Magur machher rosha

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Magur Machher Rosha is a spicy Bengali catfish curry with potatoes. The selected recipe prepares a separate ginger-and-garlic spice paste and cooks fried fish and potatoes in an onion-and-tomato gravy.

The cut fish is marinated with salt, turmeric and mustard oil. Onion is peeled and chopped, potatoes peeled and cut into wedges, tomato roughly chopped and green chillies sliced; ginger and garlic pastes are mixed with ground spices, salt, sugar and mustard oil into the separate paste.

The fish fries in mustard oil and is lifted out. Potatoes then fry with additional turmeric and salt in the same oil until mostly cooked and are lifted out too; bay leaf and dried red chilli temper the remaining oil.

Onion cooks until pink and tomato until it melts, with a little salt added as oil separates. Water is added in stages, followed by the sliced green chillies; potatoes return and cook under a lid before further water is added.

The fried fish returns to the gravy for a short boil. The author serves the finished curry hot with steamed rice.