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A supremely easy pomfret shorshe machher jhol (Bengali mustard curry) recipe with kasundi (Bengali mustard sauce)

By September 8, 2020July 16th, 2024No Comments

Pomfret shorshe kasundi jhol

Seven months of Baby Loaf

Little Nimki completed a month of being with us the day before. Today Baby Loaf completed seven. I first came across him in November and February is when he got permanent residency. Which means that we have known each other for around ten months. He is the cattisatva who made me a cat person.

The window by my desk has always been our spot

While we remembered little Nimki’s one month anniversary the day before, we always forgot Baby Loaf’s in the past. First, second, third…even sixth, last month. This time I was determined not to forget and over compensated by wishing him ‘happy birthday’ (which it technically isn’t) every time he woke up from a nap today. 

Unlike in the early days, he doesn’t come for a cuddle or a snuggle as much now. As his vet Dr Nicole said, “he is not a kitten, do not expect him to be playful.” She also told us “you got lucky with Baby Loaf, he is an angel.” My mom in law says he is “blue blooded.” His godmother Erika calls him a “Jumbo boy.”

He made me a cat person in my mid 40s

 I did take the opportunity this morning, when he was a bit sluggish after breakfast and was about to snooze on our bed, to get K to click a few pics of us.

I call him snuggle bug

Bengali mustard fish curry for dummies

Coincidentally we bought fish from Poonam from Khar station market today who came over and delivered the fish. ‘Coincidentally’ as I had ordered fish on Kainaz’s birthday too. I decided to make pomfret today as I had on her birthday. A shorsher jhol or mustard curry using the Kolkata Sing Cheung brand kasundi that I had bought from Vijay Stores at Pali Market recently.

It turned out to be nice and soooooo easy to make that I HAVE to tell you how.

  • I smeared 2 pomfret with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and shallow fried them in a wok in mustard oil and then took out the fish


  • I heated the same wok, and added 1/2 a teaspoon of Nigella seeds and a slit green chilli to the        remaining oil in the wok
  • Once it sputtered, I added a tablespoon of kasundi
  • Then I slid the pomfret back in and coated it with the masala from the wok


    • Then added half a small bowl of water. Let it come to boil. Reduced the flame. Turned the fish around and let it cook for a few minutes and I was done. Drizzled in some mustard oil at the end.
    With red rice for me

    Without rice for Kainaz. Luckily she did not find the gravy to be pungent


    From the #HouseOfCats

    Update: was in touch with our doc on this and she advised not giving bombil to the cats as not good for their kidney in the long run. Please keep that in mind before reading the next section. 
    Little Nimki wants to be a chef and keeps running into the kitchen and we have to keep chasing him out, at times showing a string to distract him and at times grabbing him from the floor and taking him to the hall. 
    Chasing him out from the kitchen was the only level of difficulty added to this recipe. Oh, and try styling for Instagram with little Nimki jumping around. It is maddening. I had to request Kainaz to take him and put him in another room. 
    His life seems to be a series of instances where he is lifted up by one of us and put somewhere else. I am told that we will miss then when he grows up.
    Little Nimki attempts a #chetepute
    We let him out of the bedroom when lunch was done and he jumped on the table and sniffed my plate and later nuzzled my toes longer than he ever has. As if to say “good job in the kitchen.” 
    Seeing his reaction to the pomfret today and the usually very measured and mature Baby Loaf’s one earlier this month to a plate of ilish after I was done with it, I decided try cooking fish for the boys.
    Baby Loaf has more restrained table manners
    I had given Baby Loaf mandeli from the market in January when he was an inside outside cat and he did not take to it. Nor has he taken to the chicken and liver that I have tried to feed him in the past. Today we tried bombil/ boomla/ loita/ Bombay Duck. Boiled in water with a bit of turmeric and nothing else.
    I first tried feeding the fish to little Nimki. My strategy was that given how enthusiastic an eater (to put it mildly) little Nimki is, he would eat the fish and then Baby Loaf just might follow.

    Little Nimki did his usual ‘this is my last meal’ dance when I took out the fish but was bamboozled when he saw what it was and kept pushing the fish with his foot and approaching the plate from all sides instead of eating. As foxed as a Bengali in a Gujarati thali place.
    That is when Baby Loaf sauntered in and I gingerly offered him some bombil. He is such a picky eater after all! Baby Loaf sniffed the fish and then finished it with aplomb and without a fuss. 
    Baby Loaf loves bombil
    My strategy worked in reverse, seeing him little Nimki ate his fish and I gave the remainder from the bowl to Loaf and he quietly ate that too!
    Baby Loaf is little Nimki’s mentor. He teaches him how
    to wrestle through the day
    Seven months of his living with us and I finally found out that Loaf loves bombil! Of course, his godmother Erika always did and she had told us earlier about how she had given Baby Loaf Bombay duck when he was a kid and even now when he visits her and that he loves it. We thought this was not possible.
    Parents are always the last to know!
    PS: I removed the main bone of the Bombil even though Erika had told me that they eat the bones. One fish at a time.  
    Baby Loaf sat by me as I finished this piece

    Little Nimki joined in too. Much to K’s chagrin, he never steps on my
    MacBook and always does on her’s

    Appendix:


    Post with recipes of what I cooked for Kainaz’s birthday
    Poonam’s phone number for those in Bandra, Khar Mumbai: 9867402956
    Interesting home chef experience:


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