Fish Curry with Eggplant and Lentil Dumplings

Begun Bori Diye Macher Jhol

I've made variations of this dish and blogged about them in the past. Today I combined eggplants with dried lentil dumplings or bori in this Maacher Jhol. There was an abundance of eggplants in the fridge, of the Japanese variety, which are my favourite. Bori are little nuggets of "deliciousness" which add another dimension to anything they're added to. They are salted so make sure not to add salt without first tasting the gravy.

Ingredients

1 lb. white fish pieces, tossed with salt and turmeric

2 Japanese eggplants, cut in long lengths, also tossed with salt and turmeric

1 cup boris

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

1 large knob of ginger, peeled and chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 tsp. cumin powder

1/2 tsp. garam masala powder (cinnamon, cardamom and cloves only)

1/2 tsp. Kashmiri mirch/chili powder

4 Tbsp. mustard oil

1/2 tsp. shah jeera

1-2 green chillies, minced

4-5 whole green chilies

salt and sugar to taste

Directions

1. Blanch onions in 1/2 cup water and make a paste along with ginger and tomatoes.
2. Add cumin powder, garam masala powder, Kashmiri mirch and a pinch of salt to onion paste and set aside.
3. Heat half the oil and fry eggplant pieces until lightly browned, remove from oil and set aside.
4. Fry fish pieces in the same oil until lightly browned, remove from oil and set aside.
5. Fry boris until golden brown and soak in 1/2 cup hot water.
6. Add remaining oil to skillet and sputter shah jeera and minced green chilies.
7. Pour onion paste into pan and stir-fry for a minute.
8. Add a cup of hot water to pan and bring to a boil, add eggplants and boris along with soaking liquid and simmer over medium-low heat until eggplants are cooked and boris soften.
9. Adjust salt and sugar to taste, add fish pieces and simmer for 3 minutes.
10. Garnish with a pinch of garam masala powder, whole chilies and cilantro.

Remove from heat to a serving dish and serve as a main course with steamed rice.