Machher dimer bora

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Macher Dimer Bora makes Bengali fish-roe fritters with onion, green chilli, garlic paste and gram flour. Her selected recipe uses Rohu roe, mustard oil, poppy seed and nigella, with Kasundi alongside the finished fritters.

The roe is washed and drained. Onion is washed, peeled and roughly chopped, while green chillies are stemmed and cut into small pieces; both are added to the roe.

Gram flour, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, nigella and poppy seed are mixed in, followed by garlic paste. The mixture is worked into a thick batter, with further gram flour added if it is runny.

Spoonfuls of batter are dropped into heated mustard oil in small batches. The fritters fry over low heat, are turned once one side is fried, and continue until golden brown.

The fried fritters are strained from the pan, and the remaining batter is cooked in the same way. The recipe serves Macher Dimer Bora hot with Kashundi.