Bengali cuisine is just flooded with fish varieties!
Macher Jhol, Macher Jhaal, Macher Tok, Macher Rosha, Macher Kalia and many such exotic names and tastes –
Kancha tomatoes with fish and mustard is a classic flavoursome dish with incorporates both fish and fruit in a beautiful symphony of taste!
Of all the dishes, there are some unique varieties that are mainly specific to certain regions and this influences the ingredients and method of cooking.
One of those is Kancha Tomato diye Macher tarkari. This is something that is extremely popular in Barak Valley part of Assam, India.
A little tangy but no, this is not a Macher Tok. The dish uses mustard paste and unripe tomato and is absolutely delectable.
Using very minimum spices, the unripe tomato plays the key role here alongside with mustard paste. Unripe tomato is not only used in fish curry, rather it is used to enhance the taste of many vegetarian dishes. This dish is one of our family favourite and is absolutely easy to cook.
Even more amazing is eagerly waiting for your home grown tomatoes just to enjoy this dish and trust me there is no finer reward that biting into the luscious succulent tangy tomatoes!
I have used Rui Mach (Rohu Fish), its fleshy, earthy and quite oily/rich but you can use any fish of your choice.
METHOD FOR FISH PREP:
Fish of your choice, I used Rohu Fish
Clean and place your fish in a bowl.
Add 1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
Half tsp salt
Mix well with spices/salt then shallow fry the fish in fying pan on both sides, gently, till just golden. Drain and put aside.
INGREDIENTS FOR CURRY:
6 piece Rui mach (Rohu fish)
4 unripe green tomato, quartered.
3 table-spoon brown mustard seeds
7 green chilli (3 roughly chopped + 4 slitted from middle), adjust according to tolerance
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 table-spoon mustard oil + as required to fry fish
1.5 cup warm water
salt, according to taste
Powdered spices:
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
3 tsp water
METHOD:
Mix black and yellow mustard seeds together and soak in little water for 15 minutes.
In a bowl mix the chilli powder, Paprika and tumeric with 3 tbsp water. Set aside.
Meanwhile, rub fish pieces with 1 tea-spoon turmeric powder, chilli powder and some salt. Heat oil in a pan and fry all the pieces (one by one, if needed) until golden brownish. Remove and keep aside.
Take the soaked mustard seed in a grinder and add 3 chopped green chillies. Add little water to it and grind to a fine paste. Keep aside.
Heat 2 table-spoon oil in a pan and temper with mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter and darken in colour and become aromatic just for a few seconds.
Add your spice paste, salt and cook this till well combined and untill the oil splits. Add 3 tbsp of water and cook again till your oil splits. Now add your tomatoes and let them cook on med heat. Cook for just a few minutes till well coated with spices.
Add mustard paste and over low flame, stir until the paste starts separating from oil.
Add water. Give a quick mix. Add your fish, slit green chillies, cover the lid and cook for 10 minutes or until your tomatoes are just cooked through but holding shape.
Turn off the flame and your Kancha Tomato diye Macher tarkari is ready to be served.
Serve with piping hot rice and enjoy.
TIPS:
There are many variations for curries using green tomatoes. Try using Sprat fish…the oily richness is beautifully cut by tangy tomatoes.
Try swapping the mustard seeds temper for 1/2 tsp spoon fenugreek seeds or nigella seeds.
Fenugreek seeds Temper
You can use any type of green tomatoes, but a tangy variety will give you the desired taste.
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