Pabda (fish) in Mustard Jhol

Pabda fish (known in English as Pabo Catfish) is a very delicate fleshed fish. It needs to be cooked gently, and not moved around a lot as the flesh disintegrates quickly.

It is widely available in the UK in frozen block form at most Bangladeshi food grocers. Please check the expiry date before purchase (speaking from past experience).

Mustard seeds (Shorisha/Hoiro) are also a very Bengali spice. In Calcutta (Kolkata) mustard oil is the main form of fat in their cooking. It has a very pungent mustard flavour with a hint of heat, which is why i do not use it in cooking, unless i make a mustard based dish.

In this dish, i will be using only mustard seeds and no vegetables, to add flavour. It is called a jhol, which means sauce.

I used:

2 tbsp mustard seeds, soaked overnight in water
1 block Pabda (8 fish, heads and tails cut off, fins trimmed and cut into 2 pieces each)
1 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 medium onions, finely sliced
Salt to taste
1 tomato, chopped
Chopped coriander
4 green chillies
1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
1/2 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tbsp curry powder
Coriander to garnish

Firstly, you need to soak mustard seeds in water overnight. This will allow them to soften to make blending easier.

When using frozen fish, salt the fish when defrosting. This will take away any freezer smell. Wash well, and put in colander to drain while making the jhol (sauce).

In a saucepan, heat up your oil. Once hot, add your garlic, let that brown then add your onions, salt, chopped tomato, coriander and green chillies. Turn the heat to low, and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, until the onions have disintegrated (broken down into mush). If not completely mushed, use a potato masher to do this.

Add in your spices and cook for about 5 minutes.

In a blender, pour in your mustard seeds, including water, and blend for a minute. Take this and add to the spices. Mix well and cook for 2 - 3 more minutes.

Then add your fish, stir once to mix well, then cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add boiling water for the jhol, adjust water according to how saucy you want it, then cover and cook on low heat for another 7 minutes. Holdimg the saucepan, swish gently to make sure curry is mixed well. Do not stir! Take off heat.

Garnish with coriander and serve when hot with rice.

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz ♥