Monday, September 9, 2013

Ilish Mathar Chochhori


 Curry made with Hilsa head

It would not be an overstatement if I say that fish head is a culinary delicacy among the Bengalis. Fish is an integral part of our food, even a simple watery fish curry do wonders. Newly wed bengali bride are welcomed in their in-laws house with sumptuous meal that includes fried whole fish head. The jamais, son-in-laws, of the house must have a fish head on the special occasions of jamai sashti (though not a must these days). Anyway, the point is, we love our fish head curries.We even add fish head to our dal. And it makes us drool more if it is head of a Hilsa fish, my all time favorite ilish machher matha. By the way for records, I was always praised as a kid (around 8-12 years of age) for being able to eat my fish head very neatly and without any fuss. I, however, stopped liking it in my teens and did not care about those praises.

Now the curry or chochhori as we say made with head of Hilsa.

Ingredients:

Hilsa head- 1
Eggplant: 4-5 medium, cut in cubes
Potato- 2 medium sized, cut in cubes
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Ginger - paste, 1 teaspoon
Garlic - paste, 1 teaspoon
Red chilli- 2 whole
Green chillies - 2 ( you can add more to spice it up)
Turmeric - 1+1teaspoon
Salt - To taste
Mustard Oil - 4+1 tablespoon


Rub the hilsa head well with salt and turmeric. Heat  4 tablespoon of mustard oil in the pan and fry the hilsa head very well on both the sides. Keep aside.


Crack the red chillies and add the sliced onions to it. Cook for 3-4 minutes, till the onions are pinkish and soft.



 Add the eggplant and potato pieces and saute them well, say for 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic paste, salt, turmeric and green chillies. Mix well.

Add the fried fish head and break it in the pan with spatula. Mix it well. Add 1/2 cup of warm water, cover the pan and let it simmer for next 5 minutes or till the eggplant, potatoes become soft. 

The curry will be moist in nature without excess water.


Add the remaining one teaspoon of  raw mustard oil over the curry, mix well simmer for 1 more minute, cover the pan and turn off the heat.


Your Ilish Mathar Chochhori is ready to be served with steaming white rice.

Bon appetit



P.S. I am  am sending this to Cooking 4 all seasons for the event of Side Dish Mela.

 

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