Kasundi ilish

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Kasundi Ilish uses supplied Bengali mustard sauce for a Hilsa curry, rather than making a fresh mustard paste. Her selected version combines ordinary Kasundi with plain curd, optional poppy-seed paste, green chillies and optional garlic paste.

The fish is washed and marinated with half the salt and turmeric. This version includes head and tail pieces, which are fried in mustard oil and lifted out; the other fish pieces enter the curry without that separate frying step.

Kasundi, poppy-seed paste, plain curd, salt and turmeric are mixed in a bowl. The mixture is poured into the same fish-frying oil, followed by garlic paste, salt and slit green chillies.

The sauce cooks briefly over a low flame before the fish pieces join it. A lid covers the pan, and a spatula turns the fish during cooking.

When the gravy reaches a semi-thick consistency, the heat is switched off. The Hilsa curry is served hot with prepared steamed rice, following the author’s serving instruction.