Hilsa Fish With Cocoa-Nut

Smear some pieces of hilsa fish with adequate quantities of salt, mustard, turmeric, chillies, all powdered, and sufficient mustard oil. Stuff the stone of a half-ripe cocoa-nut breaking it in two and join the two parts water-tight with a little paste of flour. Boil it for an hour. Then open it, take the lump out and serve.

Arum Stalks With Hilsa Fish

This item is very favourite to some and repulsive to, others. The portions of hilsa fish that are wasted, e.g. heads, tails, gills, entrails, are used in this curry. They are broken or cut piecemeal, thoroughly washed, and then fried after smearing with powdered turmeric and salt.

Peel fresh and tender arum stalks, cut in pieces an inch long, boil and drain off the water. Boil ghee or oil with a few entire cumins. Then add salt, powdered cumin, pepper, coriander and chillies, and stir for 2 or 3 minutes. Then add the boiled vegetable and stir for a few minutes more. Add water and on boiling add fish. Take down when no soup is left. Chichingas (snake gourds) are good substitutes for arum stalks.

Hilsa Fish Roasted With Meat

Mix pasted ginger, chillies, turmeric, garam-masalla and salt with some minced meat and fry with oil. Pieces of boiled potatoes mixed with powdered pepper and salt may be used instead of meat. Never use onions with hilsa fish.

Flake a big sized hilsa fish, preferably without roes, wash and remove the head, entrails and tail. Cut deep lengthwise on both sides of the fish. Smear it well with a paste of mustard oil, powdered turmeric, mustard, green chillies and salt. Stuff it full with the meat and stitch the opening. Wrap it up 8 or 10 fold with green banana leaves and roast both sides alternately on glowing charcoal till the outermost leaves are burnt up. Then remove the leaves and the fish is ready to be served.