Tenga

Contributed by Sonny Rao

---

Masor tenga is a very light sour fish curry, which is nearly a staple food when it comes to fish dishes in Assam. The best part of it is that it is not only tasty but uses minimal spices and oil while its being cooked. Hence it is a perfect dish for even hot, humid summers. When Assamese people prepare an elaborate meal, this dish is most certainly included along with other fish and meat dishes as tenga by itself does not make the meal elaborate. Unlike Bengal, where mutton is served at the end of the meal, a typical tenga is generally consumed at the end of the meal to top things off so as to say. Many people keep some tenga curry in a bowl during the meal and polish it off at the end, somewhat like drinking rasam in South India.

There is no one recipe for this and each family has their own version of tenga with its own unique twist. The basic idea however, is to keep it simple.

1. Fish: Fresh water fish like Rohu/Katla/Carp is used, but I have tasted tenga with small fish and found that version tasty too. Clean the pieces of fish, rub with turmeric and salt, fry and keep aside. Pieces should be fried lightly, preferably in mustard oil, not deep fried, otherwise the curry is not soaked in the fish. In restaurants, if you see that the fish is deep fried it usually means the fish is not very fresh. Personally I fry in a non-stick pan.
2. Vegetables :
   1. Ridge Gourd or Lauki (lau) (bottle gourd) is used. Remove the skin of the gourd, grate and keep aside. I prefer ridge gourd but the Lauki is more easily available. In case neither of these are available, use boiled and crumbled potatoes as a substitute.
   2. Tomatoes are to be cut in small pieces kept aside. Another way of doing it is to boil tomatoes in water, remove the cooked tomatoes and keep aside. The water can be used for the curry later.
3. In a karai or other vessel heat a teaspoon of mustard oil. You can use the left-over oil from frying the fish if you like. Fry a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds till they become dark brown. Don’t let them become black! Some people also use mustard seeds or a mixture of mustard and fenugreek seeds.
4. Add the grated gourd, add a pinch of turmeric and lightly fry.
5. Add the diced/boiled tomatoes and fry till all the water evaporates from the mixture.
6. Pour in an adequate quantity of water so as to cover the mixture and a little more because this is a dish with loads of gravy. Remember the rasam bit in the beginning of this article? The curry should be very thin and watery thats the secret.
7. Once the curry starts boiling, slowly add the fish pieces to it and bring to boil again.
8. Add salt, a pinch of sugar and lemon juice. Taste it to check the consistency, salt and mild sweetness. Depending on your preferences, add lemon or salt as desired.
9. At this point reduce the heat, add some green chilli peppers that have been slit along the middle vertically. Cover and let it simmer for 10-15 min. Remember not to stir hard or fish might break. Once the chilly loses it’s colour you know it’s done.
10. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

That’s its! Some people put paanch phoron, ginger and garlic but I personally like keeping it simple. Tenga is made using tomatoes and lime, but some very good variations use ou Tenga (elephant apple) or thekera tenga (black coloured fruit/Kokum) both of which are used in Maharashtrian/Malayali food too. If you plan to use thekera you will need to soak it in water for about an hour or so before using it. Thekera is very sour, so tomato or lime is not needed.

Happy cooking.

- Sonny Rao

ed: The front page photo is from Taste of Assam. Thank you Nomi!

Related Posts:

1. Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: The Taste of India
   
2. How to Cook Indian Food – North India
   
3. Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Punjabi Winter Warmth