A Lighter Fish Stew

পাঙ্গাস মাছের দোপিঁয়াজা 

Basa Dopiaza with Peas & Tomatoes

Pangash in a broth of onion, peas and tomatoes

My only New Year's resolution for 2019 is to cook more fish, and so I'm pleased that my first recipe this year is a Bangladeshi fish stew. I've been wanting to share a recipe like this for a while, but I just wasn't sure what fish to use from the supermarkets around me in the UK. However, it seems they've started stocking basa nowadays, which I grew up eating and know as pangash in Bengali. Native to South Asia, pangash has gently flavoured white flesh - which works well with the lighter spicing of this recipe. 

The classic Dhaka "hotel" version of this dish is made with spices and onions only, in keeping with what a dopiaza usually is. But mom used to add tomatoes and peas at home to give the dish a little more flavour, which is especially important if the fish you're using isn't fresh. Traditional cuts of fish in Bangladesh leave bones in, which means the fish survives* the vigorous cooking process more easily. In the UK I can only get fillets**, which are a little delicate and prone to breaking up from frying and stewing. I recommend cooking this in a pot large enough to hold all of your fish in a single layer, so that the pieces aren't rubbing against each other as you try to flip them or stir the sauce. Additionally, you could opt to flash fry the fillets rather than frying them for 4-5 minutes as I recommend. This makes it easier to keep them intact. However, do note that it's typical in Bangladesh to fry the fish in hot oil long enough so that the pieces are left with a crust - and flash frying won't quite give you the same texture or flavour.

The recipe below serves two generously, or four as part of a bigger meal. Please note that unlike most of my meat recipes, this stew will not keep in the fridge for more than a few days. 

Cooking Fish

স্যামোন দোপিঁয়াজা 

Salmon Dopiyaza

Salmon dopiaza servd with veggie biriyani.
I obviously went a little overboard with the onion placement,
I'm sorry you can't really see the fish!

A lot of fish that featured in my childhood was cooked delicately, as lightly spiced stews. I wasn't a big fan of these then, but I do want to know how to cook them now. Unfortunately, my experiments to retrace these recipes haven't yielded any postable results yet. Until they do, the below is an easy recipe for salmon that I often refer back to. It's cooked a little bit like meat, because salmon is both rich and tough enough to survive the process. There are a few other fish we normally cook like this at home - eel being the first that comes to mind, though that would be more cumin-heavy. The onion base works great as sauce with texture, and I could eat it by itself, something I rarely say about fish based sauces! 

Ingredients:

• 400.00g filleted salmon
• 3.00 medium onions
• 1.50 teaspoons of garlic paste
• 1.50 teaspoons of ginger paste
• 1.00 teaspoon of powdered turmeric
• 1.00 teaspoon of powdered coriander
• A pinch of cumin
• Powdered chilli, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Half a red pepper
• Fresh chilli, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

• Finely chop the onions
• Put a pan onto the stove on medium heat, and add a generous amount of vegetable oil
• Once the oil has heated, add the onions and fry till they soften - around 6 to 7 minutes
• Add the turmeric and mix in, and let onions cook for a further minute
• Add the garlic and ginger pastes, along with a dash of water if the onions have begun to go dry
• As the mixture is cooking, add the coriander, cumin, chilli and salt. Stir thoroughly to mix, and cook for 5 minutes
• As the spice base is cooking, prep the salmon. Hold the fillets under warm running water, and rub the skin to descale the fish. This is important, as you don't want to end up with loose scales mixed into your curry

Salmon laid out on the onion base

• Cut the fish up into smaller pieces if desired, and add to the pot. Lay the fish carefully on top of the spice base, making sure none of the fish is in direct contact with the pot 
• Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding a dash of water near the 6 minute mark if the liquid in the pot has dried up, especially if you're aiming for a lot of curry sauce
• Make sure to never put a lid on the dish - this will cook the fish too quickly and may cause it to break up. Instead of stirring the onions, give the entire pot a gentle shake now and again to avoid breaking up the salmon
• Once the 10 minutes are up, flip the fillets over (I find it easier to do this using silicone tongs). Continue cooking for a further 10 minutes
• Slice the red pepper and fresh chilli, then add to the pot along with freshly ground pepper
• Mix in gently, taking care not to break up the fish. Cook for another 4 minutes, then take the dish off the hob
• Serve hot with plain rice or polao

Additional Information

This dish tastes a little bit like a British curry house dish - probably because curry house dishes depend on similar spices and onions as a base. The red pepper here is definitely optional, I only add it when I want a little more veg in my diet. 

Another Iftaar

স্যামন ভাজি 

Bangladeshi Pan-Fried Salmon

Courtesy of my brand new camera!

Looking back through the blog, I find it highly amusing that my last post for fish was also during Ramadan - and that I'd lambasted doing anything with salmon other than smoking it. I have to admit I've changed my mind slightly on salmon: pan frying it with the correct spices makes for a nice, easy meal. The recipe below is slightly experimental and based on how we traditionally approach fried fish in Bangladesh. Caught fresh, fish needs nothing more than a bit of seasoning, chilli and turmeric before being fried to a crisp. This rule is applied to pretty much any fish, which are descaled, cut into chunks along the spine, marinated in spices and launched into a pan of hot oil.

This process is easily replicated wherever in the world you are, provided you have access to freshly caught fish. When cooking frozen fish or supermarket fish in general, however, the starting product tends to lack flavour - and the end result is often not so satisfying. So I've taken inspiration from last year's recipe, and added mustard powder to the ingredient list below. I find it cuts through the "preserved" whiff of supermarket fish. And thus, served with scattered coriander, caramelised onion, daal and some steamed rice, salmon suddenly makes for a rather traditional Bangladeshi meal. 

Almost There

সর্ষে দিয়ে সি ব্যাস
Sea Bass in Mustard

Sea bass in mustard, served with garlic spinach and rice

Ramadan is almost over! I often feel that fasting for Ramadan is more spiritual in countries without Muslim-majority populations. Office times aren't adjusted to make way for sunset and people don't stop eating around you. All this makes you stop and think about why you're doing this, and it demands self-discipline as you carry on with your normal life. It's fulfilling, but sometimes I also miss the social aspect of Ramadan I get in Bangladesh or with family. So a couple of times in the month I remedy this by inviting people over for iftaar at mine. On this particular occasion, I was planning a Bengali menu and hence the fish. Traditionally, this mustard based dish is cooked with ilish, the national fish of Bangladesh. However, its popularity has also led to overfishing of the species, so I try not to buy it - especially the variety exported abroad. 

I've been told that the ilish in this dish can be substituted for various oily marine fish, like sea bass as I've done here. A lot of Bangladeshis living abroad also use salmon, something my aunt kindly corroborated from across the pond. I bet this is because salmon is seen as a sufficiently glamorous substitute to ilish, but I'm personally not a big fan. Salmon overpowers the mustard a bit too much, and a part of me also believes it's a sin to do anything with salmon other than smoke it. Using sea bass yields a strong fishy-mustardy dish that's much closer to the original ilish iteration. The recipe below isn't perfect yet though, so a few words of caution. I've cooked this with fillets, which doesn't take kindly to vigorous stirring. I'd recommend trying this with fish still on the bone, cut Asian style. And while it isn't traditional, I think next time I'll add a pinch of cumin to the dish, just to cut through the fishiness a little more. If and when I get round to trying this again, I'll update the ingredients and method. The recipe below serves 2 generously. 

The Blog's First Crustacean

চিংড়ি দোপিয়াজা
Dry Prawn Curry

Prawns served with rice

Bangladesh is quite conservative when it comes to food. Granted, I've heard rumours of frog-eating, but I've never actually seen someone serve it up anywhere in the country. Squid and shellfish have never been easily available locally - at least not in mainstream food markets and restaurants. And it is only recently that I've started to see curried crab served in restaurants, though even this is still limited to coastal regions. Somehow, running completely counter to this narrative is our country's love for prawns. We eat every variety: from the tiny ones ground into a paste, to the massive jumbo king prawns served at special occasions - legs and antennae included! 

I have to admit I very much share this affection towards prawns, and growing up they were amongst the few 'fish' I liked. Whenever my mom would try to make me skip meat and eat fish, this is what I would ask for. An argument about how prawns weren't real fish would ensue, and sadly I'd often have to settle for eating something like rui or ilish. I have expanded my palate since, but prawns remain a favourite. As such I'm surprised it took me so long to try cooking this dish. As far as curries go, this is a very simple one. Prawns are hard to get wrong, and the result is usually a sweet, mildly fragrant curry despite the chilli I've used below. Apologies for the strangely varied pictures - they come from 3 separate occasions of (past) cooking! 

Ingredients:

• 150.00 g raw peeled prawns
• 1 small onion
• 1.00 tablespoon of garlic paste
• 0.50 tablespoons of ginger paste
• Turmeric powder, 3/4 teaspoon
• Chili powder, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Chopped coriander, a handful

Method:

• Chop the onion and heat some oil in a non-stick saucepan
• Fry the onions on medium heat till they go translucent
• Add the garlic and ginger paste, followed by the turmeric and chilli

The onions just as they're done, with the spices being added

• Mix the onion and spices thoroughly, and cook for at least 10 minutes 
• Add small amounts of hot water to the saucepan now and again to prevent the mixture from drying out

The cooked spice mixture, transferred
to a new pot because of kitchen logistics.
Basically mom needed the saucepan
for something else.

• Wash the prawns and add them to saucepan 
• Mix the prawns and spices thoroughly, again adding hot water intermittently to prevent the dish from drying out completely 

Prawns being mixed with the spices

• Add salt as desired and leave to cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add the chopped coriander, mix into the curry
• Leave to cook for another 5 minutes and take off the heat
• Serve with rice, polao or khichuri

Additional Information

The dryness of the curry is a personal preference. Feel free to add more or less water based on how much sauce you want. Bear in mind though that the more water you add, the thinner the sauce will become. Prawns are often cooked like this with aubergines and potatoes, which bulk up the dish. Add the potatoes straight after adding the spices, allowing everything to cook together for the 10 minute period. Add the aubergines (or any other vegetable you fancy - I've used green beans or courgettes too) at the same time as the prawn, allowing them to soften without turning to mush. 

Fish: A Journey of Acceptance

টুনা ফিশের চপ
Bangladeshi Fish Cakes

As usual, I erred on the side of over frying/cooking/burning

I'm a meat person. That should be obvious from the recipes on this blog, and the lack of fish recipes in particular. Growing up, I used to hate anything fish unless it was squidgy seafood. These fish cakes would be the one form in which I would consume fish - much to my parents' chagrin as they tried to push me towards a balanced diet. That dislike for fish is (mostly) gone now, but I still don't cook fish often enough at home. Even this recipe I only use on special occasions - i.e. when I have people round for dinner. I've found myself scrambling to throw in fish cakes to balance out very meat heavy menus more than once.

The recipe below is very simple. It essentially requires minimal amount of prep before all of the ingredients are mixed together before shallow-frying. But on the flip side, don't underestimate how long it can take to shape 20 fish cakes. I have spent more time than I would like splattered with oil in my kitchen, trying to fry these before my guests wonder where their food/host is!

Local(ish) Ingredients, Bangladeshi Twist

Smoked Mackerel with Red Onions & Coriander

The coriander in the UK is so weak..

It's always interesting to see how people cook Bangladeshi food while they're not actually in Bangladesh. Granted, you can get a lot of imported ingredients nowadays, but being abroad results in a lot of improvisation and experimentation with local products. The end product is often very satisfying, as it was for me today.

In Bangladesh we have a variety of - for lack of a better term - mashed fish dishes. We cook the fish with a touch of spice, de-bone, mash and combine with various other herbs, spices, oils etc. Over the summer, I went to a house where I was served mackerel combined with red onions, coriander and mustard oil, inspired by this Bangladeshi way of serving fish. It worked really well, but unfortunately I forgot to ask exactly how the mackerel itself was prepared.  

Working from memory, I remembered the fish wasn't spiced like it would be in the usual Bangladeshi dish. Wanting something a bit different for lunch today, I decided to recreate a version of it. I couldn't get my hands on any mustard oil, so I substituted with olive oil. I also had no idea how to cook fresh mackerel, so I went for the smoked variety. I added a few more things here and there, and the result was as you can see in the picture above. I will, however, be trying this again with fresh mackerel and mustard oil.

The Slightest Hint Of Fusion

Mom's Fish Fingers

Fish fingers, but a little more exciting than usual

Fish is an integral part of the Bangladeshi diet - probably something to do with the many rivers, lakes and ponds in the country. It's very common at our table too, but sometimes in surprising forms. I have no idea how actual fish fingers are made, but this is how mom makes them at home. She adds some spices to make the fish a little more exciting than your usual frozen supermarket fare, before . I have no amounts written down for this recipe unfortunately, as everything is to taste depending on how strong you want your marinade.