Fish in mustard gravy

One of the very very commonly had fish curry in the eastern sector of our country. Fish & rice is a staple . As a kid I remember hating it to the core, I refused to eat fish. So did my hubby. We both being from east of India didn't relished it much, till we visited my maternal uncles house and we were served xhorio Maas ( mustard fish) & we loved it.



The other day when we had people over at our place I took the recipe from my mum & it was a hit. Our friend demanded that I make it again. This fish curry is the simplest & the tastiest ever.
So I thought of sharing it with you all too.

Ingredients

• 1kg - fish( we prefer basa but this recipe is made with Rahu )
• 01 - tomato (medium size) puréed 
• 02 tbspn - yellow mustard seeds
• 01 tbspn - poppy seeds ( khas-khas)
• 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder
• 03-04 pods - garlic
• 01 - green chilli
• 1 tsp - panch phoran( mix of 5 spices)
• Water
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil to fry  
• Fresh coriander for garnishing.

Method

1. Soak mustard & poppy seeds in a small bowl for 15-20mins. Mean while fry the fish and keep aside.
2. Grind soaked seeds with garlic & green chilli into a fine paste.
3. In a wok add oil & panch phoran let it crackle, add tomato purée. Cook till oil oozes out.
4. Now add the mustard poppy seed paste cook well for 5mins.
5. Add water, turmeric & salt. Cover & cook in low flame till it thickens.
6. Now add the fried fish to the gravy.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves. 
8. Serve hot with steam rice.

Note - panch phoran is a mix of five seeds ( cumin seeds,onion seeds, black mustard seeds,fenugreek seeds & fennel seed), it is used in almost all main course dishes in Assam. odisha & west bengal.