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For the Pisceans!

RAHUL VERMA goes `fishing' to Moti Nagar's Paramjeet Fish Corner.

Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.

Here everything is fishy... Paramjeet Fish Corner in New Delhi.

MANY OF my friends have fallen prey to a terrible disease that seems to have hit the city: they are all following all kinds of strange-sounding diets and are doing their best to lose weight. And in this collective bid to lose something like 125 grams a month, these friends - once avowed carnivores - are going off meat with a vengeance. I have just one suggestion for them: eat fish.

Fish is full of protein, helps the brain function - something that these aforementioned friends are in desperate need of - and low on calories. While fried fish may not be a part of weight loss regimen; it certainly does wonders to your system. And it tastes great!

Somehow, Delhi has always been a little confused about this innocuous water being. These days, most fishwallahs stop selling fish for four months from May to August every year. It is argued - and by quite a few people - that fish should not be eaten in months that don't have the letter `r' in them. The logic is that these are breeding months. But, thankfully, it is not a rule that is followed all over Delhi, and certainly not in the coastal areas of India. From Digha to Cochin, everybody has fish everyday of the month.

Fried fish, however, is not easily available on the streets of Delhi. You can throw a brick and hit a tandoori chicken shop,but there are only a few fish specialists in town. Years ago our fish pakoras used to come from Rajinder's dhaba near Kamal cinema. Then there is another legend, called Ganeshi, who has a bustling business in Karol Bagh. Ganeshi is not just known for his fish fries, but also for the method he follows. He fries the fish in a huge kadai, and then puts his bare hands into the hot oil and scoops out the fish for his customers. Everybody seems to think that this somehow adds to the taste.

But for the last several years, we have been eating fried fish that comes from a special shop in Moti Nagar in West Delhi. For every get-together of ours, a friend who lives in that area of Delhi has been bringing a kilogram or two of Paramjeet's fish.

This friend had been trying to convince me for a long time to go there and eat some freshly fried fish.

The expedition

I dilly-dallied for a while, because the traffic in that area is killing. But one day I decided it was an expedition that I, as a serious foodlover,shouldundertake.

I took my friend along and landed up in Moti Nagar. It was a pretty smooth journey till we found ourselves in the mother of all traffic jams near the Natraj cinema hall.

It was not a normal traffic snarl-up, but one caused by motorists who had stopped their cars here and there, and were together yelling: "Oye Paramjeet, do killo deyee".

Easy to find

This was, then, Paramjeet's famous fish corner. The place is easy to find. You take Shankar Road, go over the Shadipur flyover, go straight past the first roundabout and turn left at the next major crossing. After a few minutes, you will find the cinema hall on your right. And you will know you have reached the right spot when you hear the chorus: "Oye Paramjeet, do killo deyee... "

This is an evening place, because in Delhi, fried fish is usually served with cocktails. It is perhaps because of this that the Delhi Government has, rather thoughtfully, opened up a liquor shop just a few yards from Paramjeet's corner. The fish here is not cheap. You pay about Rs.350 for a kilo of surmai or singara. If you are getting your fish packed, it is better to have it fried. If you are eating there, you must have Paramjit's grilled or tandoori fish. The fish is fresh, and fried to perfection with a thin batter. And there is nothing to beat tandoori fish. I demolished the fish with a zeal that would have made the MCD's slum-removing wing happy. I was happy as well. The fish had begun to do wonders to my brain. I could hear it whirr and creak all through the journey back home.

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