Foodelicious: A 1988 Fish story

Although I speak polished English, it does not mean it was the first language I spoke as a toddler.

With so much pride I say this; I was born in Sudan to a Ugandan mother and an Indian Gujarat father and the first language I spoke was Arabic.

Sadly this date' I can’t form a beautiful sentence in Arabic let alone pronounce the words.

In 1986, my expecting mum moved down to Northern Uganda with me and found love and a great home in the company of my Indian grandfather and Ugandan grandmother. My first friend Miriam Akumu only spoke Acholi; the native language of the people that come from Gulu and on and on and on the story goes (let’s keep it for another day)

So you see, English was not the first language nor the second language I spoke but today when I speak it, believe me you will not even imagine that it was a 3^rd language I learnt to speak.

From Gulu, the land of the people of Acholi (Northern Ugandans), Fish is known to be dry, smoked or ……., I had no idea what the other fish was called.

Once when I was 5, my mum asked my sister and me what we wanted to eat and

while my sister who spoke better English said she wanted dry fish, I, figured if she wants dry fish then the other one that I want must be wet fish. And with so much confidence I told mummy I wanted wet fish (fresh fish)…

That is a story my mum kept reminding me about whenever she made a meal of white boiled rice, dhal, chapatti and Fish masala.

Here is a simple recipe you can follow for wet…sorry Fresh Fish masala in 20 minutes

Ingredients

500 gms Fish (cleaned and cut into medium pieces)
3-4 Green Chilies (halved lengthwise) (optional)
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chili Powder (optional)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Onions (chopped)
1 Tomato (chopped)
2 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 cup Water
Vegetable Oil for cooking
Salt to taste
Coatmeal to garnish

Follow me through,

Marinate the fish pieces with a pinch of salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and lemon juice. Keep for overnight
Heat oil in a pan over medium flame,
Add onions and fry till golden brown.
Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilies to the onions.
Sauté for 2 minutes
Add tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes, or till the oil separates.
Add garam masala, coriander powder, salt and a cup of water to the above.
Add marinated fish pieces and cook till fish is done.
Now, let it cook over a low flame for another 7-8 minutes.
Garnish with coat meal
Put off the flame.