Quick, Tasty, Uncommon & Easy to Cook Pabda Fish Recipe
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time35 minutesmins
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: bengali
Keyword: pabda fish curry, pabda jhal, pabda macher jhol
Servings: 4people
Author: Samrat Roy Chowdhuri
Cost: ₹140
Equipment
1 Wok & Spatula
1 Grinder & Mixer (Mixie)
1 Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
4pcPabda Fish or Butterfisharound 200-250 g
For Marinating the Fish
1/2tspturmeric powder
1/3tspsalt
1tspmustard oil
For Pabda Jhal Curry
4tspmustard oilor 1 big tablespoon
1pcpotatooptional
1pcbig sized onionor 2 medium sized onion
2tspginger
1/2tspturmeric powder
4pcgreen chilior 2
1sprigcoriander leaves (cilantro)
1.5cupwater
salt as per taste
1/2tspsugaroptional
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