Tel Maach or Spicy Fried Fish Curry
On July 24, 2013 by Meghalee Das
Tel Maach refers to any recipe where the fish is fried and then cooked in a mustard oil-based gravy, ‘tel’ meaning oil. It is a popular Bengali fish curry, where the gravy is full of spices, onions, ginger and garlic. Because of this, the dish is also called ‘Tel Jhaal’, which means hot or spicy. It goes very well with hot white rice and the spicier the better! There are certain varieties of fish, both small and big, which are traditionally used for making Tel Maach:
Tel Koi (Climbing Perch)
Tel Pabda (Pabo Catfish)
Rui Macher Tel Jhaal (Freshwater Carp or Rohu)
Magur Tel Jhaal (African Catfish)
Boal Macher Tel Jhaal (Wallago, another kind of catfish)
Unfortunately, I do not have access to all these delicious kinds of fish here, so I usually use tilapia, catfish, trout and so on. Although Koi and Pabda are the most popular choice for making Tel Maach, you can try this recipe with any fish depending on your preference and availability.
Ingredients:
Fish pieces: 6-8 medium
Mustard oil: 1/2 cup
Chopped onions: 1 medium
Chopped ginger: 1/2 inch piece
Green chillies: 1 or 2, slit
Chopped green/spring onions: 1 stalk
Diced tomato: 1 medium
Chopped coriander leaves: 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Paach foron: 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies: 1
Turmeric: 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Sugar: 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Sprinkle a little salt and turmeric powder over the fish pieces and lightly rub to coat them all over. Heat mustard oil and fry the fish till they become crispy. Remove and keep aside.
2. In the same oil, add cumin seeds, paach foron and dried red chillies. When they start to splutter, add the onions, ginger and chillies and fry them till they start to get golden.
3. Now add the tomatoes, green/spring onions, spices (turmeric, red chilli, garam masala), sugar and salt.
5. Once the tomatoes become mushy, add the coriander leaves and the fish pieces. Gently toss the pieces so that the masala coats it properly and take off from heat after 5 more minutes.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves, serve hot with white rice and also pour the spicy oil gravy over the rice.
Update: Yesterday I made some Tel Maach again with a beautifl fillet of Steelhead Trout. The results were mouthwatering!
- Fish pieces: 6-8 medium
- Mustard oil: ½ cup
- Chopped onions: 1 medium
- Chopped ginger: ½ inch piece
- Green chillies: 1 or 2, slit
- Chopped green/spring onions: 1 stalk
- Diced tomato: 1 medium
- Chopped coriander leaves: 2 tbsp
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Paach foron: ½ tsp
- Dried red chillies: 1
- Turmeric: ½ tsp
- Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
- Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
- Sugar: ¼ tsp
- Salt to taste
- Sprinkle a little salt and turmeric powder over the fish pieces and lightly rub to coat them all over. Heat mustard oil and fry the fish till they become crispy. Remove and keep aside.
- In the same oil, add cumin seeds, paach foron and dried red chillies. When they start to splutter, add the onions, ginger and chillies and fry them till they start to get golden.
- Now add the tomatoes, green/spring onions, spices (turmeric, red chilli, garam masala), sugar and salt.
- Once the tomatoes become mushy, add the coriander leaves and the fish pieces. Gently toss the pieces so that the masala coats it properly and take off from heat after 5 more minutes.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with white rice.
