What is cooked in an Odia house, and the whole neighbour gets to know about it?
No one should be surprised with the answer, because, anyone who have had that experience, won’t really forget it that easily.
Yes, It is the Odia loka’s favorite SUKHUA or the Dried Fish.
Dry Fish or dried fish is described as any fishes which had developed a strong odor within hours of capture and salted for about four days and then dried. It is highly salted and semi-dried fishery products with an obnoxious odor and a cheesy but rich fishy flavor widely liked as a sea food item worldwide.
In Odisha, Sukhua is a must.Almost every other variety of fish is made and widely sold as its Sukhua version. It smells bad.But still, you cannot really complain of odour when all we are talking about is dead fish, and in this case, sun dried dead fish.
What is alarming is in its cooking process. Because it is sundried with a lot of salt, before cooking, you need to was them properly, soak them in water, to make them soft. After that, you treat it the same way as you do to any raw fish (but they say there, is a fabulous change in taste). But as soon as you soak it in water, and boil it, the odour almost starts a nuclear reaction and an almost unbearable radiation of awful smell is spread to a really really large distance, informing almost a radius of hundred meters of what is happening.
It is not a smell of shit, or a decaying substance, or any other kind of awful smell. It has its uniqueness, and it is just a bad Sukhua cooking smell, and you can do nothing about it!
But after that phrase, the fish no more has that odour, and is cooked into a various kind of dishes. To consume it with PAKAHLA, another iconic Odia dish (mainly Stale rice and Water) is a sensation in Odisha, and Odia culture.
Apart from that, there is also a concern associated with it. According to a report of Feb 2017, the fisher-person are using Formalin to dry fish faster. Formalin, or formaldehyde as it is known, minimizes the activity of oxygen which causes rotting. Formalin is harmful for human consumption as it causes diarrhea and other problems. Its use in the long run can caused serious ailments too.
Traditionally, fish is dried, salted and even smoked to be preserved. Dry fish makers have also been using solar dryers to expedite the process. However, several boat-owners and dry-fish makers are taking to formalin to dry the fish in the vessels itself which is hazardous. Although today, it is legally banned to use formalin, its use continues.
Here I present you a very simple recipe of Sukhua.
The basic Ingredients would be-
3–4 Sukhua (any fish), Tomato-2, Mustard oil 2 tsp,Turmeric 1 tsp, 1–2 Green chilli , 5 Garlic pods, Mustard seeds 1 tsp,1/2 tsp of Panchaphutan(Cumin, Brown Mustard, Fenugreek, Nigella and Fennel.)
Process-
Grind the mustard seeds with half of the garlic pods into a fine paste.
Cut the potato into chunks.
Soak the fish for 1–2 hours.(THAT IS THE MOST AWFUL PART)
Drain away the water.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok. Add pancha-phutana followed by crushed garlic pods and green chillis ( broken into 2–3 pieces ).
Add the soaked fish, crush and fry lightly for 2 mins.
Follow with the chopped tomato. Fry for 3–4 mins.
Add the mustard-garlic paste along with salt, turmeric and a cup of water. Cover with a lid and cook for 8–10 mins. Its ready
