Ok guys it’s been three days that I am back from my hometown and I am desperate to tell you about my cooking and eating experiences in my hometown Orissa. Orissa is a state in the East-coast of India. I belong to a town called Balasore, which is one of India’s bases for surface to air missile testing center of India. Yea, my house is in the salty shore of Bay of Bengal, amidst lots of coconut and plantain trees.
Fish is central to the East Indian Cuisine. Though I did not get much time to experiment with a variety of fishes in the Christmas season, yet I managed to nibble into dried salty fish in the midst of all the festive foods I had in Orissa. Today I am going to share with you the most common dish of Orissa called as Sukhua or dried and salted sea-fish. The sea fish like shrimps, prawns, sea bass, catfish etc are caught, gutted, gashed near the belly and filled with salt. After they are filled with salt they are dried in scorching sun, until all the juices of the fish dries up and gets hard and turns to brown in color
The ingredients for Sukhua are as follows:
Dried Fish
Chopped Onions
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Green Chilies
Turmeric Powder
Cumin Powder
Mustard Oil
Method:
1. Rinse the fish in warm water and remove the scales of the fish using a scraper or your nails. After the scales are washed out rinse it again to remove the dust off the fish’s body as the fish is dried on the sands of the beach.
2. Fry the dried fish in oil until they are brittle enough to be broken. Once brittle take them out and keep aside.
3. In a separate wok fry onions until brown and add green chilies, tomatoes, turmeric powder, cumin powder and cook the onions and tomatoes for 10 minutes.
4. After they are cooked add fish and fry for 10 more minutes.
5. Garnish fried Sukhua(Dried Fish) with lemon juice and serve with soft white rice and mashed potatoes
Sukhua, mashed potatoes and rice are the comfort foods of my hometown. Hope you like it and do not forget to try this delicacy in your kitchen
Note: You can dry fish in your own place by drying them on a wire rack and placing them under the sun directly.
