SUKHYA BOMBILCHI CHUTNEY

Owing to proximity to the coast Kokani Muslims have seafood at the heart of their traditional cuisine. While fresh seafood is extensively consumed, the use of dried fish is equally popular in the community. 
So this #ChutneyDay I bring to you a very special, traditional, spicy chutney recipe entailing use of dried bombil (Bombay Duck fish) with dried red chillies. 
Here is how the recipe goes:

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Yield: ½ cup 
Equipment: Grinding Stone (preferable)/ Mixer blender
Expert level: Intermediate

Ingredients:
For the chilli-garlic paste:

• 15 gm Dried red chillies (approx. 10 big pieces)
• 15 gm Garlic (approx. 3 large cloves)
• 300 ml Water (1 ½ cup)

For the chutney:

• 15 gm Dried bombil (Bombay Ducks fish) (approx. 6 cleaned pieces)
• 200 ml Water (1 cup), boiling hot
• 15 ml Oil + Oil for deep frying
• 5 gm Dried raw mango pieces, soaked in 1 tbsp warm water
• Salt to taste

Method:
For the chilli-garlic paste:
1. Destem the chillies and peel the garlic cloves.
2. Bring the water to a boil and remove from stove.
3. Soak the chillies and garlic in this water for about half an hour or until the chillies and garlic soften.
4. Drain excess water.
5. Crush the garlic roughly first on the grinding stone.
6. Add the chillies to the crushed garlic on the grinding stone and grind all to a smooth paste on grinding stone.
7. Keep aside.

For the chutney:
1. Cut the fish into 1" length pieces.
2. Soak the fish in hot water for 5-10 mins to remove scales and soften it.
3. Pat dry on tissue paper.
4. Deep fry the pieces until crisp.
5. Crush the fried pieces to a coarse powder.
6. Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Once oil is hot add the chilli-garlic paste.
7. Fry the paste on low flame for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the powdered fish and raw mango pieces along with water they were soaked in to the chilli garlic paste and fry for another minute on low flame.
9. Check salt and if needed add as required (adding salt ideally not recommended since the fish is salted extensively for the drying process).
10. Pull off the stove and cool to room temperature.
11. Serve with a piping hot plate of dal-chaur (lentil & rice) or chawarachi roti (rice flour flatbreads).
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So, do try out the recipe and let me know how it turned out to be.
Till then HAPPY COOKING ...