A somewhat "Shutki" (dried/fermented fish) substitute for Bangladeshi people living in North America

 

      by Raha

Photos from shutterstock and istock

Hello everyone. I know everyone clicked on this blog because of the title, in particular, the word "Shutki substitute", but I will get to that a little bit later. First, I would like to talk about my reason for suddenly trying to find substitute ingredients. I am sure quite a few international students from Bangladesh can relate to it.

So, I have been in Canada for a few years now and I have been missing Bangladeshi food like crazy. I came here on a student visa. With my studies and my part-time job, I have been very busy. I didn't have the time to figure out which Canadian ingredient names relate to which Bangladeshi ones. Moreover, the place where I am living now doesn't have many Bangladeshi or Indian people around. So, the closest convenience store lacks many ingredients that are necessary for Bangladeshi cuisine. On top of that, the nearest Indian store is pretty far from here and you can just forget about Bangladeshi stores or restaurants. I have heard that there are some in the next city. But I don't have a car, so I rarely go that way. So, all I can do is miss desi food. 😴

But, recently I have been staying at home because of Covid-19 (I hope everyone is making sure to stay safe) and I decided to use this time by cooking desi food. It took me quite a while, researching online and discussing with my mom, to figure out the different types of vegetables and ingredients I needed. First of all, I rarely cooked when I was in Bangladesh. I had my mommy dearest, so hot food was always ready and on the table (moms are magical 😁). Also, the few times I cooked, the ingredients were already prepared (thanks to the awesome kitchen helpers). So, my familiarity with many of the ingredients in their original form can be guessed. Moreover, a lot of the vegetables here look quite different from the ones we use in Bangladesh (radish for one). So, I will be posting a few posts on the results of my research. This is the first one from this list. 

Shutki, something so common back home, but so difficult to find here. I can order them online, but I have heard that the quality doesn't match the price. As a poor struggling student 😁, I didn't dare to try. The other thing about shutki is its smell. I live in a very small place with lots of neighbors around me. And my landlord has a rule that tenants are not allowed to cook anything with a strong smell (I feel like that's a rule just for me 😄). So, it's very difficult to satisfy my craving for this fishy smelling delicacy. 

But, recently when I was researching for groceries, I noticed a North American food item, "canned Anchovies", that is known for its fishy smell. I was just looking for small fish substitute (I believe small fishes are a very important part of a balanced Bangladeshi diet). So, I just bought one can thinking of trying it out. However, when I opened the can and took a sniff, I found that it has a very weak "shutki" like smell. The texture is also a little like the meaty shutkis (e.g.Lakha shutki). I decided to try it out and cook a "shutki alur torkari"(potato with shutki curry). To my pleasant surprise, it turned out pretty well. The flavor and the smell is much milder than the actual shutki, but it can be used to stave off that shutki craving (I thought the taste was good enough, but this is coming from a person who hasn't tasted shutki for almost 2  years 😉). Best of all there wasn't enough smell for my neighbors to notice 😁. Here is the recipe. I forgot to take pictures, sorry about that.

Recipe:
1 canned Anchovies
1 large Potato
1 egg
1/3 cup of sliced Onion
1 teaspoon of Chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric powder
1/3 teaspoon of Coriander powder
1 teaspoon of Ginger
1/2 teaspoon of Garlic
1/3 cup oil.
Salt (use according to your taste)
2 cloves of Garlic, chopped 

Direction:
Cut the potato into half-moon slices. 
Make a thick paste with chili, turmeric, coriander powder.
Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes, slightly cooked. 
Add the chili, turmeric, coriander powder paste.
Cook for a minute. Add a little bit of water so it doesn't burn ( around 1- 2 tb spoon).
Now add the potatoes. cook for a minute.
Add the anchovies. Mix and cook for a few minutes. 
Add around 1 cup of water. let it boil.
 Add salt. 
Cook until the potatoes are done and there is a little bit of gravy. Add more water if there isn't enough gravy.
Turn off the stove and just break the egg on top. Make sure the egg gets cooked on the "jhol" or gravy.
Serve with steamed rice.

So, try it out yourself. I used the "Anchovies" canned in salt and olive oil. Don't know about any of the other types. If you try this out leave a comment and let me know how it went. If you find any other substitutes that work better you can leave a comment too. I would love to hear from fellow foodies. 

That's all for today. Take care and stay safe. 👋