Subhojit Sen picked up Ilish as the ‘hero’ ingredient for his monsoon menu at his cloud kitchen, The Harmony Pot, recently. The menu comprised recipes that were not only developed by him, but also fetched him a lot of praise. The MasterChef Season 7 contestant shared two of his special Ilish recipes with My Kolkata.
Hinge Dudhe Kancha Ilish
Hinge dudhe kancha ilish
“When we talk about Ilish, our minds usually stick to the usual dishes like Ilish Bhapa, Shorshe Ilish, or Ilish Machher Tel Jhol. We hardly consider trying new flavours with Ilish. So, for me, it was a bit of a challenge to bring something different to the table when it comes to Ilish. You see, us Bengalis are quite attached to our queen of fish and are quite particular about how it’s prepared,” said Subhojit.
Talking about his first experimental ilish dish, he added, “I had some doubts about how my new creation, Hinge Dudhe Kancha Ilish, would be received initially. If you're wondering how I came up with the idea, it all started when I was engrossed in a book about spices. I realised that when we cook vegetarian dishes with hing, it gives us almost the same taste that is cooked with onion and garlic. This got me thinking. Then the monsoon rolled in, bringing with it the finest hilsa catch. That’s when I decided to experiment with a hing-infused Ilish dish. However, the challenge was to create a gravy-style dish, which led me to consider using milk. After some brainstorming, I put this theory to the test with Pabda first, and to my delight, it worked! Then I mustered courage and finally replaced it with ilish. And guess what? It turned out to be a winner! Those who tasted it couldn’t stop praising it. There’s a special joy that comes with every successful recipe we develop. So, here’s my very own version of the recipe. If you’re not up for making it yourself, you can always order it from The Harmony Pot!”
Recipe:
Ingredients
- Ilish: 400 gm
- Hing: 1/2 tsp
- Full fat milk: 500ml
- Green chilli split: 6-7 pieces
- Mustard powder: 1/2 tsp
- Salt: as per taste
Method
- Marinate the fish in salt
- Heat oil and fry all the chillies and set aside
- Add hing and stir
- Then slowly add milk and let it boil for 1 minute
- Put the fish and cook for 5 minutes
- Add mustard powder and cook for 2 minutes more
- Adjust seasoning as per taste and serve with rice
Anaros Pora Kachalonka, Dhone Patar Dati Diye Ilish Paturi
Anaros pora kachalonka, dhone patar dati diye ilish paturi
“I love fish paturi, primarily because the fish is extremely moist in a paturi and second of all, there is a chargrilled flavour to it. I love that combination. So when I decided to make a paturi with Ilish, the first thought was to make it with pineapple, charred green chilli and coriander leaves. I used the same flavours for making Bekti Paturi last April. But I wanted to try this with Ilish because when the fish is cooked, the oil from it elevates the flavours of the marination,” revealed Subhojit.
Recipe:
Ingredients
- Ilish: 4 pcs
- Curd: 400gms
- Canned Pineapple: 3 slices
- Green chilli roasted: 8-9pcs
- Chopped coriander stem: 2 tbsp
- Salt: as per taste
- Mustard oil: 2 tbsp
- Banana leaf
Method
- Put curd in a muslin cloth and put a weight on it to drain out the water. This shall take you about 30 minutes
- Put the hung curd in a bowl. Add salt, mustard oil, chopped pineapple, chopped green chilli and chopped coriander stem. Mix all of them well together
- Season the fish with salt and add the curd mix. Marinate it well coating all sides in the thick paste
- Clean the banana leaf under tap water and pat them dry
- Now wrap each fish in the banana leaf and secure it with cotton thread to make paturi
- You can steam or fry each paturi on a pan with little mustard oil for 5-10 minutes
- Serve with steamed rice