After a morning of prayers followed by blessing ceremony for the family conducted by priests, guests were treated to an Assamese meal – plain rice, pulao rice, cauliflower and potato ‘sabji’, dal, ‘ilish’ (hilsa) in a mustard sauce, rahu fish in a tomato gravy followed by rasgulla with yoghurt. Special chefs are hired for the day to cater for the guests.
Being a working day, this family branch abroad paid homage privately. Here in England, we have a very simple ceremony. There are no priests who come to the house to say the prayers and lead the ceremony. No chefs and not many guests either. I turn on some music - sacred Hindu chants - and we say a prayer as a family in the morning and in the evening share a meal with friends or family.
Oops! forgot to mention that 'prokhad' - prashad in Hindi / Bengali ... was also a part of the menu. Prokhad in Assam is a medley of soaked raw chickpeas, mung beans (whole or split with or without the skin), a few grains of rice and fresh fruits. Have questioned the Assamese habit of eating raw beans and pulses – mainly chickpeas and mung beans. It is recommended that beans and pulses are boiled for a few minutes before being consumed and yet the Assamese people tend to partake of these raw ingredients without any side effects! No one has yet answered my question as to why the Assamese do not suffer adversely from the effects of eating these uncooked beans – so if anyone knows the answer, please let me know.
A think and plan ahead recipe!! There is no fast and firm rule for the quantities for prokhad. Most of it is down to personal choice. Mother makes quite a lot when she has guests; she has a real knack for making a great tasting prokhad people say, and they all like to take a 'doggy bag' home. As we only eat a few grains of this raw mixture, I too tend to soak a lot more as the mix lends itself to various other recipes - a type of daal with lots of ginger and coconut and also khar made with the addition of an alkali processed from the burnt skin of a certain variety of bananas, bhim kol, or in the absence of this alkali agent, a good old standby, bicarbonate of soda.
Recipe for Prokhad to be eaten raw and enough for other recipes too
Ingredients
1 cup of dried chickpeas
1 cup of mung dal - whole or split
1 tsp rice (uncooked)
1 fresh coconut - half grated and half cut into slivers
a piece of fresh ginger
fresh fruits
Method
- Soak the chick peas and the mung dal separately overnight in plenty of water in huge bowls as they tend to swell considerably. In winter, it may need a longer soak or if the beans and pulses are old.
- Next day, soak the rice in water for about an hour or two.
- Drain the chick peas and the mung dal, wash again and throw away any that are still hard. The old dal which remain rock hard will rattle against a metal container - the rest will look plump and will squish when pressed between thumb and finger!! Mix them together.
- Add the grated coconut and put the mixture in a serving bowl.
- Scatter the soaked and drained rice followed by finely diced ginger pieces over the mixture.
- Decorate with the fruit.
Once the prayers and puja are over, mix in some salt and then serve. Salt is never added to prokhad for the duration of the prayers - it is offered in a separate dish. Still have not had a convincing answer from anyone about the separated offerings.
In my parents house, it is my father who prepares the coconut and he does a fantastic job. It is lovely to see the ritual that he goes through. The whole coconut is washed and then he scrapes off the hairs with a paring knife leaving a totally bald brown shiny shell. After that he takes a fine skewer, pokes a hole in the coconut, drains off the 'milk' and saves it in a glass for one of us to drink. The coconut is then 'lined' with a few drops of water around its equator and the back of a chinese cleaver is used to hit the coconut around the equator and plop! the coconut is in two halves. Father painstakingly cuts out neat slivers or grates the coconut on a hand held grater as demanded by mother. Yep, he has patience and all because no one likes to see bits of brown hair in the otherwise pristine whiteness of the freshly grated coconut flesh.
My father-in-law loved fish. Apparently, his taste buds were so fine tuned that he was able to identify which river the fish was from! This year, we tried to duplicate some of the menu that was served back in Guwahati. Here in England, substitution of 'Assamese' ingredients is the norm for us as we are unable to purchase the same vegetables and fish. Unfortunately, most sea fish do not have the same characteristics as river fish - cod and haddock cannot withstand the cooking techniques associated with assamese cuisine. So we have adapted techniques and we substitute sprats for puthi maas, herrings/ sardines for hilsa, haddock or cod for rohu or borali, butterflied sardines for pabho, sea bass or sea bream for rahu ..... salmon used only if it is wild and not farmed - a rarity these days. And husband refuses to eat trout. We do get frozen river fish from Bangladesh and Thailand but the food handling capabilities of some of these ethnic grocers leave a lot to be desired - the fish can get defrosted and frozen many times and a horrible odour emanates when one cooks it.
To recreate the menu here in England, where it is difficult to find indigenous fish, the hiIsa was replaced with fresh sardines and the rahu fish with sea bream. The sardines were cooked in a mustard sauce and the sea bream ended up in a fresh spinach and potato ‘tenga’ – a soupy ‘curry’ with a tang.
For the fish in mustard gravy, horiyoh diya maach, ready made mustard makes life easy. Colman’s mustard powder is an acceptable substitute. Dijon mustard and other mustard mixes do not really produce the authentic taste. This dish does need a bit of chilli – either fresh green chillies or some dried red chilli powder otherwise the finished dish ends up tasting rather bitter. In Assam, pungent mustard oil is widely used for cooking. The mustard oil one buys from the ethnic stores in England all carry a warning – only for external use! Not sure why but we have been using the same brand of mustard oil for the last thirty years but in miserly amounts as it is such a delicacy. During my last trip to India, I got a mustard oil bottle by the brand name of Engine Oil! Sprats are a good substitute if sardines are not available and if you can get hold of ilish / hilsa all the better.
Horiyoh diya maach - Fish in mustard gravy
Ingredients (for four):
4 fresh sardines, washed and gutted
about 3 tbsp oil for frying ( we use sunflower oil or mild olive oil - both neutral in taste)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds or 2 tsp Colman's mustard powder
1 tsp nigella seeds
1 green or red chilli, slit or 1 tsp red chilli powder or 1 tsp red chilli flakes
Method
- Dry the fish, and slash the flesh once or twice, depending on the size of the fish. Rub 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt over the fish and leave for about half an hour.
- If using mustard seeds, grind them finely in a coffee grinder. Mix the mustard powder in 200 ml of water and leave it standing.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan or saute pan. When the oil is hot, add the fish but ensure that the pan does not get crowded and fry in batches. Fry the fish on both sides for a few minutes until the fish takes on some colour. Lift out and drain on paper towels.
- Check the amount of oil in the pan. You need about 2 tbsp only - sardines can be oily and will release some oil. In the same oil, add the nigella seeds and let them pop for a few seconds.
- Add the chopped onion and the chilli and fry on a medium heat until the onion is soft and light brown stirring frequently - otherwise some of the onions tend to get burnt if left alone!
- Add the mustard water to the pan. It may sputter!!! so turn down the heat at the beginning. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the fried fish, bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about five more minutes or until the gravy is the consistency of double cream. If the fish is not covered by the gravy, from time to time, spoon some of the gravy over it or turn the fish over after about three minutes.
- Remove to a serving dish and serve.
No rahu fish? No ayr / ari? No problem. Sea bream or sea bass will do or any other fish that will not fall apart when fried. I suppose trout and salmon will lend itself to this very well - but family preferences excludes the use of these fish. Sea bream looked fresh in the shops so that ended up on our dinner table. Mother grows spinach in her garden in London. She also grows sorrel and a few other Assamese greens too. But this summer, she was too far away from me to get the few handfuls that I needed. So baby spinach it was from the supermarket. New potatoes or old - personal choice. Old potatoes will break down slightly and thicken the gravy, new potatoes will hold their shape. It's really weird how in Assam each vegetable is cut into different shapes or sizes according to the dish they are going to be cooked in and the servants have to get it right. Otherwise they are in a whole lot of bother!
The green chilli is added towards the end so that the gravy is flavoured delicately with just a hint of chilli heat.
Fish with spinach and potatoes - paleng haak aru alu diya maach'or jhool
Ingredients (for four very hungry people or six or eight .... depending on number of dishes to be served) :
2 sea bream - scaled, washed and gutted, cut into steaks
2 tsp turmeric
2 bags of spinach (200 grams), shredded or chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cut in to eighths, or two medium potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise
piece of ginger
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil for frying
salt to taste
1 fresh lime or 1 lemon - juice only
1 green chilli
a handful of green coriander, washed and chopped
Method :
- Rub the sea bream steaks with the turmeric and 1 tsp salt and let it marinate for about half an hour.
- Heat the oil in a saute pan and fry the fish gently on both sides for a few minutes. Drain and remove.
- In the same oil, fry the potatoes until they are half cooked.
- Add the ginger to pan and stir it around for about thirty seconds.
- Add the spinach and let it wilt - this will take a minute or two only.
- Add about 250 ml of water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about five minutes on a gentle heat.
- Add the fish steaks and some salt, cover and cook gently for another five minutes so that the steaks soak up some of the gravy and the potatoes are cooked.
- Slit the green chilli and add it for the last minute of cooking
- Add the lime or lemon juice to taste.
- Remove and put in serving bowl, sprinkle with the coriander and serve.
Now, in our rather extended family, great debates take place as to what spices need to go into this dish. My mother and husband never seem to agree and it is often hilarious to watch the two of them cooking together. One says it needs a little bit of garlic, the other says no and so it goes on - but whatever ends up on the table is tasty and not worth quibbling about.
