Fish Curry with Peas & Broad Beans

I first tried this Fish Curry with Peas & Broad Beans in Sikkim. I had gone for a Vipassana meditation camp near Kolkata. My first attempt at cleansing and detoxing. It was the first time I tried something like that and it was very powerful. Later I tried it again near Bengaluru, Yangon and then finally in Igatpuri as a security guard. I actually wanted to be a server but was told that was already full. I realized during the last camp that I wasn’t cut out for monastic life because I did feel very angry about it. 🙂

My clock was still ticking, and I was discarded as useless appendage like a used toilet paper or tissue paper. Now, I ask those who were so attached to their pillows to use that to wipe out the dust from all possible clocks, watches, wristbands and electronic devices tracking all your movements continuously. Is that possible?

There were too many ties that held me back and I came out of it with half a brain. Half the files were wiped out and the other half remained. It’s a figure of speech. I didn’t actually count the number of files wiped out.

I came out feeling good but very lost. Anchorless and led to various places which told me they were sinking even faster. I realised the directions provided were quite misguided in the first place. I returned to trace back a few old memories which still remained. Some of them are so old and seem so irrelevant to others or the older me. But the child in me remembers.

This fish curry memory is special, not the only one but somehow seemed relevant to bring it back today.

Roller Coaster stomach flips for Fish Curry with Peas

I return to those memories whenever I think about how many days of a year do you really remember? What was so outstanding for you?

Weird- it seemed like a sharp drop and a sharp rise from a precipice that perhaps did the trick. And yet, here we are trying to train the mind to be equanimous in all conditions.

Somewhere something snapped and there was a disconnect. Reality outside was so different from the inner world, I was forced to get out of that “Mount Pleasant” mode of being. I don’t know if you get that metaphor.

Sikkim was a special trip as it helped me to do some drastic “surgery”. Cutting off ties with those you love is difficult but sometimes you need to do that to help them move ahead.

My memory of Sikkim is very hazy now. But coming from a very polluted, crowded and angry situation in Delhi (where I was a resident then), it seemed like a safe haven. Thanks to a new friend I met during the Vipassana camp, I managed to add a few more days.

Hemmed and Hawed for simple Fish Curry with Peas

The Sikkim trip taken with my brother and his friends was special. On the way back, our flight got cancelled and I had a choice to return with them through a more difficult route. Instead, I opted to stay back a bit longer once I bumped into my friend who was another inmate at the Vipassana camp.

Was she a friend? I don’t know. I was very happy to see her and perhaps, I took her invitation very literally. She asked me to come back to her home and I said yes.

She took me to see her life there- I was introduced to a few of her friends/family members. And I was in awe of the cleanliness and beauty of the place. She was a lawyer and shared many funny little stories of how local customs impacted the people there in different ways.

One of the weird stories I heard was that they gave an offering of alcohol to the gods. My eyes opened wider since I had chosen the path of abstinence post the Vipassana camp. Now, I understand fermentation in its own way has its uses. Like this recipe of fish curry has been brewing in my mind for a long time.

Story telling genius left a book in front of a bookstore

It needed a special kind of chilli which I didn’t have. Also, I remember being amazed at how the pods were used along with the peas during the cooking process.

I had no idea you could do that- we normally discard the pods. I tried to look for the good fresh peas which had the slightly juicy pods but winter was gone and the peas I got were a little older. The skin of the pods was very thin, and the seeds were already very plump.

This mental debate continued with a few more rounds of purchase of more unsuitable peas. Now, I am moving on. I decided to substitute the peas pods with broad beans (also called seem or shem).

This adaptation is something we are very familiar with even in Bengal. We do make fish curry with broad beans. Maybe, not always but the recipe is very easy.

It is a good mix of proteins and veggies. Gluten free, dairy free, nuts free and I recommend having this with rice. Entirely your choice of rice. It contains tomatoes which is a nightshade vegetable. I don’t recommend skipping it but in case you have a problem with it you can substitute it with coconut and mustard paste instead.

Fish Curry with Peas was a jitterbug

In fact, there is an option of making this alternate curry with a paste of coconut, mustard, nigella seeds and green chilies. But it looks really weird and has a few other things which are “putting off” for some people.

Those with acid reflux issues can try boiled vegetables and steamed chicken instead. I am not sharing any recipe for that. There’s a stew that was shared earlier as an alternative.

Again, that requires some bread or rice to go with it. I have tried it on its own without that- nothing wrong with it either.

What kind of fish? Any kind. I suggest a river fish like Rohu or Katla (carp) or even smaller fish will do. But it depends on what you find good and fresh in the market.

How come, we are making this so easy? Shouldn’t we try harder?

Now, here’s the point. It is hard for some people to eat fish in the first place. And it is harder for some people to follow other people’s suggestions/recommendations. If you say East, they will go Northwest or Southwest. You get my drift.

And sometimes, we find sharks swimming even in Antarctica or Alaska. This is getting too ridiculous a discussion, so I will start with the process.

Not a fan of the Great Alone said Broad Beans

Shopping for ingredients has been done. It needs minimal spices which are very commonly available. Suitable in places where you are staying for a few days even when you travel. Or for cooking outdoors during a picnic or a camping holiday. Who does that still?

People do it you know. And its lots of fun. Or at least I remember it as being a lot of fun.

We will now proceed with the cooking. Those who don’t like it can do their own thing, order in or eat out. Why is this such a big issue?

Who is sponsoring this feast? Nobody in particular. It is sponsored by some people who like to eat fish.

Now, comes the debate about heavy-handed arm-twisting tactics.

Father and Son have walked out already. I am left alone with only a memory of Bhoot Jholakia. Kind of makes it easier for me now.

I’m using a mix of green chillies, Andhra chillies and other locally available dried chillies instead.

But truth is, I do miss sharing this wonderful meal with others. Those who want to make it can do it and others can bookmark it to consider for later.

Mixing it up with an & is a Cop out

Important to wash your hands properly in case you are not wearing gloves.

My gloves were off a long time ago, which is why I am not serving patients in hospitals anymore. However, we are letting a few things breathe better by taking off the warpaint.

The peas are used by shelling them and then snipping off the harder bits of the pod with a pair of scissors. This takes a bit of time, and I am reminded of my time spent with others in the kitchen during my younger days. Aunts, mothers, grandmothers with whom I could do this slowly even sitting on a table.

Now, this is a bit time consuming and usually this is the place where family stories were swapped for the eager ears of the little kids.

Now that many of those elders are no more, we often wonder if the good was interred with their bones or the bad. Which is perhaps why a communal gathering helps to make people celebrate the passage of important events in life.

Releasing North by Northeast Secret Ingredient

Some gyaani aatmas like to call these “watershed moments“. I didn’t understand the reason for the terminology but now I kind of do.

A cyclone maybe brewing somewhere nearby- we don’t know where. I don’t check the reports anymore. I know I should but find it very annoying to get the AI generated messages, calls and forced feeds on various digital devices later.

Have we started hoarding already for Doomsday?

The Forbidden Rice or Black Rice Pudding (Chak Hao kheer) was unnecessary and a bit embarrassing.

Yet, we did it since there was a certain connection still with tea gardens. In fact, we have tried to find several other cut pieces but couldn’t agree with another one.

There was a little pause of scared look about where are we headed next. And realized that the secret was out of the bag. It was a hack- a most untimely sharp cut with a knife.

We will try to deliver a new story for fishy tales by the fishermen brigade.

Messy Spaghetti with no chance of Meatballs

We have added an egg already to this messy spaghetti and yet someone will not eat it anymore. We are having this alone with a sad reflection upon how sometimes we have to force-feed even ourselves.

There’s a certain kind of cloud that doesn’t lead to rains but keeps darkening the skies in a teaser from time to time. Some people like it while others don’t.

We have silently escaped to the forests to find a little more of the peas and broad beans since the market was closed.

In fact, the forests had wild berries as well which we ate that gave us this horrible black tongue. And yet, I checked several times, it wasn’t forked.

Clearly there’s a confusion in the sorting of the list. Somebody was playing casual whist which led to this very unnecessary long-winded twist.

The fish curry is slowly being prepped with quite a bit of mustard oil. Can this be purchased easily instead of wasting time in the kitchen?

Yes, it can be. And yet we insist on not doing so. Why?

Footnote

Processing the Fermented Story

This is super difficult and not my cup of tea

I wanted to grab some coffee and got too many cups

Now the shaky hands are telling me to steer clear

Of this little jar kept in the observation area

To oversee those plants which are very stubborn

Refusing to live and ready to die anytime

Will the heavens help for another 2 weeks?

Hawa Hawaii discard through cruel stabs

You deserve less of collagen jabs

And a sharper eye on those keeping

Scores and tabs.

Melting Lemon Drop 15.03.2026