Aar Macher Kalia
Tangy, flavorful, and rich Bengali Aar Macher Kalia; a fish curry prepared with Aor aka Singara Fish. This is a must try recipe of Bengali Macher Jhol
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Servings: 5 People
Calories: 399kcal
Cost: Rs 400
Ingredients
- 5 pieces Aar Mach 500 g
- 3 Potatoes
- 2 Onions big
- 1 Tbsp. Ginger Paste
- 1 Tbsp. Garlic Paste
- 2 Tomato
- 2 Green Chili
- 20 Raisins
For Tempering
- 2 Dry Red Chili
- 6 Clove
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 4 Green Cardamom
- 2 Bay Leaves
Spices
- 1 Tsp. Turmeric Powder
- 1.5 Tsp. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp. Cumin Powder
- 1 Tsp. Bengali Garam Masala Powder
- 1 Tsp. Salt or to taste
- 1 Tsp. Sugar
- 4 Tbsp. Mustard Oil
- 1 Tbsp. Ghee
Instructions
- I use pieces from a big size fish for this recipe. Also, I do not use a head or tail in this recipe. You may refer to the fish cut (round) in the picture.
- Take 5 pieces (at least 100g each or more) of Aar Mach.
- Marinate the fish chunks with ½ Tsp. each of Turmeric Powder and Salt.
- Keep the fish marinated for 15 minutes before cooking.
- Soak Raisin in warm water for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel the skin of potatoes and cut those into halves if using medium size potatoes. You can cut those into 4 pieces if using big-size potatoes or can use whole if using baby potatoes.
- Roughly chop 1 onion and make a paste of another onion.
- Make a paste of the tomatoes along with the green chilies.
- Now heat mustard oil in a pan till the oil emits aroma and changes color.
- Now lightly fry the fish from both sides.
- Do not over-fry Aar Maach aka Singara Fish. Over-fried fish after cooking in gravy will have the texture of rubber which should not be the case. Instead, lightly fry the fish chunks.
- Fry each side for a maximum of one minute.
- Once fried strain fish chunks from the oil.
- Now sprinkle ½ Tsp. each of the turmeric powder and salt on potato chunks and marinate those.
- Fry the potato chunks in the remaining oil in the pan till those are golden brown in color and ½ done.
- Strain potatoes from the pan.
- Now add half of the ghee to the oil.
- Temper the ghee and oil mixture with dry red chilies, clove, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, and also bay leaves.
- Once the spices emit aroma add chopped onion and also onion paste together.
- Fry both on low flame till the onion changes color and there is no raw aroma.
- Now add ginger garlic paste followed by the tomato and green chili paste, and give a thorough mix.
- Cook for at least 3 minutes till there is no raw smell.
- Now add Turmeric Powder, Red Chili Powder, Cumin Powder, Sugar, and Salt, and give a thorough mix.
- Keep the flame medium and stir continuously till the sides of the mixture leaves oil.
- This will take around 5-7 minutes and then the mixture will change color.
- While frying, you can add 1-2 Tbsp. water if the mixture is getting dried.
- Add soaked raisins and mix again.
- Now add 2 cups full of water and after mixing bring it to a boil.
- Add fried potatoes and keep cooking till the potatoes are well done.
- This may take around 7-10 minutes while keeping the flame low depending on the quality of the potatoes.
- Once potatoes are cooked add fried fish and give a light mix.
- Cook for 2 minutes on high flame.
- Add remaining Ghee and Bengali Garam Masala and after mixing switch the flame off.
- Cover the pan with a lid and open the lid after 10 minutes or while serving.
Notes
- Aar Mach is also known as Aor Fish/ Seenghala fish/ Aor Fish.
- Sugar is optional. You can skip it and this has nothing to do with me being a Ghoti. It is just, sugar balances the flavors.
- You can skip the ghee to make the Aar Macher Kalia less-calorie Fish curry.
- Last but not the least, you can skip raisins too. However, I like the bits of raisins in Macher Kalia.
Nutrition
Serving: 150g | Calories: 399kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.8g | Protein: 28.3g | Fat: 18.1g | Saturated Fat: 3.9g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 932mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5.2g
