Forgotten Foods: Dry Fish with Sweet Potato Leaves and Cassava Chop (Bangladesh)

Dry Fish with Sweet Potato Leaves and Cassava Chop
Prepared by Rina Begum
Gram Unnayan Songostha (GRAUS)
Bangladesh

Dried fish with sweet potato leaves and cassava chop represent authentic Bangladeshi cuisine, but they have become increasingly rare in modern times. These dishes are exceptionally nutritious, as they incorporate locally grown crops and spices, fostering a stronger sense of community and sustainability.

Ingredients:

• Sweet potato leaves, 250g
• Dry fish, 100g
• Turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon
• Cumin powder, 1 tablespoon
• Red chili powder, 1 tablespoon
• Salt, 100g
• Coriander leaf, 100g
• Garlic paste, 1 tablespoon
• Onion, 100g
• Green chili, 100g
• Mustard oil, 100g
• Cumin powder, 1 tablespoon
• Rice flour, 100g
• Cassava, 250g

Instructions:

Dry Fish with Potato Leaves

1. Pour some mustard oil into a frying pan and add chopped onions and garlic to the oil.
2. When the onion turns brown and its aroma comes out, fry the dry fish with it.
3. After quickly frying the dry fish, add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, salt, and water into the pan and cook until the mixture it turns into a gravy. It will take 10 to 12 minutes to cook on a medium flame.
4. In the gravy of dry fish, add the leaves of sweet potato and cook it for 15 to 20 minutes. When the color of the leaves turns from green to gray, softens, and gives out a delicious smell, the dish is cooked.

Cassava chop

1. Clean the cassava and cut them into small pieces.
2. Mash/flatten the pieces of cassava with stones (also used for grinding spices).
3. Add salt, red chili powder, chopped green chili and onion, chopped coriander leaves, cumin powder, rice flour, and a little water to the cassava. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly by hand.
4. Pour some mustard oil into a frying pan under medium flame.
5. Get some of the cassava mixtures and form them into a round shape.
6. Once the oil is warm, fry the cassava. Make sure to not burn it.
7. Take the fried cassava out of the pan. Serve it together with the dry fish with potato leaves.

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The “Women Ensuring Food Security and Nutrition: Forgotten Foods Cooking Contest” is organized by the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC) through the Asia-Pacific Farmers’ Program (APFP) – Farmers’ Organizations for Asia (FO4A) and Assuring Resiliency of Family Farmers (ARISE). APFP-FO4A is supported by the European Union (EU) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ARISE is supported by IFAD.

More info at https://asianfarmers.org/women-ensuring-food-security-and-nutrition-forgotten-foods-cooking-contest/