Saturday, September 22, 2007

Machha Chencheda \ Maccha Ghanta

My mom is here with me now. So I am learning a lot of our Oriya authentic dishes which are healthy as well as tasty for the appetite. Things which used to be made almost every other day in our house and I used to avoid eating them. But now when I am getting to eat the same thing after 2 years, it tastes heavenly. My mom tells me that the below combination of veggies is preferred, but you can mix and match - a ideal way to clear up your fridge ;) Different places in Orissa call this by different name - two of them being Chencheda and Ghanta. Maccha means fish.

Ingredients (makes 5 servings)

Rohi Fish Head - 1
Potato - 1 big, chopped and cubed
Brinjal - 1 big, chopped and cubed
Pumpkin (Calabaza) - 1/4 of a medium sized one, chopped and cubed
Tomato - 1 chopped
Onion - 1 medium, ground to paste and 1 medium chopped and cubed
Garlic - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp (1 tsp to marinade the fish and 1 tsp for the curry)
Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste
Curry powder - 1 tsp
Fish Masala - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Dry Bay leaf - 2
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Canola oil - 1 tbsp

Step 1

Marinade the fish head with salt and turmeric powder for 30 minutes. Fry with canola oil till the fish is cooked and crispy. Keep it aside. Note - If you don't have fish head, you can use 2-3 pieces of meaty fish pieces. Alternatively, you can use tiny shrimps as well with their shells on and this dish becomes "Chingudi Ghanta or Chingudi Chencheda". :)

Step 2

Heat oil. Add dry bay leaf, dry red chili and cumin seed and let it crackle. Add the chopped onion and cook till it is golden brown. Add ground masala, chopped tomato, turmeric powder and curry masala. Fry till the oil separates. Add chopped potato, chopped brinjal and chopped pumpkin. You can add Poi leaf as well. Add salt. Saute on High for 5 mins. Next keep it covered on Medium heat till the veggies are half cooked. Add the fried fish head and cover the fish with the veggies. Cover the dish and let it continue cooking. Once the veggies are cooked, remove the cover and add a pinch of sugar, fish masala and garam masala. Saute till the curry is dry or slightly wet, as you prefer it.



Serve hot with roti or rice-dal.

6 comments:

FH said...

Good to hear that you mom's here with you.Learn all the tricks of the trade as they say!:))
Fish dish looks yum!:))

Bong Mom said...

Used to love checheda, we call it by the same name too, never made it till now. Shall do it soon
Have a good time with your Mother

Pragyan said...

Asha: I have been on it from day one :) Thanks for coming by.

Sandeepa: Nice to know that this is called the same in Bengali. This was the first time for me also. Thanks, dear.

Cynthia said...

You must be in food heaven now that your mom is there, so many different things to eat, to learn, to taste.

Chef Jeena said...

Pragyan picture looks yummy I bet your mum is a great cook too.
:)

Pragyan said...

Hi Cynthia, Thanks for visiting. You are so right...it is food heaven in my kitchen right now :)
Hi Jeena, Thanks for coming by. Yep, my mom is a great cook...she conjures up healthy and delicious recipes in no time..when I cook, it can only have one of the two attributes :)