Fishy Business: To Fry or To Steam, That is the Question

“Fish is good for you. Have plenty of it,” said the doctor.
“Oh, I have lots of fish. I go to the Khar (a Mumbai suburb) station market and buy fish on Sundays and this lasts us for two weeks".
“But you are Bengali,” said the doc with a sigh. “You people fry your fish before any preparation!”

I looked on, suitably chastised, as the good doctor, a Maharashtrian Saraswat Brahmin (a fish eating community), went on to speak for the next forty five minutes on how they buy fresh fish and cook it on the same day. That this fish is never fried when added to curries in their house. That fish should not be over cooked. He then went on to speak about fish that he has eaten across the world. From the Tokyo fish market to dining rooms in luxury cruise liners. He waxed eloquent on fish and their benefits and on fish recipes and on how to cook them. All this while, patients lined up outside. I am used to visiting doctors who love talking to me about food after quickly finishing off with whatever ailment I have come to discuss. Forty five minutes was a new record though!

Yes, I admit that we Bengalis usually fry our fish before adding it to our curries. In fact, even my mother, who is very watchful of her diet, can’t stand fish which hasn’t been fried. “It’s smelly,” she pouts like a 6 year old, if we ever give her grilled fish when she visits us. Don’t give up on us Bengalis though, Doc. There are times when we don’t fry fish. We steam it too. Which takes me back to the other day when I was at a five star hotel in Juhu and had to come up with a quick recipe on the spur of the moment. Why was I thinking up of recipes at a hotel? Well, some 30 odd executive chefs had got together at the hotel that afternoon from across India. Some of us bloggers had been invited to cook with them. The brief was to go out and shop within a budget and then cook up a local Indian home-styled meal. Toine Hoeksel, culinary director of Marriott Asia Pacific, said that they have observed an interesting trend of the new millennial traveler seeking out local food when they travel. He wanted his chefs to think local.

Coming back to the cook off, it was no surprise that the precocious Bengali blogger, your columnist, took over despite the presence of seasoned chefs. The menu that we decided on, was a Bengali one - Prawn Malai Curry, Fish Patoori and Parathas with Jaggery. Patoori (from the word paata or leaf) is a Bengali preparation, where the fish is marinated in a pungent crushed mustard, turmeric, green chili and salt paste, wrapped in a banana leaf and then steamed and eaten with plain rice.