Macher Jhuri / Bengali Crumbled Fish Curry
I was more familiar with
the concept of bata rather than jhuri. “Bata” is a dry curry resembling the
consistency of a thick paste and can be made with any kind of fish or vegetable.
The concept is very similar with “jhuri” but the process is rather
simplistic. Just garlic and some spices, and that is all you need to make
bata. But Macher Jhuri though similar in their attire consists of the entire
curry making process with onion and garlic and tomatoes...if you are adding
them, and the whole Bengali process of simmering on low heat for a long time,
in short “koshano”.
Traditionally Macher Jhuri is made with “Loita”
maach or “Bombay Duck Fish”, which is usually full of small thin fish
bones....literally impossible to take out individually. This is one of the main
reasons that this fish is not used in big chunks in a curry. Although abundant in supply these fish bones of the loita maach or Bombay duck fish becomes
incredibly soft and tender during cooking and disintegrate easily with the
curry and does not sting the throat or tongue while eating. In case of
unavailability replace the Bombay duck fish with any fish of your choice or the
fish you like to eat on its own. Trust me...even with rohu / bhetki /
katla...this dry curry will rock.
Prepare all the ingredients. |
Heat oil and add the dry red chilli and garlic and green chilli paste. Fry until the garlic turns golden and then add the chopped onions to them. |
Fry the onions until golden brown. |
Add the chopped tomatoes. |
Cook the tomatoes until mushy and the oil separating at the edges. Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. |
Mix well, add little water and cook for 2-3 minutes. |
Add the fishes and s |
Mix and cook the fish until properly cooked. Crumble the fish with the cooking spoon to disintegrate them with the curry as mush as possible. |
Cook another 5 minutes more or until all the water water evaporates leaving the curry dry and thick and the oil separating from it. |
Macher Jhuri / Bengali
Shredded Fish Curry
Serves 6
Ingredients:
500gm fish fillets (traditionally
loita fish used in making jhuri. But you can use any fish you like. I have
used Bar fish, which is a cross between bhetki and rui / rohu.)
1 and ½ onions – finely chopped
6 fat cloves of garlic –
finely minced / paste
2 green chillies – paste
1 tomato – finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 dry red chillies –
broken into half
Salt
3-4 tbsp pure virgin
mustard oil
Method:
Since I have used normal
pieces of fish, I had to shallow fry them to loosen the flesh from the central bone. You can also boil the fishes with some salt and turmeric powder and pick out their bones and skins.
So, using fillets is a much better option.
Heat the oil (keep a
little to drizzle at the end) and add the dry red chilli and garlic – green chilli
paste.
Sauté on medium heat until
the garlic turns out to be golden.
Add the chopped onions to
them immediately.
Sprinkle some salt and
cook the onions stirring often until they turn golden brown.
Add the tomatoes and cook
till the oil separates. Generally there is no need to add water, but if your
tomatoes start to stick to the pan then add a little to continue cooking.
Once the oil separates add
the turmeric powder and red chilli powder to the prepared curry. Mix them well
and add a dash of water and cook for a minute, allowing the flavours of the
spices to mature.
Next add the fillets and
stir to coat the fillets with the curry.
Put cover and let the
fillets cook.
After 4-5 minutes open the
cover and smash the fishes and mix those with the curry.
Keep stirring until you
see all the fishes kind of disintegrating with the curry and forming a paste
like consistency.
Keep stirring as the curry
will thicken now and if not taken care of properly they can stick to the bottom
of the pan. Continue cooking until you see the oil separating at the edges.
Taste and adjust the
seasonings.
Finish off with a little
chopped coriander leaves and the rest of the mustard oil and serve hot with
some plain hot rice.
Hello. Looks like a good recipe. Will be making soon. Question about the fish. Did you precook the fish first before adding to the curry to cook in? The fish looks flakey and somewhat precooked in the picture. Thank you.
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