Fishes like Magur , Latta Maach, Shinghi Maach are slimy and snake like....
These fishes could be approximately a foot or so in length and makes a sort of wiggling motion with snake like movements.....
My mother in law has an interesting story to tell....
When a new bride comes into a Bengali family , she is made to hold a live fish. It could be any of the above fishes. It symbolises that the bride brings good health, wealth and prosperity into the family when she enters her new home holding her grooms hand.
Now, this wedding function takes place in every Bengali family, says Ma,my mother-in -law. We all had to do it....
When ma, the eldest, was to welcome her new sister -in-law, Hashi into the family at Agra, the fish choosen was latta Maach. As the fish market was far from the house instead of buying just one latta Maach, the servant of the house bought three-four. Now to keep the fishes alive till the bride arrived, they were put into a large vessel filled with water and kept aside.
On the day the new bride, Hashi was to arrive, it started to rain "Cats and Dogs" in Agra.
Agra was a dry place and the old drainage system failed, resulting in flooding of the whole area. The courtyard too was filled with so much water, that the water had no outlet.
Everybody was worried as to how a new bride would enter and perform all wedding functions & ceremonies.
Now, as the courtyard filled with water the vessel in which the fishes were, must have tilted a bit and a latta maach must have escaped unknowingly. As the new bride entered the courtyard someone in the crowd noticed something black and snake like and screamed,"snake snake, there's a snake" and that made everybody jump out of their skins!! The men of the family grabbed whatever was available to them to kill it , only to find out that it was one of the fishes and not a snake !!!!
Everybody had a hearty laugh.....A great beginning to a wonderful relationship.
Loita maach is also slimy and its another name is the Bombil.
It doesnt have too many bones.....a long central bone that needs removing.
Also look out for any bones other than the central bone and remove carefully ,after you boil the fish. De boning needs to be done carefully before this dish.
Loita Maacher Peyaji
In a mixing bowl, take the Fish, Onion sliced very fine, Gram Flour (Besan), Rice Flour, Coriander leaves chopped fine, Green Chilly chopped fine, Sugar, Red Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Salt and mix with some Water.
Heat a cup of Refined oil in a pan and when the oil heats up, take 2 tbsp of the hot oil and add to the above mix. Mix all together again.
Now, drop in small batches of the mix into hot oil to make loita maacher peyaji bhaja.
When the peyaji is light brown on both sides remove and cool and then again drop into hot oil to make them reddish in colour and very very crispy.
Remove and serve the crispy peyaji with sauces / chutneys of your liking.
Ingredients used :
Loita Maach........................................................500grams
Besan.....................................................................2 tbsp
Rice Flour..............................................................2tbsp
Onion.....................................................................1 large
Coriander leaves.................................................4 tbsp
Green Chilly.........................................................2-3
Salt & Sugar.........................................................as per taste
Turmeric Powder................................................1/2 tsp
Red Chilly Powder.................................................1 tsp
Water.......................................................................as required
Hot Oil.....................................................................2 tbsp
These fishes could be approximately a foot or so in length and makes a sort of wiggling motion with snake like movements.....
My mother in law has an interesting story to tell....
When a new bride comes into a Bengali family , she is made to hold a live fish. It could be any of the above fishes. It symbolises that the bride brings good health, wealth and prosperity into the family when she enters her new home holding her grooms hand.
Now, this wedding function takes place in every Bengali family, says Ma,my mother-in -law. We all had to do it....
When ma, the eldest, was to welcome her new sister -in-law, Hashi into the family at Agra, the fish choosen was latta Maach. As the fish market was far from the house instead of buying just one latta Maach, the servant of the house bought three-four. Now to keep the fishes alive till the bride arrived, they were put into a large vessel filled with water and kept aside.
On the day the new bride, Hashi was to arrive, it started to rain "Cats and Dogs" in Agra.
Agra was a dry place and the old drainage system failed, resulting in flooding of the whole area. The courtyard too was filled with so much water, that the water had no outlet.
Everybody was worried as to how a new bride would enter and perform all wedding functions & ceremonies.
Now, as the courtyard filled with water the vessel in which the fishes were, must have tilted a bit and a latta maach must have escaped unknowingly. As the new bride entered the courtyard someone in the crowd noticed something black and snake like and screamed,"snake snake, there's a snake" and that made everybody jump out of their skins!! The men of the family grabbed whatever was available to them to kill it , only to find out that it was one of the fishes and not a snake !!!!
Everybody had a hearty laugh.....A great beginning to a wonderful relationship.
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| Loita Maach |
Loita maach is also slimy and its another name is the Bombil.
It doesnt have too many bones.....a long central bone that needs removing.
Also look out for any bones other than the central bone and remove carefully ,after you boil the fish. De boning needs to be done carefully before this dish.
Loita Maacher Peyaji
In a mixing bowl, take the Fish, Onion sliced very fine, Gram Flour (Besan), Rice Flour, Coriander leaves chopped fine, Green Chilly chopped fine, Sugar, Red Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Salt and mix with some Water.
Heat a cup of Refined oil in a pan and when the oil heats up, take 2 tbsp of the hot oil and add to the above mix. Mix all together again.
Now, drop in small batches of the mix into hot oil to make loita maacher peyaji bhaja.
When the peyaji is light brown on both sides remove and cool and then again drop into hot oil to make them reddish in colour and very very crispy.
Remove and serve the crispy peyaji with sauces / chutneys of your liking.
Ingredients used :
Loita Maach........................................................500grams
Besan.....................................................................2 tbsp
Rice Flour..............................................................2tbsp
Onion.....................................................................1 large
Coriander leaves.................................................4 tbsp
Green Chilly.........................................................2-3
Salt & Sugar.........................................................as per taste
Turmeric Powder................................................1/2 tsp
Red Chilly Powder.................................................1 tsp
Water.......................................................................as required
Hot Oil.....................................................................2 tbsp
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