Macher Dimer Bora/ boda/ wada (Fish Roe Fritters)
7:58 AM
If the word ‘fish eggs’ makes you think of those shiny red pearls called caviar then think twice. The fish eggs am talking about here is not that uber expensive luxury ingredient. I or for that matter most Bengalis must not have tasted it and most probably don’t crave it much either. The fish eggs that makes us salivate is the common sweet water fish eggs mostly rohu or carp. These are the unprocessed, basic egg that comes right out of the fish without any kind of curing. Whereas caviar is the processed and salt cured fish eggs of salmon or sturgeon which is said to be a rare type of delicacy and mostly served as a spread or garnish.
These sweet water fish eggs like Rohu or carp is very common and affordable by common people during monsoon. Go to any fish market and you will get many varieties of fresh fish with eggs in them. Monsoon is the time when they hatch and for this reason in many communities Shravan is observed as the month when only pure vegetarian food is eaten. But in Bengal there’s no such practice. No one Can part Bengalis and their prized catch of Hilsa roe during monsoon. On their morning market visit if they get good hilsa filled with eggs they would get all dreamy eyed and would even consider taking a CL to enjoy that in leisure. Other fish eggs don’t enjoy such iconic status but when served as fritter with regular dal-chawal, it takes the meal to a different level.
This monsoon is notable for my little one as food wise he is tasting many things for the first time. He loved his first taste of Hilsa last week and now his lunchtime has increased from 1 hour to almost 1 and half. He waits patiently for his mom to fish out all the bones before he gets his mouthful of hilsa. Fish egg is another thing that he developed a special liking for. Every time I cook it he sneaks in the kitchen to steal some.
Macher Dimer Bora (Fish egg fritters)
(makes 20-22 pieces)
Ingredients:
Fresh fish egg: 1 cup (I used Rohu eggs)
Onion: 1 big
Garlic: 1 fat clove (optional but recommended helps to get rid of the fishy smell)
Chickpea flour (besan): ¼ cup (see the note below)
Green chilies: 2 or as per preference
Chili powder: ½ tsp
salt
Turmeric
oil for shallow frying (I used a mix of mustard and white il)
Method:
Wash the fish raw under running water. Drain all the water and place in a big bowl.
Very finely chop the onion, chili and the garlic. Place in the bowl with the eggs. Add salt, turmeric, turmeric, chili powder and chickpea flour. Using your hand mix to get a homogenous mixture. The batter would be thick so please adjust the amount of chickpea flour.
Heat oil in a frying pan and place a spoon full of this mixture little apart from each other. Fry on low for a minute and then turn. Using the spatula press it down a little. Fry till golden on all sides. Drain and soak the excess oil on kitchen paper.
Serve hot with rice and lentil or as a tea-time snack with tomato ketchup.
OR
save some fritters for my upcoming recipe :-)
OR
save some fritters for my upcoming recipe :-)
A Homemaker’s Notes:
The final bora mixture would be like thick cake batter. Depending on the freshness of the fish eggs adjust the amount of chickpea flour.
While mixing do not squish the eggs rather mix gently to separate the eggs from the thin membrane and mix with other ingredients.
Tags:
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Posts
20 comments
My Bengali friend had made this for me once...I was very skeptical about fish eggs, but this was good !!
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect bengali dish. loved it.
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Delicious fish egg fritters.
ReplyDeletelooks very delicious
ReplyDeletegreat recipe dear......
ReplyDeleteWhat a tasty spread. Nice recipe too
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a decent dimer bora recipe in my sister's notebook and finally I got it here.. thanks a lot.
ReplyDeletethere's a fish called bashpata/bashpati (i dont know the exact name) that baba used to bring home for frying bora..I think from lake market or gariahat market..do you know the proper name of that fish. can i get it here in goa?
by the way..inviting the boss to the lunch at home is much more effective and enjoyable rather than just taking a CL to enjoy the "mach er tel theke bhapa porjonto' eka eka..dont you agree?? :)
Dimer bora dekhte khub bhalo hoyeche. Aamar chele tar khub bhalo lagbe.
ReplyDeleteDeepa
Delicious looking preparation...
ReplyDeleteNever tried this one before! we love sardine eggs, so when frying the sardines, i just toss it into the tawa with the rest of the fish and cook it. and i love it! :D .this looks very interesting too!
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting fritters, very usually fry this fish eggs simply with chilly powder and salt.
ReplyDeletedelicious looking preparation. nice one
ReplyDeletelove mach'er dim e boda anyday or rainy day even more..
ReplyDelete@ Bhakta- "bashpati"- fish is what i also know ..never knew any other name for it ..I am waiting if Sayantani will add little bit more ..hugs and smiles
Yummy fitters,wonderful recipe dear.
ReplyDeleteI too like these fritters and look forward for monsoon when they are available in plenty. Even now when mom makes it I sneak into the kitchen and steal some :)
ReplyDelete@Bhakt and Jaya, this is what I got from wiki. Banshpata's common english name is broad mouth mullet or large scaled mullet. scientific name is devario devario. it is also known as sind danio. will ask for other names to my machwala.
ReplyDeleteI love fish eggs recipe...
ReplyDeleteI blog @ Manidipa's Kitchen
ami khabo...
ReplyDelete@ Sayantani, Jaya:
ReplyDeleteare na na. I was wrong..it's not bashpata..i'd a talk to my mother.she said there is another popular name for bashpata..it Kajri..and usually she fry the whole fish.not for a dimer bora..my mistake..
:(
@bhakt: Thats bashpabda, or kajli maach. It looks like pabda maach.. But tastes even better.. Single bone fish.. Halka kalojeera green chillies er jhol o oshaadharon hoy.
ReplyDelete