Bengali Fish Curry Recipe | Macher Jhol

Gluten-free Bengali Fish Curry or Macher Jhol Recipe

Bengali fish curry is almost every fish lover’s favourite. I have many Bengali friends so I was fortunate enough to try Bengali curries at their homes. Although in my experience I have seen most use fish with bones, in my recipe I have made a small variation where I decided to use fillets of Betki rather than a bony fish.

Bengali fish curry is also made with tomato and onions, but this one is a basic mustard curry with a strong flavour of mustard. The curry is cream-like, sometimes this dish reminds me of the French fish preparation mustard.

Prep.Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Serves: 2

Let’s talk about mustard seeds,

For this recipe, many use black mustard seeds as well, but I prefer using yellow mustard because I find these yellow mustard seeds to be more manageable and less pungent.

If you are cooking curry with mustard for the first time, then use yellow.

Oil:

Like in most Bengali cooking, mustard oil forms the base of the dish. This dish is no different; it is made in mustard oil. I know a lot of you are afraid of the mustard oil, but don’t be. Once you get past the ‘pungency’, you will soon learn to appreciate its unique flavour.

It actually is one of the best oils on the market, it is super healthy and the taste isn’t odd at all. In fact, after you heat the oil properly, the bitterness of the oil goes away and leaves a nice mild pungent aroma. Mustard oil is used as a remedy to treat colds, boost immunity, encourage hair growth, and provide nourishment to the skin. 

Fish:

Honestly, you can make this dish with any fish of your choice. Even Rui or Katla goes well with this gravy, I have tried the exact same recipe with Rui and it turned out perfect. The magic is in the curry so fry any fish of your choice and add it to the curry.

Panch Phoran:

A lot of you haven’t heard of paach phoran, this spice mix is mostly used in the eastern and North Eastern part of the country. But let me tell you this, this spice mix is magic. If you are frying the eggplant, or any gourd, or just frying potatoes with salt, turmeric power, add panch phoran and see the flavours change. You won’t believe what a humble spice mix can do to your dish. Buy it or make it at home, making it at home is as easy.

How to make Panch Phoran?

Mix these in equal quantities and your spice mix is ready.

1. Cumin seeds
2. Nigella seeds
3. Fennel seeds
4. Carom seeds/ or wild celery seeds
5. Fenugreek seeds

Ingredients For Bengali Fish Curry:

1. Yellow Mustard Seeds: 2 tbsp ( If you can manage more pungent flavour then I recommend you go with 3 tablespoons)
2. Panch Phoran: 1 tsp
3. Green Chillies: 2-3
4. Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp
5. Salt to taste
6. Sugar: 1 tsp
7. Mustard oil: 5-6 tablespoons if using a non-stick pan, but if using a regular wok then maybe a bit more. (You need oil for frying the fish).
8. Betki fish: 500gms
9. Green coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon finely chopped (optional but enhances the flavour)

Instructions:

Make the Curry Paste.

1. For this soak the mustard seeds in water for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, in the small blender attachment, add the soaked mustard seeds, sugar, a bit of salt, green chillies, a bit of water and blend. Use only a tablespoon of water as the mustard seeds are already wet.
3. Blend properly.
4. This is possibly the most IMPORTANT step: the whole dish depends on this paste. If the paste is not blended smoothly the curry will turn out to be bitter. So make sure you blend it to a nice creamy consistency. The colour of the paste will look like light cream/yellowish. As if the cream has been mixed, when you see this consistency and colour, you know the curry paste is done. But if you feel it is grainy, then add a few drops of water and blend again until you reach the required consistency.

Marinate the Fish.

Wash the fish; add 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp turmeric powder, and 1-tablespoon mustard oil. Mix well and keep it aside for 10 minutes.

Fry the fish.

1. You can either deep fry or shallow fry the fish. I prefer shallow frying.
2. Take the marinated fish and fry them on both sides until the fish surface forms a nice golden texture.
3. DO NOT dunk all the pieces at once, fry them in 2-3 batches.

Prepare the Curry.

1. Remember the pan in which you fried the fish, remove excess oil from that pan and now to the same pan add the panch phoran.
2. After the panch phoran add the mustard curry paste and stir vigorously.
3. Add 1-2 green chillies if you want at this point. (Optional)
4. Add almost 1 cup of water and let this come to a boil. Cook for about 5-7 minutes.
5. Now add the fried fish pieces.
6. Mix well.
7. You can add fresh coriander if you have one.
8. The dish is ready. Enjoy with plain rice or chapati.

Bengali Fish Curry Recipe | Macher Jhol

Recipe by KhushbooCourse: DinnerCuisine: Indian

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• Yellow Mustard Seeds: 2 tbsp ( If you can manage more pungent flavour then I recommend you go with 3 tablespoons)

• Panch Phoran: 1 tsp

• Green Chillies: 2-3

• Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp

• Salt to taste

• Sugar: 1 tsp

• Mustard oil: 5-6 tablespoons if using a non-stick pan, but if using a regular wok then maybe a bit more. (You need oil for frying the fish).

• Betki fish: 500gms

• Green coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon finely chopped (optional but enhances the flavour)

Directions

• Make the Curry Paste
• For this soak the mustard seeds in water for 10 minutes.
  After 10 minutes, in the small blender attachment, add the soaked mustard seeds, sugar, a bit of salt, green chillies, and a bit of water and blend. Use only a tablespoon of water as the mustard seeds are already wet.
  Blend properly.
  This is possibly the most IMPORTANT step: the whole dish depends on this paste. If the paste is not blended smoothly the curry will turn out to be bitter. So make sure you blend it to a nice creamy consistency. The colour of the paste will look like light cream/yellowish. As if the cream has been mixed, when you see this consistency and colour, you know the curry paste is done. But if you feel it is grainy, then add a few drops of water and blend again until you reach the required consistency.
  
• Marinate the Fish
• Wash the fish; add 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp turmeric powder, and 1-tablespoon mustard oil. Mix well and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
• Fry the Fish
• You can either deep fry or shallow fry the fish. I prefer shallow frying.
• Take the marinated fish and fry them on both sides until the fish surface forms a nice golden texture.
• DO NOT dunk all the pieces at once, fry them in 2-3 batches.
• Prepare the Curry
• Remember the pan in which you fried the fish, remove excess oil from that pan and now to the same pan add the panch phoran.
• After the panch phoran add the mustard curry paste and stir vigorously.
• Add 1-2 green chillies if you want at this point. (Optional)
• Add almost 1 cup of water and let this come to a boil. Cook for about 5-7 minutes.
• Now add the fried fish pieces.
• Mix well.
• You can add fresh coriander if you have one.
• The dish is ready. Enjoy with plain rice or chapati.

Recipe Video