Pyaj Koli Diye Macher Jhol / Bengali Fish Curry with Spring Onions

I was thinking of cooking this Fish Curry with spring onions for a long time. But something or the other kept popping up and the post got delayed. This fish curry was a regular in our home in winter. Mu used to add almost every winter special veggies in the fish curries at that time because she was convinced that it was the most effective way to feed the goodness of the veggies to us. We of course did not like it all the time, but if they were cauliflower or spring onions surely we did not mind.

Last week my husband bought a giant Meru fish. It cost us 20,000Fcfa and sure it weighed 4-5 kgs. It had a giant head and we had to make 4 pieces of that particular head to make a manageable portion for us. This curry is the first instalment to that giant fish which is currently in pieces and inside my freezer. Now I have lots of fish recipes to experiment. He hee!!!

Brwon the onions with ginger and garlic.

Cook the tomatoes till they start to release oil.

Add the spring onion and cook till mushy.

Add fish, water and cook till done.

This fish curry is a little sweet because of the spring onions and the addition of the chopped coriander leaves make them a lot more flavourful. A lot of people do not like sweetness in their curries, but do add them here and I am sure you will not regret the decision.

Pyajkoli diye Macher Jhol / Bengali Fish Curry with Spring Onions

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 medium thick pieces of pieces

1 medium onion – chopped

1 tomato – chopped

3 cloves of garlic – minced

½ inch stick of ginger – minced

½ tsp nigella seeds / kalo jeera

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp coriander powder

A pinch of garam masala powder

A handful of fresh coriander leaves – chopped

1 cup sprig onions – cut in medium long pieces

2 tbsp mustard oil

Salt

A pinch of sugar

Method:

Rub 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt over the pieces of fish and let them marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the fishes one by one, until they become golden on both the sides. We need not fry the pieces till brown and crispy as we will put them in a curry, so need them a little soft.

Once done take the fish pieces out of the kadai and keep aside.

In the remaining oil, add the nigella seeds. (Keep only that much of the remaining oil for cooking as much as you need, and take away the rest.)

As the seeds start to splutter add the chopped onions to them.

Sauté and cook the onions till they become lightly golden and then add the ginger garlic paste.

Sauté for another 2 minutes or until the raw garlic flavour is gone. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they become mushy and start to release oil.

Add a little water and then add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder.

Sprinkle some salt, a little sugar, mix and cook for 2 minutes or until the raw flavour of the spices goes away.

Add the cut spring onions and cook till they become soft and wilted. This will take around 5 minutes.

Now add 2 cups of water, salt as per taste and let the gravy come to a boil.

Once the gravy starts to boil add the fish pieces to them.

Put cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes.

After 5 minutes open the cover and sprinkle the garam masala powder.

Simmer till you have your desired consistency of the gravy.

Taste and adjust seasoning, sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and put off the flame.