Machher Jhol (Bengali Fish Curry)

Name: Machher Jhol (Bengali Fish Curry)
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Bengali
Ingredients: 600 g Firm freshwater fish steaks; 2 Potatoes, quartered lengthways; 4 tbsp Mustard oil; 1 tsp Nigella seeds (kalonji); 1 Tomato, chopped; 3 Green chillies, slit; 1 tbsp Ginger paste; 1.5 tsp Turmeric; 1 tsp Cumin powder; 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; Coriander leaves; Salt

The everyday fish curry of Bengal: pieces of fish and potato in a thin, brilliant-yellow mustard-oil broth, ladled over rice and eaten with your hands.

မူလအရင်းအမြစ်

ချက်ပြုတ်နည်း — Bengali home kitchens · 🏺 Traditional · Eastern Indian (Bengali) household cooking

Traditional dish — no single author — An ownerless Bengali and Odia home dish. The reference describes it as a spicy fish stew or gravy served with rice, eaten across Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Bangladesh and Nepal's Mithila region, made with fish such as rohu or catla, seasoned with turmeric, garlic, onion and ginger, with potato used as a thickener and tomato added for colour. This version follows that description. Steps and quantities are our own writing.

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Bong Eats

⏱ 45 မိနစ်🍽 4 ယောက်စာ🔥 290 kcal🇮🇳 India🌶️🌶️

ငါးသာစားဂလူတင်ကင်းနို့ထွက်ပစ္စည်းကင်းဟာလာ

အဆင့်များ

Rub the fish with 0.5 tsp turmeric and a good pinch of salt and leave 10 minutes.
💡 This does two jobs: it firms the surface so the fish holds together, and it takes the muddy edge off freshwater fish.
Heat the mustard oil in a wide pan until it smokes lightly, then turn the heat down to medium. Fry the fish pieces 2 minutes a side until the surface is set and pale gold. Lift them out.
💡 Mustard oil must be smoked before you cook in it — raw, it is harshly pungent. Once it has smoked, it turns nutty and mellow.
In the same oil, fry the potato quarters 5 minutes until the edges brown. Take them out too.
Add the nigella seeds and green chillies to the oil and wait 15 seconds for them to sizzle. Add the ginger paste, tomato, turmeric, cumin and chilli powder with 2 tbsp water.
Cook this paste 5 minutes over medium heat, adding a splash of water whenever it sticks, until it darkens and oil beads at the edges.
💡 Splashing in water rather than more oil is the standard Indian way to stop a masala catching without making the dish greasy.
Pour in 600 ml hot water, add the potatoes and salt, and simmer 12 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Slide the fish back in, simmer 5 minutes without stirring, then turn off the heat and scatter with coriander. Serve in bowls with plain rice.

💡 အကြံပြုချက်များ

Jhol means a thin broth, not a thick gravy. If it looks like a curry-house sauce you have over-reduced it — add hot water back.
Frying the fish first is what keeps the pieces intact in a broth this thin. Skip it and you will be serving fish soup.
If mustard oil is not available, use a neutral oil plus half a teaspoon of English mustard stirred into the masala. It is a compromise, and an honest one.