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Komprek Eromba (Water Dropwort Eromba)

Komprek Eromba (Water Dropwort Eromba) is a traditional Indian recipe (from Manipur) for a classic dish of tomato, potato, water dropwort and onion flavoured with fermented fish and chillies. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French version of: Water Dropwort Eromba (Komprek Eromba).

prep time

5 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

20 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : CurryChilli RecipesIndian Recipes

This is a classic dish from Manipur in India, that uses komprek (Meitei: ꯀꯣꯝꯄ꯭ꯔꯦꯛ), water dropwort, as a main ingredient. The flavour base for this dish, as for many Manipuri dishes is the fermented and dried fish, ngari. Ngari is a fermented fish product indigenous to the people of Manipur. Nga means fish in Meitei language and ri (riba/liba) means the process of fermentation. Ngari is made from small sun-dried pool barbs (Puntius sophore) locally known as phouba nga, which are 5-10 cm long. Traditionally, the fish is packed tightly in an earthen pot called ngari chaphou or kharung with a small amount of vegetable oil. The pot is then sealed with a fish paste, leaves, and mud and kept for fermentation at room temperature for about six months.

Ingredients:

5-6 ngari (dried fermented fish)
2 tomatoes Tomatoes-2
2 potatoes
100g komprek (water dropwort stems and crown leaves)
3-4 Green chillies or 3-4 Red chillies
1 large Onion, chopped
2-3 Garlic cloves (optional)
1/2 bunch Coriander leaves, chopped
250ml (1 cup) Warm water

Method:

Prepare your water dropwort by stripping off the side shoots (these are what you want) and remove all but the top (crown) leaves. Cut into 3cm lengths.

Clean the dry fish thoroughly, removing all the scales and any dirt from the surface. Rinse thoroughly in clean water, place in a bowl of water and set aside.

Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil. Add the tomatoes, potatoes and garlic and cook for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. For the final 10 minutes of cooking add 3/4 of the prepared water dropwort.

In a separate pan, boil the soaked dried fish and chillies for 10-15 minutes, until tender. Add the remaining water dropwort and blanch for 2-3 minutes only. Remove the water dropwort and refresh under cold, running, water then set aside.

Drain the boiled fish and chillies then pound to a paste in a mortar. Drain the tomatoes, garlic, potatoes and water dropwort in a colander. Mash these together in a bowl, but leave chunks of potatoes in there. Now mix in the onions and season to taste with salt.

At this point work in the fish and chilli paste and mix well to combine then blend in the warm water.

Turn into a serving dish and garnish with the reserved, blanched, water dropwort.

Serve with steamed rice and for a whole meal accompany with fried fish, fried dry prawns or an omelette.