Narkel Doodh-e Ilish Mach | Hilsa Fish Curry with Coconut Milk

5 from 2 votes

Course Fish

Cuisine Bengali

Keyword Debjanir Rannaghar, Hilsa fish curry recipe, Ilish Mach recipe, Ilish macher jhol narkel doodfh diye, Narkel Doodh-e Ilish Mach

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings People

Calories 378kcal

Cost Rs 1600

Get Recipe Ingredients

We have used around 600g of Hilsa Fish cut into 6 pieces.
Take cleaned and washed Ilish mach in a bowl and marinate with 1 Tsp. Salt, 1 Tsp. Turmeric Powder and 1 Tbsp. Mustard Oil as well.
Keep the fish marinated for 15 minutes before cooking.
Cut Green Chillies into long strips.

Now heat 100ml Mustard Oil in a Kadhai.
Please note, we are going to fry the fish lightly for this recipe. We will use the oil for this purpose. However, once the fish is fried, half of the oil from the pan will be separated to serve as Macher Tel.
Fry Ilish mach lightly for 30 seconds on each side.
Strain Ilish Mach bhaja aka fried Hilsa.
Following the same process, fry the remaining pieces except for the lyaja aka the tailpiece.
You need to fry Ilish macher lyaja for at least for 4 minutes.
This means you need to fry and strain the round piece once done if you are frying it together with lyaja.
Once done strain it too.

In the remaining oil, add 2 Green Chilies and fry those for a while.
Then with the help of a ladle separate half of the oil along with the green chilies in a metal bowl.
This is called Ilish Macher Tel. Serve it hot with steamed rice.
If not making Macher Tel, use only 50ml oil to cook Hilsa in Coconut Milk.
Temper remaining oil with 1 Tsp. Kalojire / Nigella Seed.
Add 4 Green Chillies to the tempering and Cook for a minute on medium flame.
Now add Coconut Milk.
Add 1 Tsp. Turmeric Powder and 1 Tsp. Salt as well.
Mix well and bring it to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
Now add 1 Cup of water. Mix again and cook for 2 minutes.
Add Fried Hilsa and cook for 5 minutes.
Once done switch the flame off and serve NArkel Doodh Ilish with Steamed Rice.

Giving Ilish mach a standing time after marination is optional however it helps in bringing the flavor from the fish after cooking.
Never deep-fry Ilish mach while cooking curry. We even cook some dishes with hilsa without frying them.
We used packaged coconut milk that can be replaced with freshly extracted coconut milk as well.