Ilish Macher Begun Aloo Die Jhol

Name: Ilish Machher Jhol
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Bengali
Ingredients: Ilish/Hilsha 1 medium size whole fish cut into 8 pieces (without head & tail); Turmeric 1 teaspoon; Salt 1 teaspoon; Mustard oil 3 tablespoons; Eggplant 1 large, cut into lengthwise pieces; Potato 1 large, cut into lengthwise pieces; Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon; Cumin powder 1/2 teaspoon; Coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon; Salt to taste; Mustard oil 1 tablespoon; Kalonji/Nigella seeds 1/2 teaspoon; Green chili 4 to 5; Black Mustard paste 1 tablespoon

Fish & SeaFood
Aug 22, 2014
Moumita Ghosh
708 Likes

Monsoon without Ilish, we just can't think of that. This is one of my favorite fish. This is my Grand Mom's recipe of Ilish. She always used to cook "Raw/Kancha Ilisher" Jhol. I also use her way. And you can't believe the fish is not fried earlier. The taste of the gravy is even more tasty if you use Raw Hilsha in your "Jhol" . But some people do not like their curry with Raw Fish. So I'm sharing you the fried fish version. But if you want you can make it with Kancha Ilish.

Ilish Machher Jhol is one of my favorite Ilish preparation. This is a very light curry of Hilsha fish, which is cooked with eggplant & potato. Spices are used in a very little amount. In this curry , Ilish can be added raw or very lightly fried.

Details

Yields

4 serving(s)

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Time

Preperation
30 Minutes

Cooking
30 Minutes

Non-Vegeterian

Services

Cooking Level
Easy

Meal Type
Lunch

Cuisine
Bengali

Ingredients of Ilish Machher Jhol

For The Fish Curry:

Ilish/Hilsha 1 medium size whole fish cut into 8 pieces (without head & tail)
Turmeric 1 teaspoon
Salt 1 teaspoon
Mustard oil 3 tablespoons
Eggplant 1 large, cut into lengthwise pieces
Potato 1 large, cut into lengthwise pieces
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For tempering :

Mustard oil 1 tablespoon
Kalonji/Nigella seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Green chili 4 to 5
Black Mustard paste 1 tablespoon

Directions to make Ilish Machher Jhol in steps

Steps

Take a large bowl, put the fish pieces and lightly clean them with little water. Hilsha should not clean with lots of water. The flavor of the aromatic fish will be gone. Now rinse the fish and marinate with turmeric & salt.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. When the oil will be Smokey enough, add each fish piece to the pan and fry very lightly and take the fish out of the pan and keep into a large bowl. In this way fry rest of the fish pieces.
When fish frying is done, in the same oil add the Eggplants & potato and fry till the vegetables are fried enough. (Here is a small tip, you don't need to add more oil into the pan, Hilsa will release oil by itself.)
In the meantime make a paste with turmeric, cumin & coriander powder & 3-4 tablespoons of water. When the vegetables are fried enough , add the spice paste into the pan and cook with the vegetables.
When oil oozes from the spice, add 2 cups of water, enough salt and the lightly fried fish to the pan and cover it.
Let the gravy boil for 15 minutes on medium flame to make the vegetables soft & tender. After 15 minutes open the lid and turn off the heat. Now take another pan or wok and heat 1 tablespoon of oil in it.
When the oil is at the smoking point, add green chilis & kalonji to the pan and add the cooked hilsha gravy from the other pan, but very gently. Hilsa is a very delicate fish, it could break into pieces.
Add 1 tablespoon of mustard paste to the gravy and let the gravy boil for 5 minutes on high heat. After 5 minutes check the salt and turn off the heat. Serve with steamed rice.
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