Steamed Hilsa a.k.a Ilish Bhapa

With the first rain drop of the season, the thing that comes to the mind of all Bengalis is Ilish. Being a bengali I think--

'Duh! Why haven't I posted it before, I have cooked it a million times and yet I hadn't'...Silly me! But it's better to be late than never...So the fish which is so famous that it's the national fish of Bangladesh is here cooked traditionally to get your mouth drooling.... I hope you enjoy it..

Ingredients:

Hilsa fish 5-6 pieces washed well.

Mustard Paste(Shorshe bata) 2 1/2 tablespoon.

Poppy seed paste (posto bata) 2 tablespoon.

Yoghurt (Doi) 2 tablespoon. 

Mustard oil (Shorsher tel) 4 tablespoon. 

Turmeric powder ( holud guro) 1/4 teaspoon. 

Green chilies 4-5 slit.

Salt to taste.

Water as required. 

Method:

First make a paste with mustard seeds, poppy seeds, 2 green chilies, yoghurt, turmeric powder, salt and add water as required. Do not add too much water or it will go runny, just enough to make a smooth paste.

Marinade the fish with the paste and let it rest for 5-10 mins.

Now,in a steel round tiffin box add the fish and cover it with the paste all over properly.

Add a generous amount of mustard oil and rest of the slit green chilies. 

Seal it with the cover.

Now, on a big skillet place a ring and place the tiffin box over it.Add hot water from the sides upto touching half of the sides of the tiffin box.

Turn on the heat and let it cook for 30 mins.

Once done, take it off the heat and serve it with hot plain white rice.

It's simple and 'minimal utensil recipe' as I like to call it...Tempting, isn't it?