A very traditional small fish curry | Flavors from Bangladeshi cuisine.

A very traditional small fish curry | Flavors from Bangladeshi cuisine.

Small fish curry is a popular dish in Bangladesh, and there are many different variations depending on the region and the cook. One is cooking it wrapped with pumpkin or bottle gourd leaves. It helps to keep the flavors intact and makes the curry very delicate.

I usually don't cook small fish this way as I don't find the leaves often. But this time I get to have some fresh pumpkin leaves and decided to give it a try.

Let me share my recipe.

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Ingredients:

• 500g small fish (such as mola)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying
• Water for gravy
• Fresh coriander leaves
• 1 Tomato
• 2 Potatoes, finely sliced
• 2 pumpkin leaves
• Green chili

The step-by-step process.

The process is not very complicated if you have all the ingredients and are familiar with our cuisine.

Let's see.

Clean and wash the small fish, and then marinate them with turmeric powder, cumin powder, and salt.

I mashed the onion with tomatoes, coriander, and green chillis like this in our traditional utensils. After that, I mix all the potato and fish with this mash together.

Then wrap the mix inside the leaves like this. It would be runny, but don't worry. Cook it on low flame and it wouldn't burn.

Now it's cooking time.

Heat oil in a pan and put the wrapped curry along with the leaves like this.

There's no need to flip it over or do anything else as we have mixed all the spices before. Just put a lead on and cook for 15-20 minutes until the leaves look cooked and soft.

Put it in a pan and wait for it to cool down. Unwrap the curry and enjoy it with rice.

You can add a teaspoon of mustard oil before turning off the heat or cook the fish in mustard oil for more flavor.

The best thing about this curry is it goes so well with rice and the leaves can be eaten with rice as well. The curry is packed with flavor and is delicious.

This is a simple recipe, and you can adjust the spices and gravy consistency according to your preference. If you don't have the leaves, cook them with all the other ingredients. Enjoy!

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Have a good day, everyone.