Ingredients :
- 500 gms: Catfish or any small fish cut to about 3/4 inch pieces.
- Thekera for the typical sour taste (or alternatively use lime juice or juice of tomato).
- 1/2 tea spoon: Turmeric powder.
- Green chilies, chopped, and to be used as per hotness desired or chili powder as per taste.
- 1 tea spoon: Panch Foran (Mixture of fenugreek seeds, kala jeera, fennel seeds, cumin, radhuni).
- Oil, Preferably mustard oil.
- Salt to taste.
- Mix a thekera or lime juice or tomato juice in a cup of water (water depending on the desirable amount of gravy - 1 thekera is good enough for only one cup of water).
- Leave for around 1/2 hour.
- Coat fish with turmeric and salt and leave to marinate for 5 minutes.
- Mix chili powder if using.
- Heat oil and lightly fry the fish taking care not to break them. However, if the fish breaks a little, it will add to make a thick gravy which is also tasteful.
- Strain and remove the fish
- Heat some more oil; bring down the flame and sauté the panch foran till the smell starts to come out.
- Add green chilies to the sauté.
- Add the cup of water soured with Thekera.
- Add additional cups of water as required.
- Add salt as per taste.
- Increase the flame and let boil.
- When the mixture comes to boil, add the fried fish.
- Reduce flame and let it simmer for some 10-15 minutes.
- Check consistency.
- Remove from flame and serve with rice.
fish curry unique to the cuisine of Assam
