A couple of incidents served us a reminder to prepare this dish:
One: Winter will soon be a forgotten affair.But it has some managed to surface up everytime we thought – its over. The Sunday rains, a February special affair has rekindled the bits and pieces of winter – what ever of it remained yet.
And Two: Sometime back I was watching a TV program where a Bengali Cauliflower recipe was being shown.The host, I saw, dunked in the florets in a kadai full of mustard oil and then used it for the curry – something which I had never done till date – fearing for the extra added calories.
But it did make me realise, to get the real essence of cauliflower it needs to fried first.And with winter walking away, I thought of using our desi Fulkopi,Matar Shoti(peas) and some fresh Rui Mach for this recipe. We both had it, and it was great.Steamed rice and the fish curry – complete with potatoes,cauliflower florets,peas,coriander leaves – was a perfect dinner for us,hungry as hell.
Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 15 mins.
Cooking Time: 30-35 mins.
Ingredients:
- Rui Pieces: 4.Around 240 gms-300 gms.
- Cauliflower: Half a cauliflower cut into small florets.
- Potato: A Big one(100 gms).Cut longitudinally.
- Peas: 200 gms.
- Coriander Leaves: A bunch.
- Tomato: One medium sized(50-60 gms).
- Green Chillies:4.Slit.
- Salt: To taste.
- Sugar: 1/2 tbsp.
Mustard Oil:
- 5 tbsp to fry the cauliflower
- 2 tbsp to fry the potato slices.
- 3 tbsp to fry the fish pices.
- 2 tbsp for the curry.
Powdered Spices:
- Turmeric Powder:
- 2 tbsp to coat the cauliflower florets.
- 1/2 tbsp to coat the potato slices.
- 1.5 tbsp to coat the fish slices.
- Coriander Powder: 1 tsp
- Cumin Powder: 1.5 tsp
- Dry Red Chilli Powder: 1/2 tsp.
Whole Spices:
- 1 tbsp of cumin seeds.
- One dry red chilli.
Procedure:
Frying the cauliflower:
- Coat the florets with 2 tbsp of turmeric powder and salt as per taste and let them remain as-is for 5 mins.
- Heat 5 tbsp of mustard oil in a kadai and wait for the oil to be hot.
- Turn the gas flame to low and release the florets into the kadai one by one. Fry them for a couple of mins and let them rest on a tissue.
Frying the potato slices:
- Coat the potato slices in turmeric powder and salt and fry them in mustard oil. The quantities are mentioned above.
Frying the fish slices:
- Fry the fish slices on both the sides by coating them with turmeric powder and salt
Preparing the curry:
- Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil in the same kadai(in case there is left over oil after frying the above, you may use
- that).
- Then sprinkle cumin seed and the dry red chillies.Also add a couple of slit green chillies.
- Let the aroma evolve, then add sliced tomatoes.
- Stir for 2 mins – then add all the powdered spices.
- Turn the heat to high and stir continuously.
- After stirring for a further 2 mins, add one cup of water.
- Sprinkle some sugar and keep on stirring.
- Add the fried cauliflower, potatoes and the green peas and mix well for 5-6 mins.In case the mixture becomes too dry, you may add some more water.
- Once the spices have blended well, add water depending upon the amount of gravy required.
- When the water turns to simmer, include the fish pieces, coriander leaves, 2 slit green chillies.
- Check for the level of salt and add more if required.
- Turn the heat to low, and let the curry cook covered for 15 mins.
Serve with steamed rice.
