Bengalis love their fish. Situated on the Ganges Delta, the world’s largest, where several rivers spill into the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam are home to a plenitude of freshwater edible species. Their consumption is inextricably tied to the identity of the people who live in the region. In a paper on the subject, food writer Colleen Sen quotes a famous proverb: “Machhe bhate bangali,” or “Fish and rice make a Bengali.”
Ahmed’s fish preparations rotate daily. One day you might find small, sardinelike hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh, panfried and then cooked in an onion and tomato base. On another day, they’re cooked whole in a mustard-seed curry. Either way, take your time picking out the bones and you’ll be rewarded by deeply flavored flesh. Similarly flavorful, tiny kajoli almost look like they’re schooling with peppers and long slivers of potato in a bright, almost creamy curry the color of the sun.
Correction note: This review has been amended to reflect the correct geography of the Ganges Delta and a Bengali preference for freshwater fish.
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