Pomfret Bhujna (Sarangya Che Bhujna)

Pomfret Bhujna is a Pathare Prabhu speciality.

Legend has it that the Pathare Prabhus migrated from the hills of Nepal to other Indian states like Gujarat and Rajasthan in the 13^th century and finally reached the magical city of dreams – Mumbai.

They settled here and due to the city’s close proximity to the sea, seafood became their staple diet. In fact, seafood is the soul of their cuisine.

Since they settled here in Mumbai, they adapted to the culture of the land and Marathi became their primary language. They even imitated the dressing, like draping the traditional nauvari sari.

I must include here, that the PPs do have an affluent and indulgent way of life, which can be seen in the food that they fancy.

Some of the expensive and rare varieties of fish like Ghol (jewfish), black pomfret, lobsters and king prawns are a part of their everyday cooking. Quite interestingly they make use of mouth-watering blend of spices to prepare these exotic seafood specialities.

While I was reading about the beautiful culture of PPs, I realized that their cuisine stands out from the rest of the Maharashtrian food which usually relies either on coconut or peanuts.

What intrigued me about this particular cuisine is that their recipes are not really accessible to outsiders., maybe because they are a small and tightly knitted community.

As a food blogger who is constantly exploring food and the culture behind it, I did manage to find a beautiful POMFRET preparation by the Pathare Prabhus. You will be amazed by the distinct method of cooking this particular recipe.

Although it is SIMPLE, yet quite interesting! Read on…

It is called Pomfret Bhujna or Sarangya che Bhujna – a staple fish curry of the Pathare Prabhus. (Sarangya means Pomfret in Marathi)

Making this dish is super easy. Chopping of onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, with addition of turmeric and red chilli powder and that’s about it.

But, the essence of this recipe lies in the mixing of the marinate. All of the above mentioned ingredients are mixed together with oil at room temperature with hands. Making sure to apply pressure as you mix, which will help in squeezing down the onions, chillies etc and in turn will help release their flavour. This should take around 7 – 10 minutes.

Then add the fish to this mix and use just a tiny splash of water enough to wash off the masala smeared on your fingers and mix everything well making sure the spices coat the fish well. After this cold treatment the fish is kept on a gentle flame to cook for around 10 minutes.

Isn’t it quite a different way of cooking ?

I just loved the subtle flavours and so was quite eager to share this with my family of readers. I recommend you try it. After all it is a no-sweat but high on taste, seafood delicacy.

There is also a vegetarian variety of the Bhujna, made with potatoes or cauliflower etc.

POMFRET BHUJNA

Ingredients :

3 small pomfrets,
2 medium sized onions
1 tbsp garlic paste,
½ tsp turmeric powder,
2 tsp red chilli powder,
A few sprigs of coriander leaves
3 green chillies,
Salt to taste,
4 tbsp oil.

Method :

Clean pomfrets thoroughly and cut into pieces.
Chop the onions, green chillies and coriander finely.
Except the fish, mix all the ingredients in a pan you will be cooking it in.
Crush all the ingredients with hand for at least 8-10 minutes till a homogenous paste is obtained.
Add as much water as is required to wash the hand crushing the ingredients.
Now add in the pomfret pieces and coat with the masala.
Cook on medium heat and cover the pan with lid.
Cook on slow flame till the fish is done.
Remove the lid and switch off the flame.
Cover with lid and let the curry cool down a bit and serve with steaming hot rice.

Tip : I have used 1 tsp tamarind for sourness – does bring out the flavours well.

Note : There is quite a wide range of Pathare Prabhu delicacies out there like

Kolambiche Khadkhadale it is a Spicy Prawn dish,
Methi Aluche Sambare – A fenugreek and colocasia curry with coconut milk
Sweets like Kajuchi Poli – It is basically puran poli made with a stuffing of cashew nuts and sugar, instead of chana dal and jaggery (bengal gram)
Guroli they are sweet semolina puris.

I have already decided to try the Kajuchi Poli (Cashewnut crispy flatbread) soon 😍