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I was going to pack up after writing the post on the Oh Calcutta Hilsa festival.

But I am so thrilled with myself right now that I have to write this post.

Remember I wrote about going to the Hilsa festival at Oh Calcutta for inspiration? Well I went there, had the posto eelish, came back suitably inspired.

I tried replicating the dish today without the recipe. It turned out so well. Everyone who had it loved it and kept praising it. All right, ‘everyone’ was Kainaz and me but it was really tasty. At the risk of sounding vain I must say, from the bottom of my heart, that I am very happy with myself.

The posto eelish (hilsa in poppy seeds) turned out to be a creamy, lip smacking, very satisfying dish. The fish was much fresher than what Oh Calcutta served.

I had the base ingredients of posto, curd, hilsa from the menu and I knew that they used turmeric. I made up the rest by myself including the decision to steam it like bhaapa eelish.

Here’s how I made this very simple, delicate tasting and oil free dish.

Step 1 – Whip 5 tablespoons of crushed posto (poppy seeds, khus khus), 4 split green chillies, 1/2 tea spoons of turmeric, 1 tea spoon salt, 1/2 tea spoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon jeera (cumin powder), 1/2 a teaspoon of crushed mustard seeds in a grinder. Marinade 5 pieces of Hilsa (Eelish) in this for an hour in a stainless steel tiffin box.

Step 2 – Take a wide sauce pan, partially fill it with water, put it on the gas and bring the water to boil, reduce the flame and put the tiffin box with the fish in it. Shut it loosely from the top. Let the container float in the water for twenty – twenty five minutes while the flame is on simmer

Step 3 – Gently take out the tiffin box using cloth pads. Open the lid carefully. Take out the fish. have it with steamed rice.

The result will be an elegant, exotic and effervescent sauce whose taste will linger with you long after the meal.

The Oh Calcutta original :

And in case you were wondering why cook at home, a single plate with two pieces in Oh Calcutta costs Rs 350 (7 USD). I got a 2.2 KG fish, much better quality, for Rs 500 (10 USD)…. twelve plus pieces!

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