Dried Fish Gravy (Bhobshe / Dhandshe Ambat)

We were not fish eaters until two generations back. Now, even though we like fish, we never liked the dried fish because of distinct and strong smell. Dried mackerel, shark, prawns etc are very popular among people here. Few years ago, somebody told me that dried dhandshi or bhobshi (Konkani names for two varieties of small fishes) could be stored for rainy season to be used for curry when fresh fish is not available. I tried it once and all of us liked the curry with mangos in summer. We usually remove the heads and tails before storing them, this helps reducing the smell a bit.

Ingredients:
1 cup dhandshi or bhobshi or any other small dried fish (heads and tails removed )
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
7-8 red chillies
1 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 cup chopped onion
5-6 ripe mangoes (I use local variety)
Oil
Salt

Method:
Wash the dried fish in water and immerse them in water for about fifteen minutes.
Heat a little oil and add coriander seeds. Grind coconut with red chillies and fried coriander seeds to a smooth paste.
Fry the chopped onion with oil till the pieces get brown in colour. Add the water immersed fish (after squeezing out the water) to the fried onion and add one cup of water, cook. Add the mangos (after removing the skin) and cook for two more minutes. Add the ground masala and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 20mins

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