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.
This pabda jhal recipe will wow you.
I have always been fascinated by the culinary variety that existed in Bengal. And I have been very bored with blogs following the same ingredients in every dish.
So if I were to ask you what spices you would use in a fish curry, you would respond without a thought – “cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chili powder”. And perhaps some garam masala towards the end.
The finer nuances of Bengali cuisine are fading into oblivion.
For example, in most Bengali fish curries, coriander powder is very rarely used. Cumin is used, but not always.
There is a reason for using or not using an ingredient in a recipe.
While I am not pundit on such aspects and a mere student of food, this pabda jhal will make you sit up and think why you never tried it before.
This jhal recipe is different from the macher jhal cooked in Barendra region of Bengal more than 100-150 years back.
Recently I got my hands on medium-sized pabda fish and wanted to share a recipe with my readers that perhaps most of you never tried.
Remember, good food should taste good without a lot of effort. This recipe is an example of good food.
Pabda Jhal – Details of the Dish & Why I Call This Uncommon and Forgotten
This pabda jhal recipe uses just two spices – ginger (which is a wet spice) and turmeric powder. That’s it, nothing else!
You may add red chili powder for color, but that is optional.
Slit Green chilis are used once the flame is switched off to add the aroma, but not to make it hot.
Coriander leaves are chopped and used as garnish.
For a family of 4, the entire recipe from preparation to garnishing can be done in less than 35-40 minutes.
More importantly, you do not need to slog in the kitchen for hours chopping, slicing, preping.
While I have made a thin and runny gravy, you may make it slightly thicker by adding less water.
Why restrict your culinary choices when our cuisine is so vast and unique!
What makes this Pabda Macher Jhal Different from other recipes on the internet?
Limited ingredients, easy cooking in short. Here’s a list boasting of the finer details.
- No use of garlic
- No use of curd or tomatoes
- Red chili is optional – it is also unhealthy
- No cumin powder
- No coriander powder
- No garam masala – be it whole or powdered
Now that I have counted so many ‘not required’ stuff, let’s whip it up quickly.
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
- 1 Wok & Spatula
- 1 Grinder & Mixer (Mixie)
- 1 Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 4 pc Pabda Fish or Butterfish around 200-250 g
For Marinating the Fish
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp mustard oil
For Pabda Jhal Curry
- 4 tsp mustard oil or 1 big tablespoon
- 1 pc potato optional
- 1 pc big sized onion or 2 medium sized onion
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 4 pc green chili or 2
- 1 sprig coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 1.5 cup water
- salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp sugar optional
Instructions
Prepare for the Pabda Macher Jhal
- Marinate the fish with turmeric, salt and mustard oil (see Notes below) and allow to rest for few minutes
- Peel the onions and chop roughly. Put them in a mixer-grinder and blend to a fine paste and keep aside
- Peel the potato and cut it vertically into four pieces. You may cook this recipe without potatoes as well
- Blend ginger to a paste using your mixer-grinder
Fry the Pabda Fish
- Heat the wok and add mustard oil to it
- Once the oil starts smoking, carefully lower the fishes one by one and fry on each side for around 3 minutes (see notes)
- Repeat till all the fishes are fried
Cook the Pabda Jhal
- In the same wok, add oil if needed. This recipe does not require a lot of oil
- Add the onion paste and saute till the raw flavor is gone (see notes)
- Pour in the ginger paste and saute. If you are using red chili powder (optional), you may add at this time and stir it in
- Add in turmeric powder and mix. Saute for a minute
- Drop in salt and sugar (optional) and give the mixture a nice stir to blend in uniformly
- Add water and allow it to come to a boil
- Check seasonings and adjust if required
- Drop in the fish pieces carefully, lower the flame to simmer and cover the wok
- Allow the pabda jhal to simmer for 5-10 minutes
- Chop finely a sprig or two of coriander leaves
- Slit the green chilis into two from the middle vertically
- Uncover the wok, add in the slit green chilis and chopped coriander leaves
- Immediately switch off the flame. Again cover the wok for at least 2-3 minutes. This allows the infusion of the coriander leaves and green chilis in the pabda fish curry
- Your pabda jhal is ready. Serve with hot rice
Notes
- Marinating the fish with mustard oil prevents spluttering from the pabda fish. Remember pabda fish has no scales and their skin is oily. If you do not marinade with the oil, you may find a lot of splutters as you fry/saute the fish
- Use only mustard oil. That’s how you can realize the true flavors of the dish. Avoid using refined oils, they are harmful, instead use indigenous oils that are unrefined
- Be careful while frying the fish. Do not overcrowd the wok or kadai. It should be fine to saute/fry 3-4 pieces at a time depending on the size of the wok
- For this pabda jhal recipe, you must know how well to saute the onion paste. Saute only till the raw flavors are gone. However, do not fry/saute them till they are brown
- Ginger is an essential ingredient for this pabda fish curry. Ensure that the ginger paste is fresh. Avoid packaged ginger paste as much as possible
- The coriander leaves and slit green chilis should be added at the very end. Do not allow both to simmer in the gravy, instead allow them to slowly release their flavors once the flame is switched off
- You may increase or decrease the number of green chilis based on your heat tolerance
- While serving the pabda jhal, give the curry a nice stir before spooning in to serve