Maachha Bihana

The roe is bound with black gram paste, fried as dumplings, and only then simmered.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 400 g fish roe
• 80 g black gram, urad dal, soaked 4 hours
• 2 tablespoons rice flour
• 1 teaspoon turmeric, for the dumplings
• 1 teaspoon ground red chilli, for the dumplings
• oil for deep frying
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds, ground to a paste
• 300 g tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric, for the curry
• 2 teaspoons ground red chilli, for the curry
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 400 ml water

Method

1. THE ROE IS BOUND WITH BLACK GRAM PASTE, FRIED AS DUMPLINGS, AND ONLY THEN SIMMERED. Its article gives the sequence exactly and the middle step is the one that makes the dish: a paste made from BLACK GRAM, spices and SOMETIMES RICE FLOUR is mixed with the roe to form small DUMPLINGS OR FRITTERS, these are DEEP-FRIED UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN, and THEN simmered in a spicy, tangy curry. Roe dropped straight into a gravy would break up into grains and cloud it. Bound and fried first, it holds as a piece you can lift, and the frying is also what gives it the texture its article calls distinct.
2. THE ROE IS HANDLED AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. Its article starts the preparation with COLLECTING THE ROE FROM FRESHLY SLICED FISH. The membrane is slit and the eggs eased out; worked hard they turn to paste.
3. THE BLACK GRAM IS SOAKED AND GROUND THICK. Four hours, then ground with almost no water. A wet paste will not hold a dumpling.
4. THE RICE FLOUR IS ITS ARTICLE'S 'SOMETIMES' AND IT IS WORTH USING. Two tablespoons. It firms the dumpling and makes the outside crisper.
5. THEY ARE SHAPED SMALL AND NOT PRESSED HARD. Walnut sized, loosely formed. Compacted, they go dense and rubbery.
6. THE OIL IS MODERATE AND THEY ARE NOT CROWDED. A hundred and seventy degrees, a few at a time, until golden brown as its article says.
7. THE CURRY IS TANGY, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES, AND THE MUSTARD IS WHERE THAT COMES FROM. A spicy, tangy curry made with onion, garlic and a MUSTARD-BASED MASALA.
8. THE DUMPLINGS GO IN FOR THE LAST FIVE MINUTES ONLY. Long enough to take up gravy, short enough to stay whole.
9. THE HILSA VERSION IS NAMED SEPARATELY BY ITS ARTICLE. Ilishi maachha bihana, from the roe of hilsa. Served with steamed rice.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes