Maas Tenga

Name: Maas Tenga
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Assam)
Ingredients: 400g small river fish (singhi/catfish), cleaned; 1 tbsp thekera (dried garcinia), soaked in warm water; 2 tbsp mustard oil; ½ tsp turmeric; ½ tsp salt; 2 green chillies; 400ml water

🍗 Non-veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Medium

Traditional 20. Maas Tenga recipe

⏱️10 minPrep

🔥20 minCook

🕒30 minTotal

🍽️3Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Maas Tenga

Marinate fish (10 mins, no heat): Rub fish with turmeric and salt. Let marinate 10 minutes.
Fry then braise (20 mins, medium-high heat): Heat mustard oil until smoking. Fry fish pieces until golden on both sides (3 mins per side). Add soaked thekera with its soaking water, green chillies, and 400ml water. Simmer until the broth becomes pleasantly sour and the fish is cooked through (12 minutes). The thekera will turn the broth a pale golden-amber colour.

📖 Cultural notes

Thekera-based tenga (using dried Garcinia pedunculata) is considered the most traditional Assamese sour fish curry — different districts have their own preferred souring agent, making tenga the most regionally diverse dish in Assam. ---

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