The first bhaapa eelish or Steamed Hilsa reciped that I had downloaded from the net included mustard oil and fresh cream.
I tried it first without oil and then substituted fresh cream with skimmed milk. It turned out quite well and got healthier as a recipe.
Then inspired by my experiment with eelish posto the other day I decided to try to make a bhapa eelish with pro- biotic curd. This experiment was a success and the result was quite delicious, no compromise on the taste, no tanginess and fish, healthy probiotic curd, can be made in a jiffy and no oil. How healthy can ecstasy get?
Recipe:
- Grind 2 teaspoons of whole mustard sees, 4 green chillies, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons of curd together
- Marinate 4 slices of hilsa in this for half and hour
- Put it in a steel container and let it float in a sauce pan of boiling to simmering water for 20 minutes
- Open carefully as the lid will be very hot
- Have this exotic, healthy and easy to make Bengali work of art with steamed rice.
Note: I bought my hilsa, the river water favourite of Bengalis, from Pushpa’s mom at the Khar Market in Mumbai for Rs 250 (5 USD) a kilo. It tasted much better and fresher than what they served in the Oh Calcutta Hilsa festival. Apparently eelish in Calcutta is retailing for Rs 2000 (40 USD) a kg. Can’t stomach that.