Thursday, December 7, 2017

Peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal..

peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal

Exploring the affair of fish and Bengali would be nothing less than an epic. The varieties of fishes we eat is almost endless. And the way they are prepared also varies from one household to the other.  If you don't eat fish and rice everyday then there is a big question about your true 'Bong' blood. Fortunately or unfortunately I do fall in that category, and my other family members curiously ask me if I don't eat fish and rice for lunch and dinner then what other alternatives do I have? No it's not that I hate fish or don't like them, it's just I like to consume all other kind of proteins to keep a balance. And who wants to eat the same fish curry and rice everyday, at least not me. The commonest of common fish one cook in a Bengali kitchen is either Rohu or Katla, typically made into a simple jhol (curry) or sorse bata jhal (semi gravy with mustard paste). It surprises me how one can eat the same curry everyday without complaining. I try to eat fish at least thrice a week and that too of different varieties. As winter is offering us its bounty of vegetables, I love to combine the fishes with the goodness of the veggies too.

Today I made tyngra mach, a native fish of Bengal. A type of cat fish these tyngra are very tasty. I cooked the fish with onion stalk or peyajkoli. The spicy, dry curry was a delicious mid-week lunch and I enjoyed it with steamed rice without caring about the calorie count.

Peyajkoili diye tyngra mach recipe

Among many other vegetables of winter I ardently wait for peyajkoli or onion stalks, these are green hollow stem of the onion that grow upward to bear the flowers. There are different ways to cook onion stalks, it can be simply stir fried to go with rice and dal or else combined with other vegetables or fishes.

tyngra mach

If you are new at cooking fishes you may find the tyngra mach quite slippery and a layer of slime on it. The easiest trick to get rid of the slime from the fish is to rub the fishes with lots of salt and wash under cold water. Like any other fish preparation, the cleaned and washed fishes are marinated with salt and turmeric powder and fried in mustard oil. If you can't find mustard oil use any other vegetable oil.

Peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er recipe



peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal


peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal

Things needed to make peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal:

(serves: 4)
  • Tyngra mach: 20
  • Peyajkoli or onion stalk : a bunch
  • Potato: 1
  • Nigella seed (kalo jire): 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder: 2 tsp
  • Red chili powder: 1-2 tsp
  • Green chilies: 4-5
  • Salt
  • Mustard oil to cook

Steps of making peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal:

1. Sprinkle the fish with salt and turmeric powder and let it marinate for 12-15 min.

2. Discard the white flowers of the onion and cut the green stalk into two inch length pieces, wash well, drain the water and keep aside.

3. Peel a large potato and cut into thick frech-fry like long stripes. Wash and drain water.

4. In a kadhai or deep pan heat mustard oil. When the oil is hot fry the fishes for 3-4 mins on each side. Take out the fishes, keep aside.

5. In the same pan, add stilted green chilies and nigella seeds, as the seeds splatter add the potato and onion stalk, sprinkle salt, turmeric powder, cover and cook till vegetables are soft.

6. Add the fried fish, red chili powder, green chilies. Sprinkle little water, cover and cook for 5-6 min. Serve hot with steamed rice.

peyajkoli diye tyngra mach recipe



peyajkoli diye tyngra mach er jhal

Bengali lunch thali


1 comment:

  1. What a different and lovely way to combine both fish and a veggie.
    Thanks
    Sunita

    ReplyDelete