Recipes Dried Bombay duck and potatoes curry Mrs Prarthana Pravin Koli

Dried Bombay Duck and Potatoes Curry

Ingredients: 250g dry Bombay Duck (a fish), 250g onions, 200g potatoes, 1 tsp Koli masala/ red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp rice flour, 4 kokam/ Garcinia indica, 2 green chillies, 1 tbsp chopped

coriander, salt to taste and 1 cup of water.

Method: Clean Bombay Duck by removing the fins, tail and head, and cut them in 2-3 inch pieces. Wash

the cut Bombay Duck in running water and soak it for 15-20 minutes. Chop onions and green chilies finely, add this to the curry pot along with salt and mix it with your hands. Add Bombay Duck, Koli

masala, turmeric, rice flour, diced potatoes, water and mix well by hand. Turn on the flame and let it cook on high flame for 10-15 minutes. Cover it with a lid. Add kokam/Garcinia indica and cook for 2

minutes on low flame. Once done you can add coriander and serve this with steamed rice.

About: I was born in Mahagiri Fishing Village, Thane. My father's name is Pandurang Ramchandra Beli.

He used to work in a factory nearby, and later drove an auto-rickshaw. My mother used to sell fish in

Thane fish market. Since childhood, I have stayed in my maternal aunt's home; there I learnt making rice

rotis from my aunt. My father had to stop fishing because of the scarcity of fish in the river creek, due

to the polluted waters. After my marriage I started earning by making rice rotis. My husband Pravin Koli works in a factory.

Mrs. Karuna Jayant Nakhawa

Ookhar of Bombay Duck

Ingredients: 50-30 pieces medium sized Bombay Duck , 30-35 garlic cloves, 8-7 green chilies, 50g ginger,

2 tbsp coriander, 3 tsp Koli masala, 1 tsp turmeric, 3-4 tbsp groundnut oil, 2 pieces of tamarind, salt to

taste and 1 cup of water.

Method: Clean Bombay Duck by removing the fins, tail and head. Wash the Bombay Duck in running water and soak it for 30-40 minutes. Soak tamarind in 1/4 hot bowl of water till it gets soft. Grind garlic, green chilies, ginger and coriander into fine paste. Take a cooking pan (This is a mostly dry recipe. It will

be good to cook it in a flat bottomed cast iron pan or earthen pan). Again wash soaked Bombay Duck in

lukewarm water gently, add it to the pan, along with ground garlic, green chilies, ginger and coriander

paste, salt, turmeric, Koli masala, oil, water and mix it well by hand. Let it simmer for 3 minutes on high

flame, cover it with a lid and let it cook for another 10 minutes on medium flame. Add tamarind to the

pan and let it simmer till excess water evaporates (till oil and gravy separates). Serve this with steamed

rice and plain dal or wheat chapati (no oil added) or rice roti as usual.

About: My name is Karuna Jayant Nakhwa, and I am from the salt working community in Mumbai also

known as ‘Agri Koli tribe’. I used to stitch clothes for a living. My husband Jayant is from the ‘Son Koli’ tribe but they have now stopped selling fishing equipment for the past few decades. Jayant too works as

a full-time tailor. Tailoring was a bit difficult, as the earnings were not consistent. Once. a woman from

our Kopri village gave me an order for rice rotis and they liked it. So through them I got an order of fifty

rice rotis daily. I used to sell one rice roti a decade back for one rupee and now I sell one for twelve

rupees. Nowadays I usually sell 30 to 80 rice rotis a day.

Pancakes from Dry Baby Shrimp

Ingredients: 2 cups of dry baby shrimp, 1 cup of besan/gram flour, 1/2 cup of rice flour, 2 medium size onions, 10-12 garlic cloves, 1 inch ginger, 6-7 small green chilies, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, 1/4 tsp asafoetida, 2-3 tbsp coconut/groundnut Oil.

Method: Chop the onions finely, and then chop three green chillies, and half-inch of ginger. Grind the

remaining green chilies, ginger and garlic cloves to a fine paste. Add this into the bowl of chopped

onions. Wash the dry baby shrimp twice or thrice properly in water and let the water drain by compressing it with your hands. Add this into the bowl with chopped onions. Add besan/ gram flour, rice flour, asafoetida, turmeric, and red chili powder. Add 1/4-1/2 cup of water and mix well by hand

(viscosity of mixture should be a bit thick to make Tikki -a small croquette). Preheat the cast iron pan for

shallow frying, make medium sized Tikki and shallow fry on medium flame till it turns golden brown. It is

best served with a simple dal and rice.

About: I was born in Versova Koliwada (fishing village). My father Rajaram Lakshman Dandekar was a

fisherman. After getting married I shifted to Chendani Koliwada. There, I became aware that nobody

fishes in the ocean or river creek, but in the surrounding lakes. There are more than 30 lakes in Thane. My husband Chandrakant was an employee of the Thane Municipal Corporation. After he passed away I

started selling dry fish as it was the closest known occupation and a while later I began to sell rice rotis

for a living. I think it is good to start something you know for which you don't have to learn special skills.

It's just that I was born and brought up with these dexterities. I have a son who also works in the Thane

Municipal Corporation.