetida
Plain Yogurt - I use whole milk type
Sugar
Mustard Oil
Preparation
Back in India, especially in Bengal, though we are close to the sea, freshwater fish is more popular than sea fish. We call freshwater fish as sweetwater fish. The preference for sweetwater fish is because there is so much surface water in the country, it is readily available. Seafish is more common in the coastal areas. The megapolis of Kolkata sits on the mega-river Ganges, and there are many tributaries to this majestic river, all teeming with fish. Along with that, in the villages and towns, there are innumerable little ponds, local water pools. In our family village, Joynagar-Majilpur, our forefathers had large tracts of land and houses, and almost each had these large pools. Water from these pools were used for washing, laundry, and other sundries. There were fish in these pools as well. These were sometimes caught and eaten, but mostly left for preserving the ecosystem. Growing up we used to visit the ancestral home once every few years, during the Puja or for a family member's wedding, and I spent quite some happy times sitting by these pools, watching the fish break the surface.
Buying fish is an art! My earliest memory is of going to the fish market with my father, walking through the blood soaked raised platforms in the market, looking at fish. Most of this fish is caught that very day and at that time, some 30 years back, there was not too much ice around. The fish lay on the slab, staring back at you. My father would carefully examine the gills and the eyes. The gleam of the eyes and the redness in the gills can tell you how fresh the fish is. Once the fish is picked, there is some haggling on the price. Then, the fishmonger descales the fish and cleans it. Then he/she cuts the fish into steaks. Very rarely do we have fillets of fish. Most sweetwater fish have little bones in them, so we don't filet them and cut them into steaks instead, with the backbone in the middle.
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| Doi Maach |
Ingredients
Fish - 5 fillets of sea bass
Turmeric
Salt
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Whole Garam Masala - Black Cardamom, Cloves, Bay Leaves, Cinnamon, Red Chilies
Asafoetida
Plain Yogurt - I use whole milk type
Sugar
Mustard Oil
Preparation
- Wash and cut the fish in kebab size pieces. Marinate in salt and turmeric.
- Grind onions, garlic, and ginger.
- Whip yogurt and sugar.
- Heat Mustard Oil to smoking. Fry each fish piece so that it turns orange. Set aside.
- Heat some more Mustard oil. Add asafoetida.
- Add garam masala to the oil and let it flavor the oil for a while.
- Add the onion mix. Sprinkle some turmeric. Cook the onion paste till oil leaves the masala.
- Lower the heat and gently add the yogurt mix. Mix well. Let the flavors meld.
- Add some water, bring to boil.
- Add in the fried fish pieces. Cover and let the fish simmer for five minutes.
Bengalis love their mustard oil. We rarely cook with any other oil, especially the traditional dishes like this. You can use another oil, like vegetable or corn oil, but the mustard flavor will be lost. Please do not use coconut oil or olive oil. Some people lightly fry the onions to translucent and then grind into paste. Ginger is must in this dish, garlic is optional. I did not have green chilies handy today, but you can skip the red chilies in the garam masala and add fresh green chilies to the dish when sauteing the onions. The yogurt will give the dish a slight sour taste, which balances very well with the sugar and saltiness in the dish. This dish is very delicate, very subtle in flavor and not loud as your typical creamy sauces served in restaurants around town. Why? Because it is authentic, we do not overdo our spices and flavors, we do them just right!!
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