Thursday, August 1, 2013

Bhetki Maacher Jhaal and Kishore Kumar The Legend

This is a dedication for the legend the Kishore Kumar. When i got a chance to be on radio celebrating Kishore Kumar's birthday, talking about the food he loved, I jumped with joy.It is an absolute privilege to be doing such a thing. The first thing to do was to research on the kind of food he loved and all the articles off the net suggested he loved fish.Well no surprise there! A Bengali will love his fish! He loved Prawn , Iilish and Bhetki the most.
Almost immediately I decided to make Bhetki Maacher Jhaal . There easy dish again. It has a lot of variations. Many add kalo jeera phoron , many add mustard paste and so on. I decided to do none. Sometimes its best to keep things simple.Not use too many spices , very little oil and let the flavours of the fish come out.






Ingredients:



Bhetki Fish - 500 gms - cut into big pieces

Onion paste - 5 tbsp ( need 2 medium onions for this)

Curd - 2 tbsp

Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Mustard oil - 4 tbsp for frying + 1 tbsp

Green chillies - 6-8 whole green chillies

Method:

Wash and clean the bhetki pieces. Smear with some turmeric and salt.
Heat some mustard oil in a pan (non-stick preferably).
Fry the fish pieces till done well.
Keep aside.




Now we make the gravy.
In a pan add 1 tbsp mustard oil.
Once the oil heats up , add the onion paste.
Roast the mixture very well till it browns up. Make sure this is cooked well and there is no pungent smell.
Next add the curd, red chilli powder,turmeric and salt to taste. 
Add a little water and roast the spices.
Once the water dries up add another cup of water and let the gravy simmer.
We don't want a watery gravy so let it simmer for a while.




Next add the fried fish pieces and the green chillies. Let the fish soak up the gravy.
Serve with hot plain rice.




Since this a post dedicated to a legend I have to share one of my favourite songs with you all. Its an impossible task to choose one from all the beautiful songs that he has sung . This is one song that I go back to all the time and every time i rediscover it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFRAFHtU-PE 

This recipe has been featured on Arvind's Kitchen on 94.3 Radio One #Kolkatas only 100% Retro Station.
Tune into Arvind's Kitchen every Wednesdays and Fridays between 3 -4 pm to listen to members of Kolkata Food Bloggers share their food stories!

1 comment:

  1. Bhetki macher jhal looks stunning and yummy. Perfect bengali recipe.

    ReplyDelete