Rechad is a deep red chilli garlic paste that is applied to fish before frying. The best rechad fried fish I have eaten is rechad pomfret. Mum would usually buy a pair of pomfrets – one to be fried for lunch or dinner and the other would be sliced and frozen for curry later in the week.

After we were married my mother-in-law would make a small jar of rechad for us to carry back to Norway.

Ingredients for the paste

15- 20 dry red Kashmirir chillies 

6 flakes garlic

2 inch cinnamon

1 tsp haldi / turmeric

tamarind – size of a small lime

1 tsp jeera / cumin

7-8 cloves

Vinegar & sugar to taste

Putting it together

Grind chillies first. Then add all dry ingredients & grind well.

Last add garlic and grind to a paste.

Cook the paste on low heat with a little ( 1- 2 tsp) vinegar and sugar. Cool completely & store in a jar in the fridge for use. Masalas that are ground in vinegar without any exposure to water usually keep well in the fridge – at least for a few weeks.