Muri Ghonto/ Fish Head Curry

Muri-Ghonto, one of the most popular & traditional Bengali dish. The word 'Muri' or 'Muro' stands for head. Muri-ghonto usually taste better with large fish heads, but as we get Tilapia fish here, so I prepared it with that. It can be prepared in different ways with cabbage, lentils, bottle gourd,etc but here i used the most common way that is cooked with rice.

Sharing the way I cooked with you, hope you will like it.

INGREDIENTS

· 1 Big fish head of Tilapia  (Mostly used is Rui/Rohu or Katol/Catla)

· 100gm Basmati Rice

· 2 medium size potatoes

· 1 onion finely chopped

· 1 tsp garlic-ginger paste

· ½ tsp turmeric powder

· ½ tsp red chili powder

· ½ of cumin powder

· 1 Dry chili

· 2 bay leaves

· Garam Masala (mixture of whole of 2 Cinnamon, 2 Clove & 2 Cardamom )

· 1 cup of warm water

· Salt as per taste

· Mustard oil/vegetable oil for cooking

PREPARATION

·  Wash the rice and keep it aside after rinsing the water thoroughly.

·   Clean the fish head of its gills and wash under running water.

·   Then marinate the fish head with turmeric powder & salt for 2-3 mins.

·    Cut the potatoes into small cubes.

·   Fry the fish head in deep frying pan till it turns brown with 4-6 tsp of oil.

·   Take out the fish and keep it aside, then fry the potatoes in the same pan & oil (add more oil only if needed).

·   Once the potatoes are fried well, take them out & keep them aside too.

·   Then in the same pan, put another 4-5 tsp of oil and then sauté the dry chili, bay leave &  garam masala.

·   Then add the chopped onions, garlic –ginger paste, turmeric powder, chili powder & cumin powder and fry for a minute.

·   Add the potatoes & rice, stir well and fry for some more time.

·   Pour the water and stir again to mix all the ingredients.

·   Then add the fish head and salt.

·   Cook it under a lid cover for 5 minutes intervals of stirring for 15-20 mins.

·   Once the potatoes are fully cooked & the water is fully absorbed, turn off the heat.

·   Serve hot with white rice.

BAPPA ILISH (HILSA FISH STEAMED IN MUSTARD SAUCE)

When I was a child, on weekends, my father (Baba) used to take me to the big Sunday  market. Sunday Market visits were usually used to get the fresh and good quality non veg stuffs like Chicken, mutton & fishes. If lucky enough, he would get the best of  Ilish mach ( as this fish used to be seasonal at that time) and on returning my mother (Ma) would cook it in the most delicious way . 

Though we could never replicate the taste mother puts in her cooking, but me and my husband, Ritesh tried to experiment something close to that !

By experiment, I always means trying new cooking stuffs which can be cook in less time. 

So here our experiment goes...

Ingredients

• 1 kg Ilish (Hilsa), cut into shape of streak.
• 1 tsp turmeric powder.
• 2-3 tsp mustard seeds.
• 2-3 green chili slit from the middle.
• 1 big onion, chopped finely.
• 2 tsp mustard oil.
• 1/2 tsp salt ( you can adjust as per your taste).

Method

• Soak the mustard seeds for 10-15 minutes in 1/2 cup of warm water. Then Grind them to make a thick mustard paste (Shorshe bata).
• Wash the fish and  take it in a big bowl.
•  Pour the mustard paste over the fish pieces, add chopped onion, chili, turmeric powder and salt. Mixed it very well covering all the pieces of fish.
• Take a pressure cooker and pour the complete mix into it. Add 1/2 cup of water to it and stir well. Drizzle the mustard oil over the paste mix. 
• Cover the lid and steam it on low flames for 2 whistles. Turn off the gas oven and let the steam out of its own. ) In case if you don't have pressure cooker, you can use microwave oven and cooked it for 20-25 mins till the fish pieces are fully cooked. )
• Serve hot with white rice and taste the most delicious steamed fish curry.  

SHORSHE MACHE JOL (MUSTARD FISH CURRY)

Hello Friends and thanks for taking out time and going through my blog. This is my first blog  I started on cooking. Cooking for me like many of you, is a energy booster and keep me creative & productive and many a time it works like a stress releaser.

I definitely love to experiment with different cuisines, but being a Bong I would love to start with my soul food, which always is fish curry.  That's a true confession of a hardcore Bong......without fish I think Bengali meals are incomplete.


Here is the recipe for the mustard fish curry...hope you'll enjoy cooking and tasting it...do 

share your cooking experiences


Ingredients:

The Fish :

1. 800 gm of fish, ideally Rohu/Salmon/King or any big fish, cut into medium pieces (this

quantity should yield about 8 to 10 medium pieces).

2. 1 teaspoon of salt

3. 1 Teaspoon of Turmeric

4. Oil for deep fry

The Mustard Paste:

1. 2 table spoons of poppy seeds

2. 3 table spoon of mustard seeds

3. 2/3 green chilies

4. 2-3 gloves of garlic
 
5. 1 small tomato

6.1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder.

The Cooking

1. Fish Preparation:

Cut and clean the fish pieces. Once they are cleaned, pat them dry with a kitchen towel and

 then marinate them with one table spoon of of turmeric powder & salt each, for 5-10 mins.

 In a pan heat some oil and once the oil is smoking hot, sprinkle a pinch of salt, this will help

 the oil remain calm when the fish pieces are added. Fry the fishes till light brown and

 remove them.

2. In a mixer grinder take the poppy seeds, mustard seeds, one green chilly,2-3 cloves of 

garlic, the turmeric, tomato, one generous pinch of salt and about 3 table spoons of water and

 grind it to a smooth paste. Keep the paste aside for future use.

3. Drain away the extra oil, leaving about two tablespoons in the pan, add back the fish

 pieces, add 3 to 4 cups of water, completely submerging the fish pieces. Cover the pan and

 let it come to a boil. Put some green chillies from the middle and add them to the pan

 according to your taste/heat tolerance. Once the water starts to boil, add the masala paste

 and let the fish cook for about 10 mins. Keep checking in between to make sure that the

 water has not dried. If the water dries add some more. The gravy should be on the thicker

 side and clinging to the fish. Enjoy the yummy fish curry with hot steamed rice for its

 perfect taste.