The Silver Backed Queen : Ilish And Her Glorious Three Course Rule

Olive Roy
Olive Roy
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read

Growing up in a middle class Bangali family, monsoon meant one thing and one thing only, Ilish machh or Hilsa fish!! Every year we would eagerly wait for those 2 months of monsoon when the prices of Ilish would go down and that strong layered smell would cover the entire houshold.
As with many families here, we too believe that Ilish is a complete meal in itself. That means no vegetables, no meat, no daal that day. Three courses of Ilish with scolding hot rice. That first course of white rice paired with the oil and the fish and a playful little piece of green chili, Oh what heaven!! And then comes a bowl full of light stew. As you sip the broth, the rice and the fish swirls in your mouth, breaking upon and combining to give you that utmost satisfaction!! Finally the queen enters, draped in her veil; the banana leaf covering the Ilish paturi!! By now, you know that it’s all going to be alright, cause it’s pouring down heavily outside and ilish is here to take care of you!!

This is the exact emotion I feel, everytime I eat or even smell Ilish; but hey that’s just me!! Try out the recipe I am leaving here today and tell me if you don’t feel the same way!!!

Ingredients:

1 large Ilish cut into pieces; 3 pieces per person
Oil
1 tsp Onion seeds/Kalaunji/Kalo jeera
10–12 green Chilies slit
1 medium Brinjal cut into medium long pieces
3 tbsp mustard paste
2 tbsp hung curd
Salt to taste
Turmeric as required

Procedure:

Step 1: Wash the fish and rub salt and turmeric on all of them. And divide them into 3 equal parts for the 3 dishes.

Hilsa marinated in salt and turmeric

Step 2: Heat a pan and add approximately 3/4 tbsp of oil for each piece of fish. When the oil is hot enough, add 1 part of the fish and fry on high heat until a brown colour is achieved. Remember that Ilish is an extremely oily fish and you will end up with more oil than you started off with. Plate up the fish and set aside the oil to be eaten with rice. Ilish machh bhaja is ready.

Fried Hilsa

Step 3: Add 4 tsp of oil to a heated pan. Add the onion seeds and 4–5 slit green chilies.

Step 4: Now add the brinjal and saute for about 5 mins. Add salt and turmeric.

Step 5: Add sufficient water to make a stew and bring it to boil. When the water is reduced to a favorable amount and the brinjals look cooked, slowly add the second part of fish. Remember that Ilish is a very delicate fish and overcooking it, is a travesty. You may choose to fry the fish beforehand, but you will lose a lot of flavour if you do so.

Step 6: After about 5 mins, take the pan off the heat and serve your Ilish machher jhol.

Step 7: Now for the final part, take the fish left and add 4 tsp of mustard oil, mustard paste and curd to it.

Step 9: In a container with a tight lid, add the fish and the mixture. Add some mustard oil and a little bit of water to it.

Step 10: In a pot much larger than your container, pour water so that it will come up to 3/4th of your container. Put the lid on your container and steam for 15–20 mins.

This is a 3 course luch in itself. Just pair the dishes with some nice fluffy rice and you are good to go.

For more of such recipes visit thebangaligourmet.com

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