About The Author
Hello! From Chuchura (in Hooghly District) and a foodie, I created this blog with a mission to preserve the food of the land; with a message to encourage and promote clean and real food. I hope you enjoy and gain out of this blog, happy reading!
Looking forward to read and hear your feedback.
Macher dimer bora is a classic Bengali fish egg recipe prepared during the monsoons.
Simple, Yet Delicious
A batter is prepared with fish roe and this is fried in mustard oil. Easy to cook, crispy with a hint of sweetness, this dish acts as a side dish to a traditional Bengali rice and dal served with a wedge of lemon.
Traditionally, the roe from rohu and catla fish are used to prepare this. Many also use hilsa for this preparation. The fish roe is mashed using fingers and salt, turmeric powder, finely chopped green chilies and onions are added to it, along with chickpea flour or rice powder for crispiness.
I have written about the macher dimer bora jhol which is fish egg fritters cooked in a light gravy.
Note
The equipment & ingredient quantity provided in this recipe is to assist you in cooking this dish. Feel free to experiment with your ingredients. Remember that we all have different set, size & shape of kitchen tools in our pantry.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Knife
- Wok
- Spatula
- Spoon
- Serving plate
Ingredients
- 250 g Fish Eggs
- 4 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 pc medium-sized onion
- 2 pc green chilly
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp rice flour or bengal gram flour/besan
- 3 tsp chopped coriander leaves (or cilantro) optional
- salt to taste
Instructions
Preparing the Fish Egg Batter
- Chop the onions and green chilies finely
- Add turmeric powder, chopped onions and chilies to the fish eggs in a mixing bowl and mix properly using a spoon or your palm and fingers. Avoid any lumps in the eggs
- Finely chop the coriander leaves
- Add the coriander leaves, rice flour, and salt to the mixing bowl
- Thoroughly mix it
- Heat a wok and add oil to it
- Once the oil starts smoking, reduce the flame
- Take two spoonful of the hot oil and add it to the mixing bowl. Give it another mix
Frying the Fish Egg Fritters or Macher Dimer Bora
- Take a spoonful of the batter and carefully add it to the oil
- Allow this to fry for a minute or minute and half on each side
- Using a spatula, turn this to the other side. Allow to fry for a minute
- Keep separate in a bowl
- Repeat the process for the rest of the batter and fry in batches
- Serve hot with rice, dal and a wedge of lemon
Notes
- Your best bet would be eggs from the Hilsa. I have used Catla and Rohu since they are most widely available
- After you have bought the fish eggs, while storing them in the refrigerator ensure that you lightly marinade it with some turmeric to prevent it from going dark in color
- You can leave out the green chilies to avoid the heat. Alternatively, slice the green chilly from the middle and remove all the seeds
- Ensure safe distance while placing the fish roe in the batter since fish roe can splutter in hot oil
- You can use common flour or corn flour instead of bengal gram flour (besan). Since this is used for binding, you can also experiment with sattu (chhatu in Bengali)
Do you have to take out the thin sack? If so, how do you separate it from the roe. I tried once to take out the roe from the skin and it got all very messy.. like your recipe.
I never took it out, and don’t think it is needed as well.
You are so right Samtat
Calling you by your first name as I am much older to you
I know my moms cooking …… lost her last year . I miss her cooking
Currently in Boston for more than a year …. Got Hilda’s twice but I didn’t like the flavors of it
Nothing beats freshly caught Hilda
Anyway loved your recipes
Got some Katla rows will try today
Thanks a lot
Sir,I came across Your lovely article on mach dimer recipe n liked your research on traditional cooking,which is slowly going through hybridization.I am a foody fondly recreating traditional cooking of my state odisha.My Dida was from bengal n love authentic bengal cousins too.I tried your recipe today n got back my Dida’s recipe.Thanks.
Hi Aditya, thank you for reading, our grandmothers are excellent chefs and this comment is a big compliment to this blog.
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You can add some flakes of garlic also.