Macher Dimer Vada

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In most species of fish, when the fish bears eggs the taste of its flesh reduces, excepting for hilsa. Hilsa’s taste gets enhanced when it bears egg. There is a reason behind this. Hilsa comes to the sweet water, that is, it comes up to the river during monsoon, the egg laying season. The sweet water happens to have an effect on the taste and so the catch from the river is world renowned. Now, coming back to the other fishes; rohu looses its taste during the laying season. Anyways the preparations made out of the eggs are ecstatic.

Fish egg, what we generally call is not only the eggs themselves but it also contains parts of the matured ovaries of the fish, and is called roe. Roe is prepared in different ways in different parts of the world. It is widely used in Asia and Europe. While we Indians mainly fry the roe, people from Japan, Korea and parts of Asia like to have it raw as a side dish with rice. Roe is widely used as a topping over sushi. Roe is also seasoned with salt, lemon, onions, olive oils and pepper powder. In Greece it’s used as a dip. While roe from shrimp, cod, salmon, sea urchin, and many other kinds of fishes are used in preparation, I have used roe from rohu for this preparation.

Ingredients:

Rohu roe (Rui macher dim): 100gms, properly cleaned

Wheat Flour (Maida): 1 tablespoon

Onion (Peyaj): 1 medium size

Green chilies (Kancha lanka): 2

Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 1 teaspoon

Rice (Chal): 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder (Halud guro): ½ teaspoon

Sunflower oil (Sada tel): for deep frying

Preparation:

• Chop the onions finely and mix with the mustard oil, keep for 5 minutes for the onions to soften
• Add all the ingredients excepting the sunflower oil to the softened onions and mix well. If required add little more flour to make the mixture firm
• Make small flattened balls of the mixture
• Heat oil in a wok or frying pan and deep fry the balls till cooked properly. Try putting a fork through the balls; if it comes out clean, the vada is fried.
• Take out of flame and place on a kitchen paper to soak out the excess oil
• Serve with tomato sauce and onions or also use it as an accompaniment with rice and dal.

My note: Macher dimer  vada tastes best when consumed hot, so prepare it just before eating.

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