ilish macher paturi

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Lau Patay Ilish Paturi wraps Hilsa in bottle-gourd leaves with a mustard, poppy-seed and coconut paste. This Bengali leaf-wrapped variation is served hot, and her selected instructions keep the cooked greens alongside the fish and rice.

The fish is washed and marinated with salt and turmeric. Yellow and black mustard seeds soak in warm water, while poppy seeds soak separately in warm water with some salt.

The mustard seeds, poppy seeds, coconut, some green chillies, salt and a little turmeric are made into a thick paste. Mustard oil and plain curd are mixed in to make the spice coating smooth.

Whole bottle-gourd leaves are washed and cleaned. Each leaf receives some spice mixture, a fish piece and more of the mixture, then a green chilli and mustard oil; the sides are folded and the parcel tied with thread.

Oil is heated in a flat pan, the parcels are arranged under a lid, and each side cooks over low heat. The threads are cut before serving the hot paturi with steamed rice, including the cooked bottle-gourd greens.