Tangra machher jhol

Tangra Machher Jhol is a Bengali catfish curry; this profile selects Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s potato, eggplant and dried-lentil-dumpling version. She describes a light, savoury curry with panch phoron and adds onion and garlic in her own preparation.

Whole cleaned Tangra fish is marinated with turmeric, salt, red chilli powder and mustard oil. Potato is peeled and cut into wedges; eggplant is cut into wedges with its skin left on and separately seasoned, while onion and tomato are roughly chopped.

The lentil dumplings fry until golden and are lifted out. Further portions of the same listed oil are used to fry potato, eggplant and fish separately, each lifted out before the remaining oil is tempered with panch phoron.

Onion fries until light pink, then tomato and garlic paste cook with a little water until oil separates. Red chilli powder and the main water are added, and the fried potatoes return to simmer until tender.

The fried fish returns and the curry boils again before the fried eggplant and lentil dumplings are added. A raw mustard-oil finish and water adjustment give the slightly thin sauce; the recipe offers the finished curry hot with steamed rice.