Bhetki Paturi in cabbage leaf

Last time I have shared my Ilish Paturi recipe with you. The paturi preparation goes very will with Bhetki fish also. The basic thing is that you need soft fish which gets cooked very quickly. The same holds true for both Ilish and Bhetki and thus we prepare paturi with both the fishes. In rainy season, we enjoy Ilish nad similarly Bhetki has its reign over our kitchen in the winter.

But some of us, who live outside Bengal, it never easy to get fresh banana leaf for the paturi. Though Bengali has their own alternative, i.e, Lau Pata (Gourd Leaf) to make paturi, it is equally difficult to get outside Bengal. Moreover, Gourd leaf adds some different flavour to your paturi which may seem a bit unfamiliar to your taste buds.

In the last winter, I was eager to make bhetki paturi while staying in Delhi but there was no banana leaf. So what? If you are passionate about food (what most Bengalis are!) and if you have little imaginative ideas, then nothing can hold you back. Therefore, I tried to prepare Bhetki paturi with Cabbage leaf !!! Extraordinary, eh? Yes, it was! Both in terms of idea and taste.

The experiment was so much successful that my husband told me that I should prepare paturi in cabbage leaf only even if the banana leaves are available.

Want to have the recipe, right? Here it is…

Preparation Time – 30 mins, Cooking Time – 15 mins, Serving – 4

Ingredients:

1.     Bhetki  –  4 pcs (heap or belly pieces)

2.     Cabbage leaf –  8 (preferably the top fresh green leaves, if required collect them from more than one cabbage)

3.     Posto (Poppy seed)-  3 Tbsp

4.     Mustard  – 3 Tbsp

5.     Coconut – ½

6.     Turmeric powder – ½ Tsp

7.     Red Chilli Powder – 1 Tsp

8.     Green chilli - 4 (slit lengthwise)

9.     Salt – to taste

10. Mustard Oil – 6 Tbsp

Method:

First, prepare the masala paste. For that, soak the poppy seed (posto) and mustard seed in a little water. Meanwhile, grate the coconut.

After that, make a smooth paste of posto, mustard and coconut together.

Mix the paste with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and 2 tbsp of mustard oil. Add some water if required to make a smooth mixture.

Now, blanch the cabbage leaf in warm salted water. When soft, remove it from heat and wash in cold water.

Place one fish piece in the middle of one cabbage leaf. Put 2-3 Tbsp masala paste over the fish. Coat the fish well with the masala paste. Place one slit green chilli over the fish. Add few drops of mustard oil. This will add some extra pungency which goes very well with any fish preparation.

Place another cabbage leaf on the top of it covering the fish completely. Tie it with some thread.

Repeat the process for other fish pieces too.

Heat some mustard oil (not much, just 3-4 Tbsp) in a pan. When hot, place the wrapped fish into it. Cover the pan. Cook it in low flame.

After few minutes, when the cabbage leaves change their colour from one side, flip it over. So that the other side gets cooked as well. If you feel that the cabbage leaf is getting too brown very quickly, add some water in the pan. So that the fish can be cooked without getting the leaf burnt.

When both the sides are brown in colour, remove them from heat.

Remove the thread from the cabbage leaf wrapping before serving.

Serve it with hot steamed rice. The taste is nothing less that the authentic preparation with banana leaf. However, the added benefit is that you can eat the cabbage leaf as well which is equally tasty.

So, what to wait for?? Try it out in the next Sunday and surprise your loved ones with this unique recipe