Heeng Catla (হিং কাতলা)

 Namaskar 🙏

This is my first blog. Here I will be sharing a simple but very tasty recipe of ‘Catla Mach’ (South Asian carp fish). This recipe was known to my mother and she passes on to me.

Today’s recipe is ‘Heeng Catla’

First of all, let’s know something about ‘Heeng’ (Asafoetida) and its benefits.

Heeng or Asafoetida is obtained from a herbaceous plant Ferula asafoetida (from Umbelliferae family). Heeng is the oleo gum resin acquired from the rhizome and root of the plant.

Heeng or Asafoetida is very useful. Anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory characters of Asafoetida or heeng help to reduce stomach problems including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gas, intestinal worms and headache. It is also useful alleviation for respiratory disorders like asthma, bronchitis and dry cough. Heeng is identified as an accepted blood thinner and may help in decreasing blood pressure levels. asafoetida helps in the menstrual pain and contraction in the lower abdomen and back.

Now let’s jump into the details of this recipe: Hing Catla

Preparing for: two persons

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

As the name suggests the main ingredient of this curry is Catla Fish (South Asian Carp). This preparation is preferred fresh Catla mach only. And the catla mach I have taken is around 3 kg weight. I have requested the fish vendor to slice the fish and make each portion of round 50 to 60 grams.

Catla- Two pieces of fish

1. Asafoetida or Heeng ( I have used Everest Hing Powder)- Half a teaspoon Heeng

2. Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder ( I have used Everest Kashmiri Lal)- One tablespoon red chilli powder

3. Salt ( I have used Tata Salt Lite)- Salt as per taste

4. Mustard Oil (I have used Engine Kacchi Ghani Mustard Oil Grade I)- Four Table Spoon

5. Turmeric powder (I have used Everest Haldi Powder)- One table-spoon

6. Black Cumin ( I have used loose kaloo jeera )- Half Tea Spoon

7. Two Green Chillies

 

Utensils Required

1. Kadai

2. Two plates

3. One small mixing bowl

4. Knife

5. Spoon

6. A big khunti or spatula

 Course of action

1. Coat the fish with Turmeric and salt. Make sure that you coat the fish properly. (Otherwise, there is a high chance that you might get hurt by the hot oil while frying the fish and the best way to avoid such accidents is to dry the fish under the fan so that extra water droplets can be removed)
2. Turn on the heat. Add oil in the Kadai. Heat the oil. And add fish in it. ( This process is very tricky make sure to keep a safe distance of face and body from the pan. One can pour the fish with the help of a spatula so that you can keep up safe distance). Fry the fish gently till it becomes crispy from outside and soft white colour inside.
3. The take out the fried fish and keep it in a separate plate. Reduce the amount of oil if find excess. In the remaining oil add black cumin seeds and green chillies.
4. Take a small bowl and in it add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and Heeng and mix it properly. (Make sure to remove lumps, before adding the mixture into the hot oil). Pour the mixture and stir it properly. When the masala starts releasing oil, add the fried fish and stir it. Add required amount of water and mix it. Let the fish soak all the masala in it. Wait for the boil. In the meanwhile keep stirring it (stir the curry lightly otherwise one might end up breaking the fish portion). After the broth has started boiling properly. Turn off the heat.

Yes ……..Heeng Catla is ready

Serve hot with steamed rice (garam bhat).🐟🐟

Thank for reading

 

As I said this is my first blog. I will be sharing more yummy and simple recipes.

Hope you will try this recipe at home. And will share valuable comments

 Bye  👋

 

 

 Refences 

 [i] Poonam Mahendra and Shradha Bisht (2012) 'Ferula asafoetida: Traditional uses and pharmacological activity', Pharmacognosy Reviews, 6(12), pp. 142-146.

[ii] Rana, S. (2018) 10 Amazing Health Benefits of Asafoetida We Should All Know About, Available at: https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/10-amazing-health-benefits-of-asafoetida-we-should-all-know-about-1825666 (Accessed: 5th June 2020).

 

Namaskar ( নমস্কার )

Bengali food is famous all around the world. Though Bengal has a tragic history of partition, this partition doesn't affect the Bangla cuisine at all. In West Bengal we get best of both the worlds. As west Bengal is the home for both 'ghoti' (also called Poshchimbongiyo, a social group native to the state of West Bengal) and 'bangal'( refer to the people of East Bengal (usually from the areas of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barisal and Comilla), now in Bangladesh) and the mixture of both popularly known as 'bati' in West Bengal. Although Bangal-Ghoti divide still continues with little arguments in clubs, chai tafri and gathering of football matches but in our heart, we are one.

Bengali or bongs are famous for their sweet gesture and sweets. Rosogolla, Misti doi, nalen gurer sandesh and many more mouth-watering sweets are famous in Bengal. Bongs are also famous for many spicy (Jhal) dishes. 

In this blog, we will be sharing with you guys some of the simple Bengali recipes (which we cook in the daily meal). These recipes have influences of both 'bangal' and 'ghati'. 

Our recipes have been mainly downstream to us by our mothers and grandmothers. We know some Bengali recipes are a bit complicated in their traditional forms but as we are modernizing we had been simplified them as per our need. However, there are some simple recipes in our Bengali cuisine too, Where the exact flavour of every ingredient is kept intact with minimal use of spices. Thus our blog will try to document all those recipes and will try to present them to our viewers.

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