Katlar Kalia/Spicy fish curry|| ideal with steamed rice||Specially prepared on special occasions,festivals,get together

‘Katlar kalia’ or Katla fish curry is very famous in our Bengali cuisine.

Kalia,Qorma,Shorba are mainly derived from Mughals. Shorba is a runny,soupy gravy,Quorma is a ghee/butter based gravy while Kalia is also rich in taste and gravy and it’s based on milk or water which ends up as runnier at the end.

Kalia is mainly made with fresh water carps and the fish should be what we call in Bengali ‘Paka’ means fully grown more precisely mature.

We live abroad so get very few chances to cook these fishes,but we can also use this recipe with Salmon,Burramundi.

One thing we want to clear that the Bengali version of kalia is very different from the original version. Our recipe is moderately hot and is quite well counterbalanced with the taste of yoghurt and tomatoes.

You can serve it with some steamed rice or also with some Basanti Polao

So,let’s start making ‘katlar kalia’👇👇👇

Type: Fish curry,curry,side dish

Preparation time: 10-12 minutes

Cooking time- 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb Katla machh (any fish you can take like salmon,burramundi)
1/2 onion
1/2 inch ginger
For spice mix: 1 tsp turmeric powder,1 tsp cumin powder,1 red chilli powder,1 tsp paprika (kashmiri red chilli powder)
1/4 th cup fried onion
1 tomato diced
Salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs yoghurt
1 tsp garam masala
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin powder
2-4 whole red chillies
1 cup hot water

Procedure:

First in a blender jar,add 1/2 onion sliced and 1/2 inch ginger and make a fine paste
In a bowl make the spice mix
In a bowl add the fish and add 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp red chilli powder and coat it
Fry the fish in a mustard oil until golden brown and crisp
Take them out
We’ve added fish head as we like eating them,so its totally optional
In that oil,add 1 tsp whole cumin seeds and 2-4 whole red chillies
Fry until the aroma comes
Add the onion and ginger paste,mix and fry
Fry for at least 5-6 minutes until the onion paste is browned
And then add the spice mix and blend well
Now add the chopped tomatoes and mix until softened
At this point add the yoghurt and mix until oil separates
Add 1/4 th cup fried onion
Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes on a low medium flame
After oil separates add 1 cup hot water for the gravy
Bring it to boil and add the fried fish and fried fish head(optional)
Add 2-3 green chillies and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes on a low flame
Add 1 tsp ghee and turn off the heat
Give it a standing time of 10 minutes
And its done and served