East Indian
Macher Jhol (Light Everyday Bengali Fish Curry)
Macher Jhol (Light Everyday Bengali Fish Curry) is East Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb fish steaks (rohu or catla)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 4 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp nigella seeds
- 1 potato, cubed
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 3 green chilies, slit
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1.25 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Rub the fish pieces with turmeric and half the salt and let them marinate for 10 minutes.
- Heat the mustard oil in a pot until it just smokes, then fry the fish pieces briefly until lightly golden on both sides, and set aside.
- In the same oil, temper the cumin and nigella seeds, then add the potato and fry for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the ginger paste, tomato, ground cumin, ground coriander, and remaining salt, and cook until the tomato softens.
- Add the water and green chilies, bring to a boil, and simmer until the potato is tender, about 12 minutes.
- Slide the fried fish back in and simmer gently for 5 minutes so it takes on the thin gravy, then finish with cilantro and serve hot over rice.
Serve it with
A East Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Macher Jhol (Light Everyday Bengali Fish Curry), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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The protein alongside
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What it is eaten with
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Macher Jhol (Light Everyday Bengali Fish Curry) carries fish. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | Yes | Aloo Posto (Potato in Poppy Seed Paste) |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- High
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Meat or fish and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Macher Jhol (Light Everyday Bengali Fish Curry) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on fish and potato.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from East India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.