Simple, Comfort Food. A Match Made in Heaven and Cooked in Bengal
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: bengali
Keyword: aloo diye rui macher jhol, bengali comfort food, bengali fish curry, Rui macher jhol
Servings: 4people
Author: Samrat Roy Chowdhuri
Cost: ₹ 70
Equipment
1 Knife & Chopping Board
1 Wok & Spatula
Preparation & serving bowls
Ingredients
For Frying the Fish
4pcrui (rohu) fish, cutaround 250 g
1/3tspturmeric powder
1/4tspsalt
4tspmustard oil
For the Rui Macher Jhol
2pcgreen chili
1tspnigella seeds (kalo jeere)
1tspginger paste
1/3tspturmeric powder
1pcpotatooptional
2pcpointed gourd or potoloptional
2pcmedium-sized tomatoor 1 large tomato
2cupwater
salt to taste
Instructions
Preparation for the Rui Macher Jhol (10 minutes)
In a bowl take the fish, and add the turmeric powder and salt, as mentioned under "For Frying the Fish", Allow to rest for 10 minutes and proceed with the rest of the preparation
Slice the green chilies and chop the tomatoes into cubes
If you have fresh ginger at home, take 2 inch of the ginger and make it into a fine paste
Peel the potatoes and slice the potatoes in bigger wedges
If you are using the pointed gourd (or potol), cut them vertically into halves
Frying the Fish (10 minutes)
Put on the wok and turn on the flame. Ensure the flame is on medium
Once the wok heats up, add in the mustard oil as mentioned under "For Frying the Fish"
When the oil starts smoking, lower the flamer and add in the marinated pieces of fish
Allow to fry for a couple of minutes on one side and then turn over and fry for 1-2 minutes
Once the fish is fried, separate from oil and keep aside. Repeat for all the pieces. You may add multiple fillets at one go, depending on the size of your wok
Cooking the Aloo Diye Rui Macher Jhol (30-35 minutes)
In the same wok, you may prepare the rest of the dish. No more oil is needed
Ensure that the flame is low. Add in the sliced green chilies and nigella seeds. Saute for 15-20 seconds.
Drop in the potaotes and saute for 2-3 minutes
If you are using pointed gourds, add them and saute for another 2-3 minutes
Add in the chopped tomato and turmeric powder. Cook on a low to medium flame till the tomatoes turn into a mash. At this point the potato and pointed gourd will be properly cooked
Add in the water. Once the water comes to a boil add in the salt and check for seasonings. Adjust if needed
At this point, if you have fish head (macher muro), add it in the jhol (gravy) and cook covered for 10 minutes. The head has a lot of deliciousness and this enriches the flavor of the dish
Drop in the fish fillets very carefully one by one and allow to simmer on a low flame for another 10 minutes
At the end of it, add in the ginger paste and give it a nice stir [See Notes]
Switch off the flame and allow it to rest. Serve hot with freshly prepared rice and a wedge of lemon
Notes
You may also add slit green chilies when the fish is simmering in the gravy
Red chili powder can be added if you want a red color to the gravy, however, I have not used it in the recipe. It is also not good for health
You may tear up or chop a few sprigs of coriander leaves and throw in the rui macher macher jhol at the end and keep covered till it is time to serve. This is not a mandatory step
In this recipe, I have added the ginger paste towards the end of the cooking process. Unless you are using store bought ginger paste (which I do not recommend), this gives a subtle aroma to the dish from the fresh ginger paste. If you are uncomfortable, you can add in the ginger paste along with the potato
You can add several other vegetables to this recipe like cauliflower (fulkopi) and make a delicious fulkopi diye rui macher jhol. For this, steam the cauliflower florets for a couple of minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe
Frying the cauliflower while cooking the fulkopi diye rui macher jhol also helps in improving the flavor profile of the dish
At the end of the cooking, you may add finely chopped coriander leaves.