Bengali delicacies

Well I remembered to keep the promise to follow up on the journey of Calcutta with some easy and popular recipes. I have purposely chosen the recipe which does not taste sweet and will give you ample choice to play around except for the key ingredients like mustard oil, mustard paste. You can choose the fish you like or available in the market and can also tone down the chilli as per your palate. So go ahead, start the preparation and enjoy your favourite fish with a bowl of steaming hot rice and salad.

Macher jhol (Fish curry)

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time : 20minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Rohu fish

2 tbsp lemon juice

1+1 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

½ cup yellow mustard seeds

2 tbsp mustard oil for frying (substitute with cooking oil if not comfortable with it)
1 tbsp red chilli powder
4 red chillies whole
4 green chillies slit
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste

½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion
1 tsp onion seeds (kalonji)

Half a bunch of fresh coriander leaves

For the preparation:

Remove the scale of the fish, make an incision in the belly of the fish to remove the gut, wash to clean the scales and blood and cut across the bones into 8 pieces. You can also clean the head of the fish and use it similarly but savouring the head requires a little bit of practice and expertise. You can also ask your fish monger to process the fish for you.

Soak the yellow mustard seeds in half cup of water for 10minutes. Blend it into a smooth paste using the same amount of water. Remove from blender and keep aside.

Peel the onion and chop finely. Clean and wash the coriander leaves, chop finely and keep aside.
For the cooking:

Using kitchen cloth, remove extra moisture from the skin of the fish by pressing gently to allow the marinade to cling.

In a bowl stir together, 1tbsp of yellow mustard paste, lime juice, 1tsp turmeric powder and salt and mix well. Marinate all the pieces with this marinade making sure that all the pieces are well coated with the paste. Keep it in the marinade for 30minutes.

Heat half the mustard oil in a non stick pan (my favourite pan which enables healthy preparations by using less oil). Place four fish pieces on to the pan and cook on one side for 3-4minutes until light brown. Repeat the process by flipping the fish over on to the other side. Place the next batch of fish and repeat the same process as of first batch cooking.  Remove from the pan and keep aside until required.

Heat the other half of the oil and bring almost to smoking point, drop mustard seeds, onion seeds and bay leaf and stir for a while until they crackle. At this stage add the finely chopped onion and continue frying for another 4-5minutes until golden brown.

Next add ginger and garlic paste and continue cooking until raw flavour of both the paste has disappeared and they are light brown, 2-3minutes. Stir in coriander powder, remaining turmeric powder and red chilli powder and continue cooking for another minute until they are well mixed in the masala. You can add a tbsp of water for time to time if it become too dry and start to burn.

Add mustard paste and continue to cook until fragrant and changed colour a little from bright yellow to very light brown.

Add water if required to obtain curry like texture. Slowly place the shallow fried fish pieces and shake the pan a little to allow the pieces to settle down. Adjust seasoning if required and bring to simmer. Oil droplets will start floating on top which is a good indication that your curry is ready. Stir the chopped coriander leaves and remove from heat.

Serve hot with either rice or chapatti as per your choice and some pickles as well.

Note: The variation of this dish would be fish kalia where the gravy is almost water like and slightly sweetened but still full of taste and aroma.