Let there be light ... rui kaalia in focus

In case you remember I was fretting about our light scene at home for photographs. Well we finally got our electrician to set up the chirpy yellow table lamp which K picked for me at Ikea, Dubai.





Look at the photos which Kainaz took of tonights' rui kaalia dinner. Problem solved. And how.



I don't think that I have ever written my recipe for rui kaali, the quintessential Bengali wedding feast dish.

So here are the instructions (translated into English from my Bengali Hindi) I gave Banu, my sous chef and maid, this afternoon.

• Cut two potatoes into cubes and par boil them
• Take five pieces of rui
• Smear both of the above with turmeric salt and chilly powder and fry them and set aside
• Make a masala paste of a tea spoon each turmeric, jeera (cummin) and dhaniya (coriander) powders and half a tea spoon each of red chilly poder and garam masala powder and sugar with a bit of water

Curry:

• Take a bit of oil in a pan
• Once heated, add some white jeera (cummin) seeds, whole garam masalas, dry red chillies and bay leaves and let them roast
• Add half a ground onion/ shallot and toss till it becomes brown
• Add a tea spoon of ginger paste
• Add half a ground tomato and let this cook
• Add the masala paste to onion, tomato, ginger mix
• Stir, add 2 small cups of water
• Bring the sauce to boil
• Add the fish and potatoes to the sauce
• Add salt
• Let it boil on high flame for 3,4 minutes and then simmer on low flame for 7,10 minutes
• Garnish with coriander and split green chillies
• Serve with steamed rice

Pushpa and her mom out did themselves with the fish this time. The rui was from a seven kilo whopper, juicy like a hot piece of gossip.