Trout for dinner

As I mentioned elsewhere, I haven’t really been eating meat since I’ve been in India, due to the fact that I can’t be sure of the sustainability of how the meat was raised or where it came from. (In fact, I know for sure now that I don’t want to eat chicken, after visiting the subzi mundi – “vegetable market” – and seeing how chicken is sold.) When I heard, though, that a restaurant called Ashinana sometimes serves locally-caught trout, I was very excited. I especially avoid eating fish when in India, considering that most of where I visit is landlocked – and therefore, who knows where the fish comes from? But fresh fish from rivers that run off the Himalayan mountains? I was all over that.

We stopped in at Ashiana for lunch one day, and on every table was a little sign advertising “grilled trout fish.” Included was a description about trout: “Trout fish was introduced in 1909 with the species Rainbow fingerling, which were brought from Norway. Trout are usually found in cold waters (10-15°C), a 600-km stretch on the Beas, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers in the upper Himalayas is the habitat of trout. Trout is somewhat bony, but the flesh is generally considered quite tasty.” For Rs. 250 (US $5), the grilled trout came with chips and boiled vegetables. It was the most expensive meal I’d had in a while, but it was probably a quarter of what I’d pay at home and, as it turned out, totally worth it.

We each got a whole trout, with a crispy grilled skin and a little bit of masala sprinkled on for good measure. The fish was rather bony, even after I removed the spine, but again, worth the effort to pick out the tiny bones. As promised, there were a few masala-dusted fries and a spoonful of boiled-then-grilled vegetables on the side. It didn’t look like a lot, at least in comparison to the huge portions I’d get at home, but the serving size was perfect. In the end, all I had left was a plate of fish bones, and I was full and happy.

I’ve been doing some travel planning, and I’m hoping to make it out to Kolkata toward the end of my time here in India. I want to see it partly because I’d like to experience a big city in a part of the country I’ve never been to, and partly because my grandfather spent some time in Calcutta when he was stationed in India during WWII (and I want to photograph things he took photos of). As a bonus, West Bengal, the state Kolkata is in, sits on the Bay of Bengal, which means a lot of the food includes fish: fish curry, fish pakora, jhaal (fish with ground mustard seeds and chilies), and chingri malaikari (giant prawns, which the guidebook says are so big that they “speak lobster,” cooked in coconut milk). It has the makings of an awesome trip.