Ondla Jwng Naa Jwng

Ondla Jwng Naa Jwng (Fish curry with rice powder) 

Ondla is another favourite curry of the Bodos. It's an extremely delicious and very healthy dish, basically made of ground rice, can be cooked with fish, chicken or pork. There are many variations to this curry. Following is the recipe to make Fish in Ondla Ingkhree with either baskar bibaar or mwdwmphool bibaar.
A few Bodo terminologies:

1. Ondla: a curry cooked with ground rice.

2. Ingkhree: curry

3. Naa: fish

4. Jwng: with

5. Baskar bibaar:known as Bahek Tita or Tita Bahekor Phool in Assamese. A tiny red flower, tastes a bit bitter, believed to be nutritious.

6. Khaari: alkali,known as Kol Khaar or Kola Khaar in Assamese.Procedure of making:sun dry  peels and trunks of banana plant and burn to collect the ash. Then pour water, keep over night, strain and store the clear brown liquid to use in curries. This is very common and used in a variety of dishes all over the North Eastern part of India.
7. Mwdwmphool bibaar: papaya flower
   

Ondla can be cooked with either meat or fish alone. But adding Baskar bibaar or mwdwmphool bibaar certainly enhances the taste as well as the colour and texture of the curry. This is my observation, over the years, cooking and visiting many Bodo village kitchens. 
To cook Ondla Jwng Naa Jwng,  you need:

Fresh(live if possible) fish 6pieces. Seen in the above picture are pieces of a 'Sole' fish.

1cup baskar bibaar, cleaned and washed.

Baskar bibaar can be replaced by 100g mwdumphool bibaar. 

    1/2 cup rice, soaked for an hour and ground to a fine paste with water. Normally this recipe is made with rice powder. But if not an expert, the curry gets lumpy while cooking. This variation gives a smoothness to the curry.

1tblsp Khaari.

6pods of garlic, ground coarsely. Half tsp turmeric. Salt to taste. Chopped green chilly to taste. 1tblsp oil for the curry and 1/2 cup to fry fish. A bunch of fresh coriander, chopped.

Fry the pieces of fish smeared with turmeric and salt.

Heat oil in a pan and fry baskar bibaar, adding salt, turmeric and chilly. Pour water and cook for about 5mnts.

Now pour out the rice paste into the pan stirring constantly. Cook for another 5mnts.

Put in the fried pieces of fish and cook. Add garlic paste and stir well when fish is cooked, cook for a few more minutes. Finally add Khaari and chopped coriander.

Ondla Ingkhree with fish and baskar bibaar is ready to serve.

This curry can be cooked with a little variation by replacing baskar bibaar with mwdwmphool bibaar, tastes almost same, only colour of the curry is pale.

Method is same, in place of baskar bibaar, fry mwdwmphool bibaar ...

... add water, cook till the bibaars are tender. Pour the rice paste stirring and cooking for a few minutes.

Put in the fried pieces of fish and garlic paste. Cook for sometime and finally, add khaari and chopped coriander.

Ondla Ingkhree with fish and papaya flower is ready.