Kalojire diye Macher Rosha! Tangy Big Carp (Rohu or Katla) fish curry tempered with Nigella seed! Deep-fried fish is cooked with a tangy curry sauce and then served with steamy rice to soak it all up. By the way, you can have the Bengali-style fish curry tempered with Nigella Seed aka Macher Rosha with Roti as well!
Jump to:
- Bengali-style fish curry tempered with Nigella Seed
- Kalojire diye Macher Rosha Video Recipe
- The Makho makho affair!
- The Regular Macher Jhol Bhat
- Ingredients For regular Kalojire diye Macher Rosha
- Macher Rosha FAQ
- Recipe Card
- Bengali Fish Recipes
- Have you tried the Bengali Kalojire diye Macher Rosha recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
- Here's the Perfect Bengali Kalojire diye Mach Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!
Bengali-style fish curry tempered with Nigella Seed
Macher Rosha is neither a typical Bengali Macher Jhol nor Macher Kalia. This is a semi-dry fish preparation served with a tangy sauce cooked with onion and tomatoes and tempered with nigella seed aka Kalojire. In my place, we call this fish curry paka macher rosha. Paka Mach stands for big-size fish with bigger bones. Mostly fish that are beyond 3kgs are considered Paka.
Kalojire diye Macher Rosha Video Recipe
The Makho makho affair!
I prefer to make the gravy for this Bengali fish curry a bit on the thicker side. This is a personal choice. You can keep the curry runny as well. There's something called "makho makho" and "gorgore" in Bengali cuisine and this is one such gorgore macher rosha! You can use Rui / Katla / Mrigel / kalbosh mach for this recipe. Pieces from big-sized fish work best for this recipe! Ask for paka mach.
The Regular Macher Jhol Bhat
It is a typical Bengali thing to cook Mach Bhat for a mundane Bengali meal and I am no exception. We as a family eat fish curry and rice at least four times a week and even more without any complaints. This is normal in a fish and rice-eating Bengali family. I or our house-help cook the general jhol, jhal, bhapa, doi mach, or bhapa at home. While I cook, I prefer elaborate dishes on weekdays. Macher Rosha is one such dish that can be cooked within 30 minutes.
Ingredients For regular Kalojire diye Macher Rosha
You can find everything needed to whip up your very own homemade basic macher rosha. Most importantly, the ingredient list is beautifully short and basic.
Macher Rosha FAQ
No, they are not. In the local Bengali dialect, we refer to Rui, Katla, Mirgel, and Kalbosh as Pona Mach. They look almost identical yet they are different; both in look and taste-wise.
There are thousands of recipes for fish curry in Bengali cuisine Pona Mach I suppose. In some, we do fry the fish and skip. The base of the gravy differs too. I will be sharing a list below.
Once someone told me rasha came from Rassedar which means a tangy gravy-based dish. Who knows! All I know in my family a tomato-based tangy thick curry is called Rasha. We use both fish and veggies such as pointed gourd or cauliflower in Rasha.
Yes, Rasha is supposed to be spicy though not loaded with different types of spices.
Both plain rice and Roti go well with well-made macher Rosha. I do not like to serve it with Pulao or Paratha.
Recipe Card
Kalojire diye Macher Rosha
Kalojire diye Macher Rosha! Tangy Big Carp (Rohu or Katla) fish curry tempered with Nigella seed! Deep-fried fish is cooked with a tangy curry sauce and then served with steamy rice to soak it all up.
Ingredients
- 4 piece fish Katla fish, 100g each
- 1 Onion
- 1 Tomato big
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Paste
- 2 Green Chilies
- 8 tablespoon Mustard Oil the entire will not be used
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Nigella Seed / Kalojire / Kalonji
- 1.5 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Wash and pat the fish chunks dry.
- Sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder.
- Marinate the fish and let it sit for 10 minutes before frying.
- In the meantime, finely chop one onion and one tomato. Also, cut two green chilies in half.
- Heat 8 tablespoons of mustard oil in a pan, wok, or Kadhai.
- Heat the oil until its color changes.
- Begin frying the fish chunks. Keep the flame high, fry one side for 30 seconds, then flip and fry the other side.
- Continue this process for the remaining fish.
- I use extra oil for frying. Once done, I leave 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan to make the curry.
- The rest of the oil is flavored with chili and saved to serve with rice.
- To prepare the curry, temper the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan with 1 teaspoon of nigella seeds (also known as Kalojire or Kalonji).
- Add the green chilies to the tempered oil.
- Now, add the chopped onion and stir constantly.
- Cook on medium heat until the onion changes color.
- Then, add the chopped tomatoes and mix.
- Once the tomatoes soften, add 1 tablespoon of garlic paste.
- Mix continuously and cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of teaspoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt.
- Stir and cook for another two minutes, adjusting the spices if necessary.
- Once the mixture starts releasing oil, add one-third cup of water and mix well.
- Continue cooking until all the water has evaporated. You'll notice the oil has a beautiful red color and the tomatoes are completely soft.
- Now, add two cups of water and bring it to a boil.
- As soon as it boils, add the fried fish. Mix thoroughly and cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens.
- This should take about five to six minutes to cook perfectly.
- I prefer this consistency for Macher Rosha, but you can make it thinner and, of course, omit the sugar.
- While Macher Rosha pairs wonderfully with rice, you should definitely try it with Roti at least once!
Video
Nutrition
Bengali Fish Recipes
- Chitol Macher Muitha
- Aam Shol (also known as Shol Macher Tawk)
- Kumro diye Ilish Macher Jhol (also known as Hilsa fish curry with Pumpkin)
- Magur Macher Rosha
- Shobji diye Shutki Macher Jhol
- Piajkoli ar Aloo diye Tangra Macher Jhol (also known as Bengali Light fish curry prepared with Tyangra Maach, Onion Stalks and Potato)
- Shorshe Bata diye Parshe Macher Jhal (also known as Mullet Fish in Mustard Gravy)
- Charapona Macher Kabiraji Jhol (also known as Charapona Macher Jhol)
- Biye Barir Macher Kalia (also known as Katla Macher Kaliya)
- Doodh Maach (also known as Bengali Fish Curry cooked with Milk aka Dudh Mach)
- Bhetki Maacher Aloo Phulkopi diye Kalia (also known as Light Fish Curry with Potato & Cauliflower)
Have you tried the Bengali Kalojire diye Macher Rosha recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
I would love to see a picture if you are making the prawns following my recipe. You can share here at [email protected]. You can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and share it through Instagram as well. In addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
Here's the Perfect Bengali Kalojire diye Mach Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!
About Debjani Chatterjee Alam
I am Debjani Chatterjee Alam. A CSR specialist by profession and a food writer, food blogger, and food photographer as well. I live in Kolkata along with my Husband Mehebub who is an architect by profession, my daughter Pasta, and also my dog daughters Coffee and Luchi.
payal says
Hi Debjani,I have made this fish recipe many times, and everyone likes this recipe.Keep sharing such good recipes like this.
Debjani says
Thank you so much for your kind words.