A Bengali meal means fish in many forms: some fried, some in a curry, some cooked as paturi. There are countless flavours and recipes, and with hot rice any fish curry is all you need. If the fish is pabda, so much the better. Here is how to make a pabda fish curry.

• Pabda fish: 4 to 5
• Salt, turmeric and mustard oil
• Garlic: 5 to 6 cloves
• Kashmiri red chilli powder: 2 spoons
• Tomato puree: 3 spoons
• Green chillies: 2 to 3
• Chopped coriander leaves

Cut and wash the pabda thoroughly. Rub it with salt, turmeric and a little mustard oil and set it aside for a while. In the pot you will cook the fish in, add 1 spoon of turmeric, 1 spoon of chilli powder, another spoon of turmeric, three spoons of tomato puree, 1 spoon of garlic paste and 2 spoons of mustard oil. Add a little lukewarm water and mix well.

Set the pan over a low flame and add two green chillies. In another pan, heat mustard oil and fry the fish, then carefully slide the fish into the sauce. Add a little chopped coriander, a little hot water and 2 slit green chillies.

Sprinkle over a little raw mustard oil before taking it off the heat, and leave it covered on a low flame for 10 minutes. The pabda curry is ready. Serve with hot rice.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.