The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

White carp is the best fish. It is the rohu which has white silvery scales, not red. It has no barbels. Kohu or red carp is also good. Mdhseer is by some liked the best. Singhura has only one bone, and is very rich. Sahul, only one bone. Both these last require wine in the sauce and careful dressing. Tingan is a remarkably good fish in the North-West. 1. Aspic of Fish. — This may be made of any cold fish, and is an excellent way of dressing tinned fish. It requires a very clear jelly, which is best made with either gelatine or the fish bones, as any taste of meat is fatal. The jelly should only be flavoured with salt, pepper, and vinegar. A pretty aspic is made by making fish quenelles and embedding them in jelly, or by making one big quenelle mould, then slicing it, and putting alternate layers of differently tinted jelly. It should be served with mayonnaise or mousse sauce. Aspic of fish may also be made by poaching cutletshaped pieces of fish, as in the recipe for saute'ed fish, and when cold setting them in jelly. 2. Baked Chilwas. — Take the largest chilwas you can get (they are to be had the size of smelts), or small mango fish. Spread a 248 The Complete Indian pie-dish with butter, and strew well with bread-crumbs, minced parsley, onions, pepper, and salt. Lay the fish on this in a row. Moisten with a mixture of equal parts Harvey sauce, anchovy, and white wine. Repeat more butter, seasoning and crumbs, moistening with melted butter last of all. liake for quarter of an hour Excellent for breakfast. 3. Baked Fish.— Scale the fish whole and cut open as little as possible in cleaning. Stuff with a good forcemeat made of fish, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, parsley, bread-crumbs, and butter' Sew up securely. Place in an S form in a baking dish ; rub over with egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and drop a good quantity of oiled butter over it. After it has been in the oven quarter of an hour add a cup of .stock and one of red wine, and baste the fish constantly with this. When done use the liquor to make some Aurora sauce, and serve round. If the dish is to be put on the table, it is best to sprinkle more bread-crumbs and butter over the fish about ten minutes before taking it out of the oven to ensure a good appearance. 4. Bechamel of Fish.— Take the remains of boiled fish in large flakes; make a really good white sauce. No. 1, made very stiff; add the flaked fish ; pile the whole on the dish, shaping it into a dome ; sprinkle over a good covering of bread-crumbs and a little cheese ; drop a little oiled butter over all, and serve very hot. 5. Creams, Fish. — Eight units pounded fish passed through a sieve, 6 of panada, 1 of butter, 3 of thick cream whipped, 2 of Bechamel sauce, 4 of eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately and added last. Mix and pass through a sieve. Steam in any kind of shape. Both these and quenelles can be varied a thousand ways by the shapes and the sauce. The centres of these creams may be filled with oyster ragout or prawns. A little ingenuity and a French dictionary will supply an intelligent cook with many new dishes.