With prices of hilsa dipping, it is raining hilsa festivals everywhere. Pride Plaza in New Town is joining in the celebration that will start tomorrow and continue till the month-end.
“The monsoon has been generous compared to last year. We are getting good quality hilsa,” affirmed Tagar Shaikh, executive chef at the hotel at the foot of the Axis Mall flyover.
Titled Rupali Rupkatha, the festival features 10 dishes. “For Bengalis, hilsa is an emotion. Those who live out of town, don’t get the fish and even if they do, they don’t get the typical hilsa dishes. But non-Bengali guests are wary of the fish bones. That is why we kept this chef’s special dish of Ilish paturi.
Ilish Paturi boneless
There are traditional favourites like Sorshe Bata Diye Ilish Jhol, Bhapa Ilish, Ilish Matha Diye Mochar Ghonto and Ilish Machher Muree Diye Moog Dal.
There are a couple of chef’s special dishes too. Kumro Pata Diye Aam Achar Ilish is one such. “We marinate the fish with mango achhar and then grill it. That lends it a tangy flavour,” Shaikh explains.
Dhakai Ilish is a home style fish curry with potato and brinjal. “The original recipe keeps the fish raw to retain the flavour, while using a masala mix of cumin seeds, turmeric powder, ginger paste and green chilli. But since that may not agree with all palettes, we do a light pan sear at the start. That also ensures that the piece does not break while cooking,” he adds.
Those who want to experience hilsa in the Continental style may order Grilled Ilish Steak with Aloo Kasundi Mashed. “Here the marination is done in salt, turmeric powder, ginger paste, mustard seed paste and green chilli, before we grill the fish that has been shallow fried on a greased tawa.”
Ilish Biryani on display at Pride Plaza
Those who avoid hilsa because of its fine bones, one dish — Ilish Paturi Boneless — offers freedom from the infamous bones of the silver crop.
Chef Shaikh shares a video recording of a hilsa being deboned. “Even for trained hands like mine, it takes 12 to 15 minutes,” he says, pointing to how the fish is strategically sliced open and the skeleton removed, after which the sides are cut and the fine bones are dragged out by pressing down their visible edges with the slicing knife. The fish is cooked and presented, like all paturi, inside a leaf. And the hotel is not charging extra for the dish. All hilsa dishes, including fried hilsa, are priced the same at Rs 649.
Though steamed rice is the natural main course to enjoy the gravy-based hilsa dishes, the festival also has included a biryani, keeping the variety of local taste buds in mind. It is hilsa biryani which is not cooked in the Calcutta style, and therefore has an egg but not a potato.
Those looking to make a meal out of it can go for the hilsa thali. Other than a bit of khichudi at the centre, it has a fried piece of hilsa, a chachchari with hilsa bones, a hilsa gravy dish and even a bowl of fish oil to mix with salt and rice to create a Bengali soul food. “We can customize the thali. A customer can choose the gravy dish from among the options on the menu, except for the deboned one,” the chef explained. The thali comes at Rs 1,061.
“Hilsa is the queen of fish. Today in nuclear families, no one has the time or often even the knowhow to buy fish from the market and cook. So we are cooking it for them as well as guests from outside Bengal. Having hilsa on the plate is a start to the Puja spirit,” said Avishek Dutta, food and beverage manager.