Rui maacher halka jhol / A light Rohu fish curry

There are illnesses and then there are illnesses.
And when an illness makes itself known, whether it is you or a loved one, you get a fresh new view of life.
Especially if it is family.
It is as if someone has held you by the scruff of your neck and has given a good shake, reopening your eyes to a fresh new outlook.
You see life from a different plane.
And your every day, mundane tasks and complaints look so very miniscule.

It is at times like these that you get comfort from the only real thing in life ... omnipresent and ever needed ... food.
Simple food. Comfort food. Light food.
Food that will settle inside you without so much of a thump.
Food that will lull you to a calm.
And help you see through the days that seem so dark that you almost start to doubt the adage of the light at the end of the tunnel.

It is this light jhol that I have turned to so many times ever since I made this for the first time fellow blogger Kalyan shared the recipe on Fb.
It is his Didu's recipe and like all grandmoms' recipes are, is very lovable.
This very loved fish curry and rice always helps to bring a sense of calm in me.

This is a very easy macher jhol recipe. In fact the easiest you can come across, ever, I guess.

Need :

Rohu fish - 4 pieces, cleaned and marinated with salt + turmeric
Potato - 1 medium
Parwal / Potol / Pointed gourd - 3 pieces
Haldi / Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya / Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Jeera / Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Whole red chillies - 2, broken
Salt - to taste
Water - for gravy
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp ( I use mustard oil )


How to :

Fry the fish lightly. 
I fry fish to a crisp on both sides only when I am making the rich Kalia. For this curry, however, I just let it into the smoking hot oil, lowered the flame, turned it once and brought it out.

Cut the potatoes and the parwal in similar pieces.
Soak the red chilli + jeera + dhaniya + haldi powder in a little water.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed wok / kadahi.
Add the jeera + whole red chillies.

Add the vegetables and toss well.
Fry for a while on high heat.

Now add the soaked masala paste + water + salt.

Stir well.
Lower heat.

Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.
Remove cover and add the fish pieces and slit green chillies.

Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes.

 Your easy, patla maacher jhol is ready.

 Here is a shot my lunch plate with this light Rui macher jhol.

This curry goes best with plain rice.
Serve it steaming hot. All you will need is a squirt of fresh lemon juice and a green chilli on the side.

I did have some salad and a Aamer ambol too.


Enjoy!!

There is a crisis in the family and I'll be leaving shortly to be with them.
Hence will be away from my kitchen for a while.
But I'll be back next month with many more recipes.
Stay with me, dear readers.


Don't miss my list of  other recipes using the Rohu fish or the Rui maach -

Badi Santula / Vegetables cooked with dried lentil dumplings

I just can't have enough of the rains.
Ever.
Last week it had rained non stop for three to four days. With dark clouds, heavy wind and fog.
Pune's rains are like quiet children.
They will be around yet you won't feel their presence. Calm, quiet, a little shy and not at all noisy or rude.
So unless you are in the vicinity of a window or the outdoors, most of the time you won't even know it is raining. And in the earnest, too.
So every time I knew it was raining, I would drop everything and rush to the windows.
We have huge bay windows and even the slightest opening is enough to drive the heavy  wind inside, resulting in papers, pens, glasses and other things flying off the dining table and whirling around in the rest of the house.
And god help me if there is a newspaper around.
Still, nothing could stop me from opening the window ... even a wee little bit ... and smell the wet air deep. The smell of rain and fresh, wet leaves and the earth and grass ... everything reaches deep into me and my soul.
Such freshness!
Such peace!

Now we are back to cheerful, sunny days, though there are clouds hovering in the horizon.
Very soon, they will come over. And stay for a while.
And I can spend more time near my windows. Yes, I have even moved a sofa to be real near.
To be able to feel the spray on my face .
And let the cold wind take my breath away.
My poncho is almost done. Hopefully I will be able to snuggle into it too.
And my favourite writer's latest book is at hand. I am saving it for the rains.
Yes, I can be patient.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but rains in Pune means cold weather.
And with the temperature almost nearing 17 degrees, to me it is very, very cold weather.
Which reads, along with the Bengali favourite Khichudi, blankets, shawls and sometimes the heater too.
And Pithe.
Or Pithas. The Odiya pithas. Mostly the savoury ones.
And some garam garam, light, soupy Santula to go with them. 

Growing up in Orissa / Odisha meant being familiar to Odiya food as much as I am familiar to Bengali food. And the Oriya lady who stayed with us and did the cooking most of the time played a big role in this.
Most Oriya pithas , especially the savoury ones, are accompanied with a light vegetable curry like the Dalma or this santula.
While the dalma is made with dal/lentils and vegetables, the Santula has just vegetables in it. And sometimes the badis or sun dried lentil dumplings are added to it too.

The most common pithas that have the Santula as an accompaniment is the Chakuli pitha, the Santula pitha, the savoury Podo pitha and a few others too.
However, this light, comforting curry is eaten with rotis or rice too. 

All you will need is a few vegetables.
No masalas. Yet delightfully flavourful.

Need :

Vegetables - cut into cubes , around 1 small bowlful
( I had raw, papaya, raw bananas, parwal / pointed gourd, brinjals, potatoes. You can use pumpkins, sweet potatoes ... any vegetables of your choice )

Badis / Vadis / Boris - a small handful
Garlic - a few cloves. smashed
Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric / Haldi powder - just a pinch 
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Whole red chillies - 2, broken
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp ( I use mustard oil )
Salt - to taste
Water - 4 cups or more if needed

How to :

Fry the badis and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy kadahi / wok till it is smoking hot.
Lower heat and add jeera, the red chillies, onions and the garlic.
Fry for a while.

Now raise heat and add the vegetables.
Stir fry for a while on high heat.

Add salt and the haldi powder. Fry well.

Add enough water to submerge the vegetables, cover and cook till they are well done.

Remove cover, check for water.
Add some more and add the badis (they will soak up water).

Cover and cook for 5 more minutes ( more if using bigger sized badis).

Remove cover and check.
The vegetables will by now have mixed together well and the badis must have soaked up the gravy well.

Remove from heat , add a dollop of ghee (if you want to ) and cover and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Serve fresh and steaming hot.

I was tempted to sprinkle some roasted jeera powder on top, but resisted myself.
And I'm glad I did.
Because the flavours of the vegetables and the slight hint of garlic and the badis had mixed together and was divinely wonderful!

We had it with rotis for lunch.

Try this one of these days.
After a day long's work, enjoy this comforting, light jhol with some soft, hot rotis for dinner.
With the rain keeping you company from the outside.

And don't forget to let me know how you like it.

Enjoy!!

Saantlano Pithe / Tempered savoury pancakes

With the weather turning from beautiful to absolutely, unbelieveably, awesomely beautiful, the outdoors has been a'calling me for a while now.
What with a cold, windy breeze and numerous clouds playing hide and seek, the temperature looking downwards all the while and a very light sunshine all around, the weekends have been diving me cray.
All I want is to go on long drives, for picnics, for photographs, and so on.
Basically to stay out.
Soon, when the rains come, we will have to stay indoors. But this weather now ... it is perfect to be outside.

But things are not always meant to be.
B is submerged up to the neck with work. And I with numerous chores that need to be completed before the rains start. Chores that have been piling up from the last few or more months.
But I will not be bogged down, I thought.
And decided come what may, we will go out and have a break at least on one day of the weekend.

Which was just a day away , by then.

B asked not to pick up any place that would be too far away ... he needed to be back home for work.
And said could give only a few hours, not more.
I sighed.
My dreams of a longish drive and lunch seemed distant. Earlier we had wanted to drive till Panvel, have lunch there and return with a small stop at Lonavla. But gave that up as Lonavla still needs some good rain and greenery.
Then B suggested we take a drive down the Bombay-Pune old highway.
Thanks to the expressway, the traffic there has lessened considerably. With a lot of trees still standing and a lot of open space all around, it has been our favourite road for aimless drives always.

We haven't 't been on that road for a long while now ... almost close to four years or more. It would be fun to rediscover old memories.
So off we went on a late Sunday morning.
Drove down the beautiful , very green with huge trees , road all the way up to Talegaon. It had started to rain by then and we rolled down the windows to let that fresh, wet breeze, in.
The small hills on the side had turned dark and light,white clouds hung on their tips.
It was beautiful.

After a while, we came to Toni da Dhaba, a place famous for its Punjabi food, for many years now.
We stopped for a late lunch, that became later, with us having to wait for around an hour .... it was that crowded.
But the food was worth the wait ... as always.
I did not eat much due to my rct; but B enjoyed his laccha paratha, dal, paneer amritsari and some garam garam jalebis.
On the way back, we took a detour and explored another new road.
Later stopped at a roadside stall for some ginger tea. And then it was time to return.
Dusk was setting in . I leaned back into my seat, closed my eyes and set some Sufi music on the loose.
And happily looked forward to another hectic week.

Before leaving, I had made these Saantlano chakli pithe for breakfast.

Back home, any holiday and sometimes a weekend , meant this  pithe or pitha, for breakfast. Thanks to our Odiya cook , we had a good dose of pithas in our childhood.
The varieties were numerous and unlike the Bengali pithes that are mostly sweet, Odiya pithas have a number of savoury ones.  Almost all of them can be eaten both as snacks as well as a meal.
And almost always paired with a light vegetable curry, these pithas make for a filling, healthy meal. And if had for breakfast, they can keep you going for a long time before you are hungry again.

And this Saantlano pithe or the Santula pitha was our favourite.
A cross between the dosa and the uttapam, this pitha can be eaten with any chutney or the kasundi on the side for a snack.
Ma would use the same batter that she made for idlis or dosas; so do I.
The batter needs to be slightly thicker than a regular dosa batter, but still in a pourable consistency.
Unlike in an uttapam, where the chopped onions are spread on the top of the dosa while it is still on the tawa, this pithe has the temerings and the onions fried a little first and then added to the batter.
And then spread on the tawa as a thickish dosa.

If you have the batter ready, these are real quick to make and are very good with the ginger tea on the side. A life saver when you have sudden guests.

Need :

Fermented Idli batter - thinned a little with water.
( You can see the proportions and method in this post)

Onions - chopped
Green chillies - chopped
Tomatoes - chopped (optional)
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves - chopped
Coriander leaves - chopped ( optional)
Ginger - chopped
Salt - to taste
Cooking oil - as needed

How to :

Heat a little oil in a kadahi.
Or you can use the tawa in which the pithes are to be made.

Add the mustard seeds.
When they start to splutter, add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger.
Stir fry on low heat for a while.
When the onions start to turn pink, remove from heat.

Add the above mixture to the batter.

Now heat the tawa.
Brush it with a little oil.
Now take a spoonful or two of the batter and spread it carefully on the tawa.
Do not try to spread it very thin.

Cover for a while.
Then remove cover and let it stay for a minute.

Carefully, flip it over and fry the other side too.

Both sides should be done crisp.

Remove and serve hot.

The above photo shows the crisp edges.

This pitha is best enjoyed hot off the tawa.
Hence I usually set two tawas, so that nobody has to wait for a second helping.

Goes great with a light vegetable curry.
Or any achar or chutney.

But best of all, unlike the Soru chakli pithe, this can be enjoyed as is too.
I love it with ketchup and kasundi too.


Enjoy!!