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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Koi Mach'er Jhaal



Before I forget that I have a blog too, I have this recipe to share with you all. Although I must say that koi fish is very rarely cooked in my home as we haven’t come across any in fish market near our home so far. Neither I have seen my maa nor ma-in-law preparing this fish any possible way. However, my short stay in London was something unusual, for I used to get all sorts of things easily which were not as readily available here in local grocery stores-viz- raw turmeric,thor,koi ,ilish just to name a few.
I had this koi fish packet weighing around 500gms from our local superstore then. I don’t know what made me pick this packet or may be a slight amount of curiosity on my part about the texture and taste perhaps. And when I opened the packet I found these healthy and frozen fish.



(Koi mach'er Jhaal, Palang Shak'er Ghonto - Recipe here and garam bhaat - a perfect lunch for a relaxing afternoon)


My hubby dear seemed to think otherwise, he couldn’t eat this fish and told me that he would have loved this gravy with pona or pabda mach, duh!! But then he is a die-hard chicken and meat lover so you can get the picture. Well, I can be as open as I can about this fish.I have been kind of curtailing this recipe to publish for almost a year now, pictures were saved and I have written basic guidelines then.I have re-written and edited the recipe.



Here it is koi mach’er jhaal.
Koi mach’er jhaal-climbing perch/Anabas sp.

Recipe requirements
  • Koi fish-3-4
  • 2 medium size onions
  • 2 medium size potatoes
  • 2-3 fat garlic clove
  • 2-3 tsp of grated ginger
  • 2-3 green chilies
  • ½ cup of chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
  • 1 tomato chopped finely

Seasonings
  • 1 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 2-3 tsp of red pepper powder
  • 1 tsp of coriander powder
  •  
Tempering
  • 2-3 tbs of cooking oil
  • 1 tsp of kalo jeerey/kalaunji/onion seeds
  • Quarter cup of cooking oil to fry fish
  • Some turmeric powder+salt to marinate the fish



Method
  • Heat up a deep bottom pan/wok/kadai.Add quarter cup of oil and let it heat up properly. Fry the marinated fish both the sides well to crisp and brown. Take out and let it cool a little bit.
  • Now if you have some oil still left after frying, then don’t throw it, add 2-3 tbs of cooking oil more.
  • Temper this oil with kalo jeerey/onion seeds/kalaunji, tej patta.
  • Add finely chopped ginger/garlic to it. Fry it for 1 mint at med-high.
  • Then add chopped onions and potatoes fry them very well with some salt for 4-5 mints at med-high.
  • Add in about 1-2 cup of plain water. Add all the seasonings now-turmeric, red pepper and coriander powder to it. Adjust the salt if needed.
  • Now add in fried Koi fish to the above simmering gravy.
  • Cover it and cook for 6-8 mints or till the potatoes becomes soft.
  • If you want a dry preparation with fish add less water.
  • Garnish with lots of coriander leaves.




Note-
Addition of tomatoes is optional, if you wish you may include it to add more tanginess.
Pona/katla/rui or pabda goes well with this gravy.

Happy Cooking Friends

12 comments:

  1. ajke bahudin baade tomar blog visit korlam...ar ajkei tumi online...ki coincidence...koi mach amar khub priyo...koi macher do peyaja bole ekta jinis amar ma ebong thakuma banaten asadharon khete...kintu ami recipe ta jani na :(

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  2. Jibhe jol eshe gelo Koi maacher jhaal dekhe,Jaya! Kothay chile tumi etodin? Seems like you were far far away from the blogging world!Anyway,so good to see your post:)And awesome clicks!

    Cheers,
    Wit,wok&wisdom

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  3. If only I could get some koi here. :-(
    Onekdin por Jaya ... hope you are doing well. :-)

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  4. amio eta akhono ranna kore uthte parini. amader ekhane brishtite rastay anek mach uthe ase...hubby dhorechilo kintu marte pareni bole chere die eseche.
    tomar gravy'r idea ta khub bhalo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Balaka,
    Koi mach'er do pyanza mone hoye just like rui mach'er do pyanza..recipe ta ache with rui fish ..try korle janabe jey does it taste anything near to the do pyanza your thakhuma used to make ..besh bhalo laglo tumake eyikhane dekhe bahu din por :-)..TC and hugs

    W3,
    yeah, I was really into the other details of my life , almost forgot that i have a blog too which is perhaps hasnt seen any updates for a looooong time ..good to see you ..TC

    Sharmila,
    ami Kolkatar bairey except for London ..Koi dekhi ni and eyikhane(Kol) O besh central markets e paba jaye which takes me or FIL commuting long distance and in this hot humid weather amader jonne hoye uthe na..Hope you are well too..Hugs

    Sayantani,
    Bah! tahole to you most probably get whole lot of other small fish also..how fascinating that sounds..hain gravy ta rui ba pabda diye korle O bhalo lagbe..Hugs

    thanks all for coming here..

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jay dear i love the clicks....appreciate u have clicked in the sauce pan ...makes my mouth water for sure.....nice combo with rice

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  7. Great dish.Just forget about that recipe. Definitely i ll try this week,but main concern is not sure whether I ll get big size Koi fish or not.
    Thanks Jaya.

    ReplyDelete
  8. wooooww....ei koi macher jhal dekhe already Bengal ke miss korchi....Koi ranna kora jemon tough khaowa arro beshi...khub sunsor recipe Jaya.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Curry looks so so delicious :)

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  10. Biny,
    how are you?
    I didnt have time to assemble nicely all the props as my family was waiting for the meal..So, a quick click :-D..

    Manidipa,
    warm welcome here ..will love to check your site as well someday :-D..

    Khushi,
    Kemon acho?
    what a lovely name you have ..warm welcome here ..

    Priyanka,
    how are you?
    Quite a long time I guess ..good to see you :-D..TC

    Thanks all wonderful ladies for coming here..

    ReplyDelete
  11. woo...hoo...sounds delicious..
    first time here...love ur space..
    awesome recipe collection..
    Am ur happy follower now..:)
    do stop by mine sometime..
    Tasty Appetite

    ReplyDelete

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