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Hukoti

The Mising way of keeping fish: dried puthi pounded with dried kosu stem and chilli, packed in bamboo and aged over the hearth. Intense, smoky, eaten fried with rice.

Ingredients

• 250 g sun-dried small fish (puthi or other small river fish)
• 100 g sun-dried colocasia stalks (kosu thuri), chopped
• 10 dried red chillies
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 green bamboo tube with one node closed, for packing
• 1 banana leaf piece, for sealing
• 2 tbsp mustard oil, for frying to serve
• 1 medium onion, finely sliced, for frying to serve
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped, for frying to serve
• 2 green chillies, chopped, for frying to serve

Method

1. Clean the dried fish, removing any heads that are broken or burnt, and dry-roast on a tawa on low heat for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp.
2. Dry-roast the dried kosu stalks and red chillies separately for 3 to 4 minutes until crisp.
3. Pound the fish, kosu, chillies and salt together in a dheki or large mortar until it becomes a coarse, sticky powder, about 20 minutes.
4. Pack the mixture tightly into the bamboo tube, pressing it down with a stick so no air is left.
5. Seal the open end with banana leaf and tie it. Keep the tube over the kitchen hearth (dhuwa chang) or in a smoky dry place for at least 3 to 4 weeks to cure.
6. To eat, take out 3 to 4 tbsp of hukoti. Heat mustard oil and fry the onion, garlic and green chillies for 3 minutes until soft.
7. Add the hukoti and fry on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring, until dark and fragrant. Serve a small spoonful with hot rice.

Tip: Use a fresh green bamboo tube and pack it hard; air pockets cause mould. Cured hukoti keeps for months in the bamboo if kept dry and smoky.