Ruhi machher jhol-comfort food

Vegetarians can leave out the fish and go on with the rest of the recipe ... and can add other vegetables like green peas, radish, etc. ..... and enjoy this simple but authentic Bengali jhol. )

Has been quite a while since I posted a recipe last. Even though I have been almost perpetually living in the kitchen, I hardly had any time to click the dishes .... leave alone sit down and go through the rigmarole of posting one. Catering to guests and relatives can indeed be exhausting at times.

Anyway ... I was missing my blog. Of course I did visit, see new comments and felt happy .... but it is not the same as posting something new and getting feedback. :-)
Much as I'd have loved to post a new recipe, I can't right now. So picked this up from my draft. I know I won't get too many comments on this ... but then I had just this recipe's snaps left. :-)

Once upon a time I hated any dish that had vegetables. And I hated any dish that tasted Bengali ... having the usual flavour of jeera, ginger and Paanch Phoron. When this jhol used to be made at home, I would just pick up the fish and leave the rest untouched.

Today I have learnt to love traditional Bengali everyday dishes. Simple yet flavourful, this jhol ( curry gravy ) has the authentic flavours of a simple Maacher Jhol ( fish curry ).

It can be made with fishes like Bhetki or Katla or Pabda too. And is usually done without the vegetables except the potatoes.

Need :

(I'll give the measurements for around 4 pieces of the fish ).

4 Medium sized pieces of Rui / Rohu fish ( marinated with salt and turmeric powder )
mustard oil,
1 sliced onion,
1 medium eggplant / brinjals & cut into biggish cubes
around 5 to 6 florets of cauliflower &
1 medium sized potato cut into medium sized cubes,
1 or 2 whole dry red chillies ,
Paanch phoron ( some prefer whole jeera or cumin seeds ... you can use them too instead )
1/2 tsp Haldi / Turmeric powder,
1 tsp Jeera / Cumin powder,
1 tbsp ginger paste,
1 tomato, chopped ( optional),
1 tbsp Mustard oil,
Salt to taste,
Water for gravy

How to :

Updated : To fry the fish :

Heat a cast iron kadahi / wok well. Now add enough mustard oil and heat till the oil is smoking hot.

Add the fish pieces one by one on high heat very carefully ... it splutters a lot ... so holding a cover as a shield will help.

Cover, lower heat and cook till one side is done and browned. One way of knowing is the piece will easily turn over when done.

Turn the pieces over and brown the other side too.

Remove and keep aside.


To make the gravy / jhol :


Heat mustard oil in a kadhai / wok.

Add the paanch phoron ... wait for it to turn a little brown.

Then add the chillies ( break them into 2 ... otherwise they tend to burst ) and the sliced onions.
Fry for a while.

Add the ginger paste and the jeera powder ( add around a quarter cup of water now ... this way it will not burn).

Fry for a while and then add the vegetables , tomatoes and the turmeric powder.
Stir well for a while and then add water. Add salt.

Cover and cook till the veggies are done.

Remove cover and add the fish pieces.

Cover again and simmer for some more time.

If you like, add some chopped fresh coriander leaves just before serving.

This jhol goes great with plain steamed rice. Serve hot.

Machher kalia

n a Bengali house rohu fish is the most common item, as we all know Bengali menu is not complete without a delicious fish dish. Rohu fish is called the king of fish and it does justice to any preparation. Every Bengali house have their own way of cooking it so you will find may be hundreds of varieties of dishes cooked with rohu fish or rui mach like jhol, doi mannch, kalia , korma, jhal are few from the many. This fish is also easily available in the fish markets of Bengal and the price is within the reach of almost every one. Rui macher kalia is a rich, spicy, colorful delicious gravy preparation. Today we are exploring this traditional spicy dish from Bengali kitchen.

Preparation time   15 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 thick steak size pieces of rohu fish
1 onion paste
1tsp of garlic paste
1tsp of ginger paste
½ tsp of green chili paste
½ cup fresh tomato puree
1 tsp of turmeric powder
½ tsp of red chili powder
1tsp of Kashmiri red chili powder
1 potato cut into long thick slices fried (optional)
½ tsp of garam masala powder
1tsp of ghee / clarified butter
½  cup mustard oil
½ tsp of sugar
Salt to taste

Methods of Cooking

Wash the fish and pat dry then rub the fish with salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Then heat oil in a pan fry the fish till they are golden both sides and keep aside. Now in this oil add onion paste and ginger garlic paste and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Now in a small bowl mix all the dry masala except garam masala with little water and make very thick paste. Now add the tomato puree and the thick masala paste and salt and sugar and the yogurt. Stir and continuously cook until oil comes out from the masala. Now add the fish and fried potato if using potatoes are used mainly because Bengali kids love to have them. Mix well so that all the spices get well coated with the fish and fried potato. Now add 1 cup of water. Let it comes to boil. Cook for 10 minutes. When the gravy becomes thick add the ghee and the garam masala powder. Mix well. Cook for another 2 minutes. Put off the flame then cover and give 5 minutes standing time before serving. Garnish with green chilly or ripe red chili. Serve rui macher kalia with hot basmati rice or pulao.

Doi mach.. a fav among us

Doi Maach (ch as in chair)or Fish in Yogurt Sauce is a typical Bengali dish which is light, easy to prepare and yet is a favorite as a dish you would serve your guests on those special occasions. I made this with Rohu (a fresh water fish from the carp family) or Rui Mach , which I procured from my Bangladeshi Fish seller. You can also try with other fish like carp, buffalo carp, fresh water bass. Salmon should also be a good bet.If the fish is very fresh and firm as in back home, my Ma or Ma-in law does this without frying the fish. I however always lightly fry the fish and I am presenting here that version

Doi Maach

What You Need
Fish(Rohu or Rui) – 8 pieces large
Onion ~ grind to paste about 2 medium ~ about 5-7 tbsp heaped
Ginger ~ 2 - 3 tsp paste
Yogurt ~ 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder ~ ½ tsp
Red Chilli Powder ~ ½ tsp
Green Chillies ~ 8 cut in slits
Whole Garam Masala
Elaichi or Cardamom~ 5/6
Laung or Cloves~ 5/6
TejPata or BayLeaves~ 3
Dalchini or Cinnamon Sticks ~ 1” stick

Salt
Oil
Sugar ~ 1tsp

How I Do It

Clean the fish pieces and lightly rub with salt and turmeric. Keep aside for half an hour
Grind the onion to a fine paste.
Heat Oil in Kadai/Frying Pan.
When the oil is sufficiently hot, add the fish and lightly fry till light golden. Take out the fish and keep aside. If you are a fastidious cook you would put them on a kitchen towel to drain the oil.
In a bowl add 1/2 cup of yogurt/curd and add about 1/3 cup of water and beat till its smooth in consistency. Add to this 1-2 tsp of ginger paste, 2 tbsp of onion paste, ½ tsp of red chilli powder, a little of turmeric powder for the color and beat.
Heat Oil now for cooking the gravy
Add the coarsely pounded whole garam masala
When they start sputtering add the remaining onion paste
Add about 1 tsp of sugar and fry the onion paste till the oil separates and the onion turns a light brown
Add about 1 tsp of ginger paste and the green chillies and sauté well
Now take the Kadai/Frying Pan off the heat and give it a couple of minutes to cool
Add the beaten yogurt/curd and mix with the masala. If you add the yogurt directly when the utensil is on heat the curd may curdle so you need to do this
Put back the Kadai/Frying Pan on heat.
Add salt as required .Add about 1/2 - 2/3 cup of water at this point. depending on how much gravy you need you might need more or less water.
Simmer on low heat till the gravy comes to a boil
Add the fried fish pieces, they should partially submerge in the gravy. Let it simmer till the excess water dries off and the gravy is thick, smooth and coats all the fish pieces. The texture of the gravy should be silky smooth because of all that yogurt. Note: the gravy will not dry off totally but will be thick and not watery
Garnish with raisins if you want
Add a tsp of Ghee if you are lean or your guests are and you don’t have to worry about mundane things like your blood lipid level or you just don’t care and want your doi maach to taste just right.