There is a Maithili line people in Darbhanga will quote at you without prompting: maachh, paan aur makhaan — e teen ta aichh Mithila ke jaan. Fish, betel and makhana are the soul of Mithila. Of the three, fish carries the ritual weight. It is the food of a Maithil wedding and not an optional one, because fish lay eggs in their thousands and swim in pairs, and a marriage is being asked to do both; the same fish is painted on the walls of the wedding house in Madhubani work, among the lotuses and the peacocks. Rohu is the fish, cut into thick steaks on the bone, turmeric-rubbed, fried hard in mustard oil and then finished in a thin sharp gravy built on mustard and garlic. It goes out at a bhoj on a banana leaf to guests seated in rows on the floor, not down a buffet line. Mithila is often mistaken for Bengal because both cook fish in mustard oil. The kitchens are not the same one, and this dish is where you can taste the difference.
INGREDIENTS
- 800 g rohu (cut into thick bone-in steaks)
- 1 tsp turmeric (for rubbing)
- 1 tsp salt (for rubbing)
- 6 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- 10 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 3 cm ginger (grated)
- 3 green chillies (slit)
- 2 medium tomatoes (chopped)
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds (ground to a paste with water)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 400 ml water
- a handful of coriander leaves (chopped)
METHOD
- Rub the fish steaks with turmeric and salt and leave for 15 minutes.
- Heat the mustard oil until it smokes, then take it off the heat briefly.
- Return to medium-high heat and fry the steaks in batches, without moving them, until a crust forms and they lift cleanly. Turn once. Lift out and set aside.
- In the same oil add the nigella seeds and bay leaves, then the onion, and fry until deep golden.
- Add the garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry for two minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt, and cook until the oil separates.
- Add the ground mustard paste and cook for two minutes only — longer and it turns bitter.
- Pour in the water and simmer for eight minutes so the gravy thins and sharpens.
- Slide the fried steaks back in, spoon the gravy over, and simmer five minutes without stirring.
- Scatter with coriander. Serve on a banana leaf with plain rice.
