Bengali Style Steamed Fish in Mustard Sauce

- May 22, 2020

Steamed mustard fish, is a Bengali recipe.Normally hilsa fish (a type of shad) is used in this recipe,which is one of the populest bengali dish, comonlly known as lish bhaape, also known as Shorshe lish bhapa (or bhaape) means Steamed mustard hilsa .

Those who are new to this recipe , fish are steamed in a mustard & yoghurt paste. Even though it sounds very polished, it is a fairly easy recipe to execute, requiring few ingredients, no special technique, and very little time.

Here I am using ‘Indian carp’ [Catla Catla] instate of hilsa , as hilsa is not a easily available , and also it is too much costly fish . Besides hilsa is, however, facing extinction due to high demand and overfishing.

You can used Rohu fish [Labeo rohita ] / Bata fish [Labeo bata]

If you want to use any verities of sea fish, you can used it. In this case pomfret / mackerel etc are preferable.

Now, Why should we eat fish?

Fish is one of such food which contain low-fat as well as high quality protein. Which makes it one of the important food in the plate of them, who are in weight loss journey.Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). Besides Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.

Fish also helps in improving vision and eye health.Consumption of fish improved quality of sleep due to fish's high concentration of vitamin D, which aids in sleep, according to the study. Fish can help alleviate your skin. A study published by BioMed Central noted that fish oil is beneficial to clearing skin for people with moderate to severe acne.

Are fish good for Heart?

Eating fish is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids. Which is essential to keeps our heart and brain healthy.Also omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Our bodies don't produce omega-3 fatty acids so we must get them through the food we eat. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in every kind of fish, but are especially high in fatty fish. Some good choices are salmon, trout, sardines, herring, canned mackerel, canned light tuna etc.

Is it possible to prepare fish with out oven or with minimum oil ?

Yes it is possible to prepare fish with out oven and even using minimum oil.Normally the way we prepare fish takes good quantity of oil, but here I am trying to make the fish in such a way that it takes 2-3 tbs oil.

It is a ideal recipe for not only who are in their weight loss journey but also for diabetic and PCOS patient.

So here the recipe is..

Course: Main

Cuisine : Indian (Bengali)

Prep Time : 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 4 pcs Fish

2 4 tsp Mustard seeds pasie(brown + yellow mixed preferable)

3 Tbsp poppy seeds paste (khas khas in hindi )

4 2-3pcs Green chillies

5 ½ tbps red chilli powder (optional)

6 ½ tbps Cumin Powder

7 4 tbsp Yoghurt (beaten)

8 Pink himalayan salt to taste (can also use normal one)

9 ½ tsp Turmeric powder

10 3 tbps Mustard oil

How to prepare paste

· Drain the mustard seeds of the water they’ve been soaking in and add them to a grinder jar. Add 1 green chillies, roughly chopped, along with the salt and 100g water. Grinding green chillies with the mustard ensures that it doesn’t turn bitter.

· Making the paste of poppy seeds separately in the same way.

· Grind these to a fine paste. Take your time with this process. Scrape down the sides of the jar and grind as many times as it takes to form the smoothest possible paste. The finer the grind, the better the flavours.

Method

1 Clean the fish ,3-cm thick slices (in bengali cut preferable). Thick slices of fish should not preferable. then marinate it with a little salt and turmeric powder for about 10 minutes.

2 Then in a pan adding 1 tbs mustard oil and over a medium-high heat.Heat until it is smoking hot,this removes the bitter pungency of the oil then bring it down to a medium high heat. Add the fish to the pan and fry to each piece lightly to remove its raw odor.(This step is recomendable for using fresh water fish i.e rohu/catla etc. Incase you are using sea water fish i.e pomfret / mackerel/ hilsa etc. No need to fry the fish.)

3 Now Transfer the paste of mustard seeds, poppy seeds to a steel tiffin box. Add beaten yoghurt, turmeric, and 1tbps mustard oil,red chillie powder,cumin powder, salt to taste, Mix until the oil is fully incorporated.

4 Now add the fish, one piece at a time, and coat it with the spices. Use your hands to make sure every part of the fish, including its cavities, is well coated.

5 Slit green chillies and place them on the fish pieces.

6 Fasten the lid of your tiffin box (you could also seal the top with thick aluminium foil) and set the fish aside to marinate for 10 minutes.

7 Heat up your pan and place a stand at the bottom. Pour hot water, making sure it doesn’t reach up to more than half the height of your tiffin box, or there’s a danger of water seeping in. Once the water has come to a boil, place the tiffin on the stand. Cover the pan and steam on medium heat for 15 minutes.