Fish Kaalia, fish curry, doi maach are widely popular Bengali delicacies. Fish Korma,however might be a little less common, but it is a favourite of any special occasion.
You might stumble upon other Fish Korma recipes, that call for a number of other ingredients, well that’s absolutely fine. Food cooked at home and for our family is made best with home ingredients and lots of love.
Ingredients:
- 5-6 handsome chunks of Katla fish
- Oil 1/4 cup(you can mix ghee, optional)
- 1 and 1/2 Fried onion (beresta)
- Freshly grated Ginger 1.5 tbsp
- Freshly grated Garlic 1.5 tbsp
- Cardamon (elachi) 3
- Clove (long) 3-4
- Cinnamon 2 inch
- Black pepper pods 3-4
- Sugar 1/2 tsp(to taste)
- Salt 2 tsp (to taste)
- Yogurt 2 tbsp
- Cashew paste 1 tbsp
- Kismis or raisins 1 tbsp
- No turmeric, or chilli powder to be used, as we intend to keep the color of the gravy white/ off-white
- Curry paste
- 1 and 1/2 big onion
- Freshly grated Ginger 1.5 tbsp
- Freshly grated Garlic 1.5 tbsp
- Green chillies : 3-4(depending on your heat tolerating capacity)
- 1 teaspoon shahi Garam masala powder
Procedure
- Marinate the fish with lemon juice and salt
- Heat oil in a pan or wok and gently fry the fish chunks lightly
- Keep the fried fishes aside and add little oil or ghee(if you want to make the dish rich) and add whole spices: cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon in the pan
- Once the spices turn fragrant add little sugar in the oil, then add the paste of onion-ginger-garlic-chilli paste and fry till the raw smell is gone. Add cashew kismis paste and give everything a real mix(I generally blend all the things together, you can blend separately as well)
- Beat the curd well and add in
- (Tip: you can pulse the curd once or twice in mixer grinder for perfectly beaten texture)
- Add warm water, if the gravy turns too thick or dry, maintain the consistency little thick, we don’t want it to be runny; if required add warm water
- Add the fish pieces
- Cover the pan with a lid
- Turn the heat down to minimum and simmer for 5-10 mins (depending on the doneness of the gravy)
- Stir gently often so that the gravy doesn’t stick to the pan and add shahi Garam masala powder
- Adjust seasoning and add half of the fried onions( keep the rest for garnishing at the time of serving, else all of it will turn mushy and not stay crispy)
To serve, garnish with the remaining fried onion sprinkled over.
This recipe is a rather simple one, and not so rich. You can elevate the richness of the dish by adding ghee, more cashew nuts, rose water, kewra water, pinch of saffron(dissolved in milk).
You can use rohu or Bhetki fish too for preparing fish korma.
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