Begun diye ilish jhol

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Begun diye Ilish Jhol is a light Bengali curry of Hilsa and thick, skin-on eggplant wedges. Her restrained spice mixture lets the fish remain prominent, with nigella, green chillies and optional freshly crushed garlic seasoning a runny broth.

The fish is washed and rubbed with salt, turmeric, red-chilli powder and some mustard oil. After marination, the eggplant wedges are rubbed with the marinade left in the fish bowl.

This selected version lightly fries the fish on both sides in mustard oil. Some of that fish-frying oil is removed before the eggplant fries briefly; the remaining pan oil is tempered with nigella and freshly crushed garlic, followed by halved green chillies.

The remaining turmeric, chilli powder and salt are mixed with a small water portion and added to the pan. The main water follows and is brought to a boil before the fish returns; the fried eggplant joins later.

The curry stays runny, with water, salt and chilli powder adjusted as needed. A final mustard-oil addition is lightly mixed through and cooked briefly before the heat is turned off. Debjani pairs the finished jhol with steamed hot rice.