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Wash Bhetki fish chunks thoroughly and rub half of the salt and turmeric powder and leave those for 10 minutes.
Slice Onions thinly and chop tomato into small pieces.
After removing the skin cut the potatoes into halves.
Separate the florets from the cauliflower. I prefer to use medium size florets.
Take cauliflower florets with a cup of water and microwave for 2 minutes at a high temperature. You can replace this step by boiling cauliflower for 2 minutes and discarding the water completely.*
Now, heat oil in a deep-bottom pan and lightly fry fish chunks from both sides on medium flame for 2-3 minutes.**
Strain fish chunks from the oil and keep them aside.
Now fry potato halves on medium flame until they turn golden brown in color and are cooked ⅔ from inside. This will take around 5 minutes.***
After frying the potatoes, fry the cauliflower florets in the remaining oil for 5 minutes until they turn brownish and crispy.
Remove those from the oil and temper the oil with a bay leaf, dried red chili, whole cumin seed, and 2 green cardamoms, and cook for 1 minute on a low flame.
Mix asafoetida with a tablespoon of water and add the mixture to the tempering.
When the water evaporates completely, add sliced onion to the tempering.
Cook on medium flame until the onion is fried completely and turns brown.
This will take around 2-3 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and mash using a spatula.
Cook until the tomato is mixed completely and leaves the edges of the pan.
Add ginger and garlic paste at this point and mix thoroughly.
Now add cumin powder, Coriander powder, Turmeric Powder, Sugar, and Salt to the spice mix.
Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the oil comes out of the mixture and the mixture starts leaving the edges of the pan.
Add 1 tablespoon of water in between if the mixture dries.
Now add fried potatoes and mix thoroughly.
Add 2 Cups full of water to cover the potatoes completely and bring the mixture to a boil on medium flame.
It took me 5 minutes to boil potatoes after covering the pan with a lid. This time may vary with the type of potato. Keep checking the doneness of potatoes in between.
Add fried cauliflower at this point and cook for 2 minutes.
Now add fried fish pieces and ½ a cup of water, and boil the curry for 2-3 minutes. Finish it by adding Bengali Garam Masala Powder and a little Ghee.
Serve Bhetki Maacher Aloo Phulkopi diye Kalia with steamed rice!