A few of my favourite Assamese Dishes

The north eastern state of Assam in India which has a rich legacy and civilization is also the home to certain simple,easily prepared yet tasty delicacies.A few of my favourite Assamese dishes are Masor Tenga ,Posola and Omitar khar.

Fish has been an important part of Assamese cuisine.'Maas' means fish in Assamese and 'tenga' means sour taste.Hence,Masor tenga means a tangy fish curry.Any sized fish may be used for this preparation.The fish pieces are first cleaned and smeared with salt and turmeric and then deep fried in mustard oil.You may opt for any other oil if mustard oil is not easily available.

The vegetarians can replace the fish pieces with some lentil balls that can be prepared by grinding red lentils and deep frying them to make small balls.The process of cooking this mouth watering dish is as follows:-

Ingredients:-
1 medium sized rohu or any other fish
a few mustard seeds and mixed spices(a mixture of general and black cumin,fenugreek,carom,fennel seeds)
1 chopped potato or half of green gourd.
handful of red lentils(optional)
2 ripe tomatoes
1 whole green chilli
2 strips of Garcinia species( called thekera in Assamese which may be substituted by kokum found in other states of India or lime juice available anywhere in the world)
Salt and turmeric powder to taste
handful of chopped coriander leaves

Method:-
Heat mustard oil in a wok or kadhai. Add a few mustard seeds and some mixed spices.Let them splutter.Add the green chilli,chopped potatoes,gourd,tomatoes and lentils(soaked in water for a while).Stir them for a while.Add salt and turmeric and pour 2 glasses of water.Now add the fish pieces or lentil balls and let them simmer for a while. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves before serving.

Your tangy and delicious fish curry is ready.Serve hot with steamed rice.So get going...try this amazingly simple and nutritious recipe loaded with unusual flavours and tell me how it turned out to be. And do come back for my next posts of Omitar Khar and Posola, yet more simple and economical selections from the Assamese kitchen.