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In most species of fish, when the fish bears eggs the taste of its flesh reduces, excepting for hilsa. Hilsa’s taste gets enhanced when it bears egg. There is a reason behind this. Hilsa comes to the sweet water, that is, it comes up to the river during monsoon, the egg laying season. The sweet water happens to have an effect on the taste and so the catch from the river is world renowned. Now, coming back to the other fishes; rohu looses its taste during the laying season. Anyways the preparations made out of the eggs are ecstatic.
Fish egg, what we generally call is not only the eggs themselves but it also contains parts of the matured ovaries of the fish, and is called roe. Roe is prepared in different ways in different parts of the world. It is widely used in Asia and Europe. While we Indians mainly fry the roe, people from Japan, Korea and parts of Asia like to have it raw as a side dish with rice. Roe is widely used as a topping over sushi. Roe is also seasoned with salt, lemon, onions, olive oils and pepper powder. In Greece it’s used as a dip. While roe from shrimp, cod, salmon, sea urchin, and many other kinds of fishes are used in preparation, I have used roe from rohu for this preparation.
Ingredients:
Rohu roe (Rui macher dim): 100gms, properly cleaned
Wheat Flour (Maida): 1 tablespoon
Onion (Peyaj): 1 medium size
Green chilies (Kancha lanka): 2
Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 1 teaspoon
Rice (Chal): 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder (Halud guro): ½ teaspoon
Sunflower oil (Sada tel): for deep frying
Preparation:
- Chop the onions finely and mix with the mustard oil, keep for 5 minutes for the onions to soften
- Add all the ingredients excepting the sunflower oil to the softened onions and mix well. If required add little more flour to make the mixture firm
- Make small flattened balls of the mixture
- Heat oil in a wok or frying pan and deep fry the balls till cooked properly. Try putting a fork through the balls; if it comes out clean, the vada is fried.
- Take out of flame and place on a kitchen paper to soak out the excess oil
- Serve with tomato sauce and onions or also use it as an accompaniment with rice and dal.
My note: Macher dimer vada tastes best when consumed hot, so prepare it just before eating.
Sending this recipe to Indrani of Appyayan for hosting the first event on her blog, Spotlight: Fish.
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Thanks for the recipe…would like to know what is the raw rice used for..usually we add rice powder to make it crispy but here it is said rice.
The raw rice is used to make it crispy. It is raw rice and not cooked rice, sorry for the miscommunication
Can anyone shed any light on the ingradients and method of cooking “Machh er dim er tok”, which is a favourite in some parts of Bengal !!
hi!liked your macher dimer bora preparation…but i prepare it slightly differently.for me its a combine of onions{finely chopped],ginger-garlic paste,green chilly flakes,salt,besan……….then deep fried in hot hot mustard oil in case of rohu fish roe.it’s my mom’s way,you know.
yes I will sure try your recipe …
Keep watching my both blogs …Durga puja niye post ache Sonartoree te .
Bhalo thakben and natun post korben !
.-= Indira Mukerjee´s last blog ..আমার তুমি =-.
Indira,
Nischoi aro post likhbo, age thekei Durga Pujor janne janiye rakhi anek anek suvecha
thanks…just holud and jeere powder?
.-= Kalyan´s last blog ..I wanna hold your hand… Thai Pavilion, Cuffe Parade =-.
Just halud and ektu laban diye mekhe sarser fry
Hi Sudeshna, Thanks for leaving a comment on my bog. This is a very nice blog you have got here. Love the look and the photos. I just bought an eelish full of roe. Any idea what to do with the deem beyond bora?
Hi Kalyan,
Thanks for dropping by. Actually ilish roe is so tasty that you can just fry it and have it with warm rice, no need to make any bora. I hope this helps you.
@Veda,
I have used the fish egg or roe,as some people prefer to call it, and it is the raw fish egg that I have used. When you fry it along with the other ingredients it gets cooked.
Hey Sudeeshna,
Lovely website, I wanna try this vada but had some doubts. Do you use fresh fish or cook it before adding it in the mixture. Pls. let me know.
Take care and happy cooking
Cheers,
Radhika Vasanth
.-= Radhika Vasanth´s last blog ..Rava Laddoo =-.
hey nice recipe Sudeshna…aami khuj chilaam thanks for sharing 🙂
That is a new recipe to me. Looks like a great appetizer!
Really ainteresting recepie..Never heard this before…different ways to use caviar..
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