Fish Curry in Yoghurt Sauce
Dahi Machchi
Maya Sen (Nani Maya)
Note from Mamta: This is another simple but delicious fish dish from Bengal. Nani Maya, as my children used to call her, is the mother of one of our late friends. She used to visit England regularly when her daughter was alive and treated us all to some fabulous Bengali meals.
You can cook this dish with cod, salmon, tuna, trout,prawns, haddock, mackerel or any other local fish of choice.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500 gm. Rohu (a type of carp) or any other firm fleshed fish, filleted or cut into steaks
Marinade:
1 cup thick, natural yoghurt* (dahi)
1/2 tsp. turmeric or huldi powder
1 tsp. chilli powder (increase or decrease to taste)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 level tsp. salt, adjust to taste
5-6 green chillies, whole
For Cooking
2 tbsp. mustard or olive oil
3-4 cloves
2 black cardamoms
2 inch piece of cinnamon
Instructions
Mix yoghurt, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, sugar and green chillies in a bowl.
Marinate fish in this mix for 30 minutes.
Heat oil, preferably in a non-stick pan.
Add cloves, cardamoms & cinnamon. Stir for 10-15 seconds.
Add marinated fish. Cook on high for a few minutes, turning it over once. Then cook it on low heat until fish is cooked. Serve hot with Boiled Rice.
Notes
You can garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
*Tips for cooking with yoghurt:
Always use full fat yoghurt, if possible. Skimmed milk yoghurt sometimes curdles during cooking. If you wish to use low fat yoghurt, add 1 heaped teaspoon of plain or corn flour per cup of yoghurt.
Make sure that the yoghurt is at room temperature. If yoghurt is cooked straight from the fridge, it may curdle.
When adding yoghurt during cooking, take out a few tablespoons of the hot food in a bowl, mix yoghurt, warming it a bit and then stir it back into the hot dish.
Substitute sour cream for yoghurt, using only half the amount.
