They say when in Rome, act like a Roman. But, that does not go much for me here in Bangalore. I can’t much act like a Bangalorean. I still crave for fish and I still didn’t fall in love with curry leaves.
I truly believe what Sandip exclaims – maache bhaate Bangali (Fish and rice makes a Bengali). The smell of sautéed onions in macher jhol or sound of spluttering kalo jeera – will surely drive any fish lover crazy.
I still miss the sabji diye macher jhol. Even though I prepare it in my Bangalore home with Andhra rohu, there is no match to the fresh catch from the nearby pond in Kolkata. I miss the freshness of the local pond fishes. The fishes are mostly cold stored and comes to the market almost after 7 days after being caught. Any idea where to get fresh catch in Bangalore?
The not-so-fresh fishes do not add any taste to non-spicy curries, the only way of cooking such fishes is to make a curry with onions, garlic and ginger. I figured out, another way – fish fritters. I have fried the macher vada. If you are calorie conscious, you can also bake it after painting each fritter with little oil or fat. You can use this mix also to make patol-er korma or use it as a stuffing for sandwiches and burgers.
Ingredients:
200 gms rohu or any other fresh water fish
1 large potato, boiled and mashed
1 tablespoon rice flour
1 tablespoon semolina
1 medium size onion, chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
A few sprigs of coriander leaves (optional), chopped
3-4 green chilies
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Preparation:
• Boil the fish pieces and carefully take out the bones
• Mix with the mashed potato and all other ingredients except the oil
• Make 1” balls with both your palms
• Press the balls from either side to make a flattened shape of half-inch width
• Heat oil in a frying pan
• As the oil gets piping hot, set the fritters to fry one side at a time
• Turn over as one side becomes almost brown in color
• Take out of flame and drain the excess oil patting with a kitchen towel
• Serve hot with tomato sauce and drinks of your choice
Hot Tips – If you want to make it as a burger filling, then prepare the balls larger in size. For making a fish bhurji, fry the onions first then add all other ingredients.
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is there any bengali fish(fresh fish) market is whitefiled? I stay in whitefield near forum value mall. HAL market is far from me.please suggest
Looks Awesome…. going to try it now 🙂
Thank you – its an awesome recipe. I tried it yesterday and it was an instant hit. The best part about it is that its so easy to make and yet so totally yummy. I’m sure – this recipe will remain in our kitchen for times to come:) …… Thanks again ….. and looking forward to more such recipes!
HAL market is where I get my fish from.. Saturday mornings are best to shop. YOu will get Andhra Rohu but you need to check.. if you are a good fish checker, you will get good ones.
Barkat is the guy to catch. His stall is the most crowded and you will shout bengali aunties and uncles shouting … “BORKOT, thoda kom koro” He serves me with very good fish, Rui, Ilish, Pabda, tengda, telapia and good prawns as well.. Shol is also there I think .
Ideal time to go buy is 8:30 when “fresh” catch comes in.
If you are near Shivajinagar, Moin ud-din’s shop is a very good one. I used be a regular but its become too far from me.. He has some awesome fish.. including Chital and Bual.. And also Koi. he is one of the largest fish suppliers to all of bangalore.. getting fish from him is as fresh as you can get.. since the trucks unload in front of you on Sat mornings and Tuesday mornings. . he has got very good Shol maach as well. His is the best. I was a regular for about 7 years .. then changed to BArkat… who is good but not that good.. 🙂
If you are in Richmond ROad, Johnson market is also a good place. Again you need to be early shopper so that you get the best catch.
MAdiwala also has a fish joint which my friends shop from.. but dont know first hand how it is..
Depends on where you live..
Hi Pallavi,
I also buy fish from HAL market and yes though they are not as fresh as their kolkata counter-parts, I still can survive on them simply because I love fish! I have heard about Shivaji Nagar but don’t know exactly where it is. Can u plz guide me the direction? I stay at Banaswadi near to outer ring road. Even though HAL market is around 7/8 KM from our house we dont mind to drive there to satisfy our fish cravings. I would also like to visit Shivaji Nagar if u can help me locate Moin ud-din’s shop.
Thanks,
Priyanka
Apnar Recipe follow kore ‘Rui macher vada ” baniye party-te serve korlam.
It was an immediate hit.I used fresh Rui mach from brahmaputra.
Next ektu improvise korlam by adding black pepper and lemon juice
Try Kore janiyo
Shovon,
Thanks for your comment. Oh, black pepper and lemon juice should be a good addendum. definitely will try the next time we have a party.
very true Sudeshna, a bong cant live without a fish 🙂 for fresh catch in bangalore, try HAL market, its good, we even managed to get hilsa airlifted form bangladesh…coming to your vada, this is absolutely appetizing, we also prepared macher dimer jhol…too good
Hi,
If you’re in Bangalore you could try the HAL Market near old airport road for good fish. Saturday Sundays they have quite a good haul and variety. I hate Andhra Rohu..it never brings that zing in your ‘jhhol’ that a fresh Rui from Kolkata does. Nevertheless like you mentioned..When in Rome, do what Romans do 🙂
Lovely post btw. I do a similar one by simmering these koftas in a tomato onion gravy. Goes very well with rice..or even chapathis.
Oh, the tomato onion gravy should be awesome. I would definitely try that out. I have heard about the HAL market, now that you say it , I’ll definitely give it a shot.
Dear Sudeshna
How are you? Yesterday I have boiled and deboned some rui to make fish roll ( The paratha part will be that of Nizam type, not available in way side roll shops in Calcutta). So I am keeping some aside for this Vada, great recipe indeed.
Regarding fresh fish, let me share my experience.
A fish leaving water may start degrading within 4 hrs in summer time. So dont buy ” Baraf chhaDa machh”. If you go to remote villages you may get a small size fresh rui , not in Calcutta or the big ones. Avoid eating pond fish which may have high doze of pesticides.(it was not so decades back)
About 80% of fish available in Calcutta or west bengal comes from out side the state ( except some small fish from near bye VeDIs). Can you imagine , Bolpur fish market is also flooded with sea fish, due to accute shortage of fish in Bengal!! All big Rui, Katla, Aar etc come from Andhra, Orissa, Maharashtra, MP and Punjab…the best Rui comes from MP dams and punjab. The fish are chilled with ice ( not frozen) and sent to distant markets including Blore. The most fresh fish that you get in Calcutta must have left water 36-72 hrs before it hits the wholesale market in howrah and later the up end Maniktala or Gariahat market. Deep frozen fish are not generally sold in Indian market except few.. The sure sign of a badly preserved fish is punctured gull bladder. In punjab, the guts are removed immediately after the catch and preserved in ice. They are the best and most expensive ones. To Summarize, a well preserved fish will taste as good as fresh-from-the-water ones, in fact unless told , you wont be able to differentiate… So just buy a good looking fish from Rossul Market or nearby MORE store or any other ..Actually many decades back the preservation techniques were not as good, so we used to end up buying degraded fish.
So dont worry you have been cooking and eating chilled fish all the while and continue.
Have a nice week
Ushnishda
Hi Dear,
Could you pls guide me about the temperature & duration of baking this fish patty? My rough guessing is in 180C for 20mins. It’s hard to get fresh sweet water fish here, so wondering whether can make it with sea fish preferably the scaled ones. Thks for the posting.