This is one of the recipe made Ilisha fish that is sour in taste.. the sourness is made either tamarind pulp, dried raw mango or the fruit of the season that is hog plum.. (Amara). I have added a tbsp of poppy seed paste too to enhance the taste of the curry… and to create new recipe from my kitchen with love.. Serve this curry with steamed rice.
Ingredients
4 slices of Hilsa / Ilish
4 small size Hog Plum peeled
2 Garlic cloves crushed
3 to 4 Green chillies slit
1 Dried Red Chilli
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
2 tbsp Jaggery powder or Sugar
1 tbsp Poppy seeds paste
3 tbsp Mustard oil
Method -
Marinate the fish with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt for 10 minutes.
Add oil in a pan, fry the fish on both the sides until light brown in colour… or we can just use the fish without frying them.
In the same pan, add mustard seeds and dried red chilli. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add the hog plum. Stir for a minute, add the green chillies and garlic. Stir for few seconds, add 2 cups of water, poppy seed paste, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and jaggery powder. Cover the pan and let the gravy simmer for 2 to 3 minutes on medium - low flame. Add the fish and let it simmer further for another 2 to 3 minutes. Once done serve the Hilsa curry with steamed rice.
This is a healthy dish made with Rohu fish or Catla fish , loads of Vegetables and with flavour of Wild Celery seeds.. enjoyed with hot steamed rice and lemon. Winter vegetable like radish, carrot, brinjal, onion stalk and flat beans with potato are preferably been used.. other vegetables like raw papaya, raw banana, beans, pointed gourd etc can also be used.
This is my home style recipe where I add onions and garlic too.. we can avoid garlic and onion if we want.. tomato and ginger is used.
Here I have made this dish for 2 people..
For the Wet Paste
Ingredients
1 medium size Tomato cut into pieces
1 small size Onion cut into pieces
1 small piece of Ginger
5 to 6 medium Garlic cloves
1 or more Green Chilli
1/2 tsp Wild Celery seeds / Radhuni
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds or powder
1/2 Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp Pepper powder or 3 to 4 Pepper corn
Salt to taste
Method
Grind all the above ingredients into paste .
For the fish Curry
Ingredients
2 Rohu or Catla Fish pieces
1 medium bowl of vegetables
1/2 Radish cut into thick strips
1 small Carrot cut into thick strips
1 medium size Potato cut into wedges
1 long small size Brinjal cut into thick strips
1 Onion Stalk cut into an inch length
4 to 5 Falt beans cut into 2 halves
1 or 2 Green chillies silt
1/2 tsp Panch Phoron
Salt and little Turmeric powder for the fish
Wet paste
4 tbsp Mustard oil
Method
Take 2 tbsp oil in a wok, heat the oil up, fry the fish with little turmeric and salt until brown in colour, remove and keep it aside.
Add the remaining oil, once the oil heats up add the Panch phoran, let it crackle, add the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes, add the paste.. stir and cook the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of water, cover and cook the vegetables until soft. Add the fish and let it cook for another 1 minute. Serve the dish hot with hot steamed rice and preferably Gandharaj lemon….
This recipe is shared by one of our “Annapurna”… yes I would call her Annapurna.. they are the actual people in most of our houses for whom we are blessed. They are always behind the scene.
She is the lady for whom we enjoy all the traditional meals each day in my brother’s house.. for the last 6 years..
Unfortunately as my brother has to move on to a different city.. so we will miss her immensely.. before departing, I had requested her to share one of the traditional Bengali recipe. She was so happy to share the following recipe -
As winter is almost in, now a days the market is flooded with winter vegetables like flat beans, radish, radish leaves, brinjal, cauliflower, carrots etc. we got some vegetables from Market 1, C.R. park market as we get many vegetables that are used in Bengali dishes.. and got some prawns and other fishes too..
We used the prawns head for this dish… we can used fish offal like fish oil or small fishes or fish head to prepare this dish…
Ingredients
2 bunches of Radish leaves cut into medium - small pieces
Incase Cauliflower stems are available then the stems of the cauliflower can be cut into medium - small pieces
1 Long Brinjal cut into medium long pieces
1 medium size Radish cut into medium long pieces
1 Big size Potato cut into wedges
Few Flat Beans cut into 2 halves
2 to 3 Green Chillies slit
Few Prawn heads cleaned, washed and marinated with salt and turmeric
1 tbsp Poppy seeds ground into paste
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Panch phoran
4 tbsp Mustard Oil
Method
Blanch the Cauliflower stems and Radish leaves in hot water for few minutes. Drain the water out and keep it aside.
Ilish Macher Bhorta is one of the favourite in our house… from the time my husband visited Bangladesh… mostly head and tail of the fish is used… one of the dish made with the head of the fish is chorchori…
We had some pumpkin leaves growing in our balcony pot… we have used pumpkin leaves to make Macher paturi.. and chorchori… but the leaves weren’t enough to make either of the dishes… since Bhorta is one of our favourite.. used the pumpkin leaves in the Bhorta…
Patients is the key word for Bhorta… as lots of fine fish bones have to be removed .. but once made.. it will just vanish from your plate…:
To marinate the Fish
Ingredients
Head and Tail of Ilish/ Hilsa fish
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp Chilli powder
Salt to taste
Method
Apply salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder on the fish head and tail..
This time my travel to Delhi was a bliss, as we could enjoy Hilsa to the fullest. My sister in law’s cook, belongs to a village in Sundarbans, where the Bangladesh border is very close by. They make Bhorta with fish head at their home. This recipe has been shared by her..
We at home normally make Ilish head with malbar spinach / Pui Saag and vegetables or with kotchur loti / Taro Stolon or with Laau Saag / Bottle Gourd stem or with Cabbage etc. We as urban inhabitants don’t know many rustic dishes that are cooked in the villages.
It’s so scrumptious that just one plate of rice is required to finish the meal.
Ingredients
2 Hilsa fish head cut into 2 halves
1 Big Onion sliced
2 to 3 Garlic Cloves
2 Green Chillies chopped as per your ability to eat spices
While driving towards the outskirts of Mumbai during the rainy season, we get to see land filled with water getting ready for the rice cultivation, small water streams and small water bodies flowing around.. there are lots of small fish and mud crabs that you get to see being sold by the locals which are freshly caught. They are great in taste. We managed to get some mud crabs and cat fish.
Here is a recipe of Kakara Kosha. It’s a Bengali way of making crab Sukha..
While cleaning the crabs, separate out the crab legs from the body, gently crush them. Keep the crab fat and eggs in separate bowl.
Enjoy this dish with rice or paratha.
Ingredients
5 medium size Crabs cleaned
Keep the crab fat / tomalley and crab eggs separately
There were 5 tail pieces of Hilsa fish left in the freezer. Usually as the tail part of the fish is thorny many people avoid eating the tail part. In Bangladesh they make various types of Bhortas. I had this recipe in my bucket list as I had heard from my husband about the Ilish Bhorta when he had travelled to Bangladesh and I had randomly seen some few recipes on YouTube. It’s delicious, you can actually finish one whole plate of steamed rice with Ilish Bhorta.
So here it is...
Ingredients
5 Tail pieces of the Hilsa Fish
2 medium size Onion sliced
2 Garlic Cloves
2 or more Whole Dried Red Chilli
Few Coriander leaves chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 cup + 1/4 tsp of Mustard Oil
Method
Take the fish tails, apply salt and turmeric powder. Heat 1/2 cup oil, fry the fish tail until golden brown in colour. Remove the fried fish and keep it aside to cool, in the same oil now fry the onion and garlic until golden brown in colour. Remove the onion and garlic and keep it aside. In the same remaining oil fry the dried red chillies until brown in colour. Remove the chillies and keep it aside. Now very carefully remove the thorns from the fish tail and keep the fish meat aside. Now take the fried onion, garlic, red chillies, salt to taste and coriander leaves on a plate, mash all the ingredients together well, add the fish meat and mash the ingredients together. Transfer the Bhorta into a serving plate, drizzle with the remaining mustard oil and a fresh red chilli, serve it with hot steamed rice.
This dish is one of the delicacy of Bengal.... The Prawns are cooked in the coconut shell. It’s generally made on occasions. The ingredients used in this recipe are almost same as prawn paturi or prawn bhappa... only difference here is, the coconut water and the coconut meat are added in this recipe and the cooked prawn gravy is filled into the coconut shell and grilled in the oven.
There are different ways of making it.. many people add onion paste and ginger paste while cooking the gravy... but I haven’t added these ingredients... Many a times after grinding the mustard, the dish taste bitter, to avoid bitterness, please strain the mustard paste. If you don’t have oven, it can be made in the pressure cooker.
Ingredients
500 grams big size Prawns, cleaned and deveined
4 Green Chillies slit
1 Garlic clove
3 tbsp Tender Coconut Meat (Malai)
3 tbsp Mustard seeds
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 cup Coconut Water
3 tbsp Mustard Oil
Method
Take a grinder and add coconut meat, 2 green chillies, garlic, mustard seeds, salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 3/4 cup coconut water to make a fine paste. Take a strainer and strain the paste and add remaining coconut water into the paste. Take a wok, add mustard oil and let it heat up. Meanwhile add salt and remaining turmeric powder on prawns and mix the ingredients together. Add the prawns into the hot oil, let the prawns cook until it changes its colour, add the remaining 2 green chillies and continue to cook for few seconds, pour the paste and continue to cook for a minute. Switch off the flame, take the coconut shell, add the cooked prawn gravy into the coconut shell, cover the top part of the coconut shell with foil, grill the daab chingri at 180 degrees celsius for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven. Once done let the coconut shell cool down a bit in the oven, remove the coconut shell from the oven, remove the foil and serve the daab chingri with steamed rice.
Incase Otg is not available, the coconut shell can be steamed in the pressure until 2 whistles.
This is a quick and easy Bengali recipe to go with steamed rice. This dish is one of our family’s favourite dish, my mother use to make it. It’s supposed to be bit spicy and tangy.
After a long time we managed to get Ilish from an online cold storage. We were very thrilled, after all it’s called the Macher Raja... King of Fish in Bengal, as it’s the tastiest fish. The fish was delivered whole, we had to clean and cut the fish... and I love cutting the fish. So quickly got into action, geared up with the cutting tools, cut the fish and made Bhappa Ilish - one of the classic traditional dish made with Ilish.
Ingredients
6 pieces of Ilisha Fish
1 Garlic Cloves
4 to 6 Green Chillies as per the spiciness you require
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder - Optional
1 tbsp Fresh or Desiccated Coconut - optional
2 - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Poppy seeds - optional
2 tbsp Curd
1 1/2 tbsp + 1//2 tsp Mustard Oil
Method
To make a paste, add mustard seeds, poppy seeds, coconut, 2 green chillies, garlic, salt and curd in a grinder and grind all the ingredients with little water into a paste. Strain the paste. Take fish pieces and apply salt chilli powder and turmeric powder on the fish, pour the paste and mustard oil on over the fish and coat the fish well with the paste. Add slit green chillies. Close the container and steam the fish for 10 - 15 minutes or add water in the pressure cooker, place the cooker stand and place the closed container inside the cooker and pressure cook with 2 whistles. Once done, drizzle the remaining mustard oil and serve it with hot steamed rice.
Marinate the fish with salt, pepper, garlic paste and lemon juice and keep it for 30 minutes. Take a grill pan, apply butter or oil on the grill pan, place the pomfrets. Cook the pomfrets until brown on both the sides.
This is a very traditional Bengali recipe that’s cooked only at home and not commonly found in restaurants... we had grown sweet potato in our balcony pot... after 4 months we got some sweet potatoes and sweet potato leaves... I was extremely happy...
Prawn head Chorchori is made normally with Malabar spinach, potatoes, sweet potato. brinjal and pumpkin with fish head or prawns or small fish but since I got sweet potato leaves, I made the dish with this leaves and sweet potato... some brinjal too can be added to this dish. Fish can be avoided and can be made only vegetarian. Only turmeric, salt and Mustard oil is used to cook this dish along with some garlic, onion and green chillies.
A plate of steamed rice and this dish is enough to satisfy our souls... this dish will taste more delicious if eaten on the next day...
Ingredients
1 big bowl of Sweet Potato leaves washed and cut into pieces
1 big Sweet Potato washed and peeled
1 big size Onion sliced
5 to 6 Garlic cloves crushed
4 to 6 Green Chillies slit
1 bowl of Prawn head / after cleaning one kg of prawns or any small fish cleaned and marinated with 1/2 tsp turmeric and Salt.
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
4 tbsp + 1 tsp Fortune Mustard Oil
Method
Cut the sweet potato into medium thin strips.. in Bengali we say Shoru kore kata... it was fun to use the boti after a long time.
Take a wok, preferably a iron wok... I used steel wok as I was cooking on induction-stove. Add 3 tbsp Mustard oil. Let the mustard oil heat up. Fry the marinated prawn heads until crispy. Remove and keep it aside. Add 1 tbsp of Mustard oil into the same wok. Add sliced onion, garlic and green chillies together. Stir fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the sweet potato. Stir and cook for a minute. Add the salt and turmeric. Stir and add 1/2 cup of water. Stir and let it simmer for a minute. Add the sweet potato leaves. Cover and continue to cook until the water has reduced and the vegetables are almost cooked. Open the lid and gently stir the vegetables. Add the prawn heads and stir it gently. Cover and cook for another 1 minutes. Open the lid and the stir it gently. Switch off the induction. Before serving drizzle mustard oil. Serve the dish with steamed rice.
Pangasius (Indian Basa) Maccher Aloo Pholkopir Jhol - Aaaahaaaaa ... it’s heaven having it with one plate of steamed Rice... it’s been some time that, I was craving for fish very badly ... yesterday my husband managed to order online from Fresh to Home and finally today morning it was delivered. Couldn’t wait... immediately cooked this fish the traditional Bengali way... The regional dishes are simple but always divine.
This curry can be made with any other fish like Rahu, Katla, Bhetki etc.. it can be made only with potatoes. Cauliflower can be replaced with pointed gourd...
Ingredients
500 grams Pangasius cut pieces, washed and apply turmeric and salt...
2 Medium size Potatoes peeled and cut into medium size chunks
1 Medium size Cauliflower cut into medium size florets
1 Medium size Onion cut into big pieces
1 Medium Tomato cut into big pieces
4 Garli Cloves
2 Inch Ginger cut into pieces
4 Green Chillies slit
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 Bay leaves
1/2 tsp Ghee (optional)
1/2 cup Mustard Oil for frying the fish and making the curry
Method
Dip the cauliflower and potato in hot salt water for 5 minutes and drain out the water. Make a paste with the tomato, onion, garlic, ginger and 2 green chillies. Take a wok, add oil, let the oil heat up, reduce the heat to medium flame. Add the marinated fish and fry until light golden brown in colour. Remove the fish from the oil. In the same oil add the potatoes and cauliflower, add little salt and turmeric powder. Stir fry the potatoes and the cauliflower until it changes it’s colour. Add the cumin seeds, bay leaves and the 2 remaining green chillies, stir and cook for a minute. Add the paste, sugar and little more salt to taste. Continue to cook for 2 minutes more. Add the cumin powder, coriander powder and the garam masala. Here if you want you can also add red chilli powder, but I haven’t used it. Stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Now add around 2 1/2 cups of water.. let the curry simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Add the fried fish.... let it simmer for another 5 minutes more. Switch off the flame, drizzle ghee on top and serve it hot with steamed rice.
When we buy a whole big fish or a part of a big fish, generally people discard the inner parts of the fish, like liver, intestine and fats, but we Bengalis use these for cooking. We use these inner organs of the fish to make a mishmash dish by adding potatoes, brinjal and onions to it or we make Maacher Teler bora. This dish is not a known dish nor available in any Bengali restaurants.
Only a person who has eaten this dish can tell how delicious it is. This goes well with steaming hot rice.
Here I have used the fats, intestine and liver from a big Katla Fish. After cooking, eat the dish the next day, it taste even better.
Ingredients
150 grams of the Fish Fats, Liver and Intestine washed, cleaned and cut into pieces
2 medium size Potatoes cut into small cubes
2 medium size Onions sliced
1 Brinjal around 200 grams cut into cubes
2 to 3 Green Chillies slit
1 tsp Garlic paste
1 tsp Ginger paste
Salt to taste
1 tsp + 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
4 tbsp Mustard Oil
Method
Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt into the fish fat, liver and intestine. Mix all the ingredients well. Take a wok, add the mustard oil, once the oil is hot, add the fish fat, liver and intestine into the oil. Fry it until brown in colour. Be very careful while frying these fish organs as the oil tends to splatter and you can get burn. Remove the fish fat, liver and intestine and keep it aside. In the same oil add the onions and the green chillies. Stir and fry the onions for a minute. Add in the potatoes and brinjal. Stir and continue to cook on a low flame for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir and continue to cook for another minute. Add the salt, turmeric, cumin powder and chilli powder. Stir and cover the wok. On a low flame let it cook, stirring the ingredients occasionally. Once the potatoes are cook, add the fried fish fat, liver and intestine. Stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. It taste best when eaten the next day. Serve it with hot steaming rice.
This an amazing dish made with Italian flavours for lunch. The dish is sweet and tangy in taste. This can be served with bread or rice.
For the Stir Fry
Ingredients
10 pieces of Salmon Fillets
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Pepper Powder
3 cubes Butter
Method
Apply salt and pepper on the fish fillets. Take a pan, add butter, let it melt. Stir fry the fish until brown on both the sides. Remove the fish and keep it aside.
"Mache Bhate Bangali", which means - fish and rice is what makes a Bengali, so true as the staple diet of a Bengali is fish and rice. Many varieties of fishes are found in Bengal. One such fish is Bele Fish or Sand Goby, it is one of the popular & extremely tasty freshwater fish. It is native to freshwater streams and rivers. This fish is rarely sold in Mumbai. I had heard the name of this fish, but never tasted it, I got this fish from Chembur Market. It’s indeed a very tasty fish.
Ingredients
6 pieces of Bele Maach / Sand Goby
1 big size Onion sliced
1 big size Tomato sliced
4 Green Chilli cut into half lengthwise
Few Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing
1 tbsp Ginger - Garlic coarsely ground
4 tbsp Mustard and Poppy seed paste
1/2 tsp Panch Phoran
Salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 cup Mustard Oil
Topse Maach or Mango Fish is very popular in Bengal. It has several long, slender filaments below the pectoral fins. This fish of the Ganges is highly in demand. This fish comes during March to May during the mango season, hence it’s called the Mango Fish.
It’s know for fish fry / fish fritters , which is marinated, dipped in Gram flour batter and deep fried. It’s served for lunch, it’s an accompaniment with dal and it is served during occasions.
To Marinate the Mango Fish
Ingredients
500 grams Topse / Mango Fish cleaned
4 to 5 tbsp Ginger - Garlic - Green Chilli - Onion paste (1 small piece of Ginger, 6 Garlic Cloves, 3 Green Chillies and 1 small Onion)
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Turmeric powder
Salt to Taste
Juice of 1 small Lime
Method
Take the fish in a bowl and add all the ingredients and apply it well on the fish. Keep it aside and marinate it for an hour or more.
For the Topse Bhaja
Ingredients
Marinated Fish
1 cup Gram flour
2 tbsp Rice flour
1 tsp Poppy seeds
1/2 tsp Nigella seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method
Take a bowl, add gram flour, rice powder, poppy seeds, nigella seeds and salt. Mix the ingredients well. Now add the marinated juices of the fish and little water at a time to make a thick batter. Mix it well. Keep it aside for 5 minutes. Meanwhile take a wok or a pan, add oil and let it heat. Once the oil heats up, dip the fish in the batter one at a time and gently put it in the oil. Fry 3 to 4 fish at a time on a medium low flame. Fry it till crispy brown in colour. Remove the fish on a paper towel. Serve it hot with dal and rice.
This steamed pomfrets are healthy as no oil is added to the dish. I have used Asian herbs and spices for the paste. It gives a strong flavour and aroma to the dish. Serve this dish with hot steamed rice.
For the Paste
Ingredients
1 small Onion cut into pieces
1 small piece of Ginger
6 Garlic Cloves
2 Red Dried Chillies
2 Fresh Red Chillies or 1 tbsp Pickled Chillies
1/4 cup Coriander Leaves chopped
2 Lime Leaves
1 Lemongrass stalk
1 tsp Shrimp paste
Salt to taste
Method
Grind all the above ingredients into a paste.
For the Steamed Pomfrets
Ingredients
2 Whole Pomfrets cleaned, slit and marinated with salt
Ground paste
2 Banana Leaves cut into medium size pieces and washed
String
Method
Apply the paste on the Pomfrets. Let it marinate for 30 minutes. Take 2 to 3 pieces of the banana leaves and arrange them. Place the pomfret along with the marination on the banana leaves and wrap the banana leaves from all the sides. Tie it with a string. Take a steamer. Place the packed pomfrets into the steamer and steam the pomfrets for 20 minutes. Before eating cut open the strings, open up the banana leaves and serve it hot with steamed rice.