The Art of Shutki: Bangladesh's Beloved Dried Fish

Ask any Bangladeshi family about shutki and you will get two answers at once: one person groaning about the smell, and another already asking when you are making bhorta. Dried fish is one of the oldest ways of keeping the catch of the Bay of Bengal, and for many of us it is the taste of home.

How shutki is made

Along the coast at Cox's Bazar, Kuakata and the fishing villages around Chattogram, the dry season turns beaches into long rows of bamboo racks. Fresh fish are cleaned, salted or left plain, and hung in the sun and sea wind for several days until they are light and firm. Nothing else is needed. The sun does the work that a freezer does in a British kitchen.

The most famous kinds are:

• Loitta (Bombay duck): soft and delicate once cooked, the favourite for bhorta.
• Churi (ribbonfish): long and silver, sliced into pieces for curry.
• Chingri (prawn): small dried prawns that season a whole pot of vegetables.

In Sylhet and the north-east there is also shidol, a fermented small fish with a flavour all of its own.

Getting it ready

Shutki needs a little care before it goes near a pan. Soak it in warm water for fifteen to twenty minutes, then wash it well in several changes of water, pulling off heads and fins as you go. Pat it dry. This removes grit and extra salt and softens the flesh.

Two ways to cook it

Shutki bhuna

Fry sliced onion slowly in mustard oil until deep golden. Add crushed garlic, turmeric, chilli powder and a little salt, then the shutki. Keep stirring on a low heat, adding a splash of water when it catches, until the fish breaks apart into the masala. Finish with green chillies and fresh coriander.

Shutki bhorta

Dry-roast the soaked fish in a pan until it crisps, then pound or mash it with plenty of fried garlic, dried red chillies, raw onion and a spoon of mustard oil. Eat it with hot rice and nothing else.

A note for London flats

Open every window, close the bedroom doors and warn the neighbours. The smell passes. The memory of eating shutki bhorta with your nani's rice stays much longer.