BHINDI KUMRO POTOL DIYE NARKOL ILISH

I am starting late this morning, I again discovered dust inside the remote  holes in the backside of the stand fans, caught hold of the poor girl and told her that two hours from now I want a thorough cleaning. This girl never argues and not really a lazy bun... just that her cleaning services is not at par with my expectations. I know to maintain my standard at home, I have to work, instructions alone are not fruitful.... why I have become such a lazy I do not know. Perhaps so the husband may be staying in a hotel on his this visit to Kolkata. He would be on work in Delhi and thereafter to visit his parents. We both love our privacy end of the day, so he is unwilling to stay at his parent's home during the night time and how? There are two sick elderlies and four helps in a 750sq.ft. apartment. I think on his last visit, I monitored him so much that he is unwilling to stay in his own home. I told him let me or mani ask Zahida to come for cleaning. This girl Zahida does too dirty work unless me or my mother monitor.... I had been reported that while Zahida's dada was sleeping on his couch, she did "fakibazi" as much as possible. Her dada told me on return that she did everything he asked her to, but I am pretty sure that if had taken the next flight after his return to the island last time, I would have been into tears looking at the condition of my home. Unless our mother goes after Diwali and does a job with Zahida, it would not look decent. The husband perhaps got fed up with my enquiries last month "Bidisha sofa-bichana jherey tarpor dhekechey to?""ashar agey bathroom duto khokon ke diye porishkar koriye ashtey partey" ... so this time he told me " ami thakboi na tomar bari, hotel e thakbo"... I got softer and pleaded "aha thakbena keno, ami ki tai bolechi... Zahida dusting-cleaning ta thikmoto korlo kina dekhlei hoy".... I do not know why he does not wish to spend the night time with his parents... though he says he needs a relaxing night sleep after a long day, I may ask the brother & his wife or his sister to appoint a "Feluda or Mitin Mashi" to take care of him. Okay okay lah, its my fault that I am too much of a cleanliness freak but age is taking over, moreover in a smaller flat you cannot get exactly that level of clean corners as you wish. However, not one would remember how sparkling white my commode looked because the rest of the girls would reach the moon soon. Be them, not me or my mother. I told her, keep her telling "Mani tumi bhul korecho, amio.... eei prithibitey amra nishproyojoniyo".... How this short lady ran from this door to that door to get her kids admitted to a Loreto, Auxilium, St.James or Calcutta Boys without any help or botheration from her "bindas" husband that I remember. Her kids thanklessly did not fulfil her dreams but okay she may not have met a weird son-in-law had I not being in that school I went, neither would you get spiced up half truth stories from this lady today, a series of. You see, the source of a story is always in a skeletal form, a story teller adds flesh and blood to it... gives it life.... do not ask me why I love fictions.... its obvious for me. Okay, I do bond with my "rosh kosh heen mejaji" husband over few things, of which ilish / hilsa is one. If I have started the talk with family today, let us share a recipe with a family favourite fish ilish / hilsa. This cooking of hilsa  with okra, pointed gourd, pumpkin in thin coconut milk BHINDI KUMRO POTOL DIYE NARKOL ILISH is definitely not a common Bengali way of doing it. I just wished to get a variation in the curry base, we may have it once or twice a year, love would always be a "kalojeerey kanchalanka diye ilish... begun diley aro bhalo, shorshe bata diye paturi ba bhapa"...

I continue to be what I was, yesterday had a very late lunch.... so once Cristine was back from her Sunday tour I told her let P and me not have fish, dal and rice for dinner. The son had "ruti butter chini roll" and me that "ruti-butter" with fine Darjeeling around 10:30 pm. I was hungry this morning and had "muri badam makha" with fine Darjeeling again. Now shall have a cup of chamomile, tea infusions help you if you are having headaches, mild nausea.



Yesterday around 2pm, I asked the son to get food from the mall which is at the other side of the road. He usually gets happy when mumma allows him outside food, somedays he takes an MRT to somewhere and comes home late. It was past 3:45pm, I called him and told mumma is hungry, she wants to go to the mall and have a Bento Meal. He came and I went out. No point asking who he was with.... a boy, girl or just alone like his mother. Oh! I love the 5.50$ Bento Meal with chicken terriyaki & fish fry. Anyway, because the son was served store bought "ruti" yesterday night, I may be doing some "porota" and serve him with the "bandhakopir ghonto" once he is back from the school, if I go for a loner trip to the China Town which I may if I feel better after sipping the chamomile .... Cristine didi would do the "porotas"... I enjoy my trips to the China Town, have not visited the Buddhist Temple nearby for ages. A very good thing about it is that it allows a woman all 30 days of a month and gives you "noodle proshad".... they have a beautiful terrace where we can sit and get lost in some kind of a thought process, I love who or what let me be. Damn it, I am so prejudiced.... As of now, I feel I need to go out wandering alone today, desperately willing, before that I must share with you this non vegetarian hilsa fish curry with light coconut milk, pumpkin, okra and pointed gourd BHINDI KUMRO POTOL DIYE NARKOL ILISH. We do have a millennial at home who to my surprise enjoys fish eggs, of hilsa specially but does not eat raisin.... it boils down to the same ... that its a millennial. You can use Chinese Gizzard Shad for the curry or with any fish but we would stick to a good quality hilsa to show our love always! Remember, a fish with egg compromises with the taste but for us fish egg is a bonus.



INGREDIENTS :

HILSA / ILISH : 7-8 PIECES [IT IS ALWAYS GOOD TO BUY ABOVE A KILO OF WEIGHT]
POINTED GOURD : 3-4
OKRA : 6-7
PUMPKIN : 1/4 OF A STANDARD SIZED
THIN COCONUT MILK : 1COFFEE MUG
GINGER PASTE : 1TBSP
GREEN CHILLI PASTE : 2TBSP
CUMIN POWDER : 1TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 11/2TSP
NIGELLA SEED / KALONJI : 1/4TSP
DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 4-5TBSP [I USE MUSTARD] [IF THE FISH IS OF GOOD QUALITY, IT REALISES OIL WHILE FRYING]

PROCEDURE :

We would always use the pieces from the mid portion of hilsa for a curry. "gada o koler tukro".. We would wash them well but not to many times... yes it's blood adds to the taste of the curry. But discard the blood laden water you see in the bowl.


Bengalis do not usually add the head and tail ends of a hilsa to curries. We add them to mixed veg medleys or eat deep fried.

Now rub little salt and turmeric to the hilsa pieces and keep aside for 5-6 minutes.

Cut the two ends of the pointed gourds, peel off the skin keeping a gap, cut half. Wash and rub with little salt and turmeric.

Peel off the pumpkin and discard the inner layer. Now cut into cubes, wash and rub with salt and turmeric.

Wash and cut the stem end of the okras, rub with little salt.

Heat oil in a wok and lightly fry the pointed gourds, take out. Repeat the same with the pumpkin cubes, take out. 

In the same oil, lightly fry the fish pieces. Take out. 

Meanwhile we have prepared a paste with the ginger and green chilli paste, turmeric + cumin powders, salt as required adding a little water.

Temper the same oil with the nigella seeds and dry red chillies. Add the spice paste and stir fry at low heat for 11/2-2 minutes. Add a coffee mug of water, stir and bring it to boil.

Add the salt marinated okra, lightly fried pointed gourds. 

Cover cook at low heat for 2 minutes. Open cover and add the lightly fried fish pieces and the pumpkin cubes. Cover cook at the lowest heat for a minute or 2.

Open cover, add the coconut milk and simmer at low heat, covered for 2-3 minutes.

We are done!

We enjoyed the hilsa curry with steamed rice, garlicky okra and mango dal.