Paturi

Fish in a mustard paste tied inside a banana leaf with twine and steamed.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 4 fillets of firm white fish, about 180 g each
• 4 tablespoons black mustard seeds
• 4 tablespoons mustard oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 6 green chillies
• 4 tablespoons plain yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 squares of banana leaf, about 25 cm
• kitchen twine

Method

1. THE PARCEL IS TIED WITH TWINE AND STEAMED, SO NOTHING ESCAPES THE LEAF, and the article builds the whole dish on that: THE LEAVES OF THE PLANT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS DISH, AS THE INGREDIENTS ARE WRAPPED IN THE LEAVES AND TIED WITH TWINE AND COOKED ON LOW FLAME OR STEAMED. A tied parcel is not a lid: there is no space for steam to collect and run off, so the fish cooks in the paste and the paste stays where it was put.
2. AND THE LEAF IS NAMED PER VERSION, NOT LEFT VAGUE. Its table gives banana leaves for bhetki, ilish, rui and dim paturi and for the paneer and sandesh ones, and GOURD LEAVES for dal paturi, koi paturi and sometimes chingri. This method takes a fish version, so banana.
3. THE ESSENTIAL FOUR ARE MUSTARD SEEDS, MUSTARD OIL, TURMERIC AND GREEN CHILLIES. The article's table has an ESSENTIAL column and for bhetki, ilish, rui and chingri paturi it reads the same every time: MUSTARD SEEDS, MUSTARD OIL, TURMERIC POWDER (HALDI) AND GREEN CHILLIES. Poppy seeds, coconut and tok doi -- yoghurt -- are in its OTHER column, so the yoghurt and poppy seeds here are allowed and not required.
4. GRIND THE MUSTARD SEEDS WITH THE CHILLIES AND A LITTLE WATER TO A ROUGH PASTE. Soak the seeds twenty minutes first. Ground dry they stay gritty; ground too fine and too long they go bitter.
5. LET THE PASTE STAND TEN MINUTES, THEN BEAT IN THE OIL AND YOGHURT. Mustard needs water and time to develop its heat. Beating the oil in afterwards keeps that heat and stops the paste splitting.
6. COAT THE FISH AND LEAVE IT HALF AN HOUR. Turmeric and salt over the fillets first, then the paste on both faces, thickly.
7. SOFTEN THE LEAVES OVER A FLAME BEFORE FOLDING THEM. Three seconds a side; they go from stiff and matt to glossy and foldable. A cold leaf splits on the crease and the parcel leaks.
8. FOLD, TIE, AND STEAM TWELVE MINUTES. One fillet in the middle of each leaf, the sides over, the ends under, and twine round both ways. In a steamer over boiling water, or in a covered pan with the parcels on a rack. Its article's own alternative is A LOW FLAME, which means the parcels straight into a dry pan, turned once.
9. SERVED WITH HOT RICE, STILL TIED. The article says so, and it is the right way round: the leaf is opened at the table because the smell that comes out of it is half the dish. The leaf is not eaten.

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