FISH POLAO
Required:—Fish 3 lbs. rice 1 lb. ghee 12 lb, ginger 14 lb. cassia leaves 14 tola, pepper 1 tola, a few red peppers, coriander seeds 14 lb., garam-masalla 1 tola, salt 4 tolas.
Method:—Take off the scales and intestines of a fresh fish and cut it into big pieces. It will be the best if only the middle portion of a fish weighing 6 or 7 lbs betaken. Wash the pieces of fish thoroughly with clean water. Wash the ginger, coriander seeds and peppers, and make a paste of the ginger. Tie the paste of ginger and the entire corianders and peppers loosely in a clean piece of cloth. Now drop the pieces of fish and the bundle of spices along with the salt in 4 lbs of boiling water and put the lid on. After about 15 minutes take out the pieces of fish excepting the head which is to be taken out when properly boiled. Take down the pot when the juice is only 2 lbs. If you like you may brown the pieces of fish in ghee or oil without boiling them but the head whether fried or not must be boiled.
Heat about 14 lb. of ghee in a boiling pot and put the cassia leaves and the garam-masalla, all entire, and a few red peppers broken in two, in it. When the smell of the spices evolves, put the rice, washed and dried, in it and stir. After 6 or 7 minutes when the rice are properly fried add the akhni water (i.e. the juice of the fish and spices) and cover with the lid. The boiled peppers may be pasted and added with the akhni water. Apply gentle heat and take down when the rice are fully boiled. Then make a hole in the boiled rice, put a few pieces of fish
