Kalo Jeere bata ar Lau diye Ilisher Matha / Hilsa cooked with Bottle gourd

( Vegetarians can enjoy this dish too. Just ignore the adding of the fish part in the recipe and serve with chopped fresh coriander leaves.)

I had started food blogging with no particular aim ... not even of keeping my recipes for myself. And with time got hooked to it. The more friends I made, the more people visited my blog, the more I got mails ... the more the addiction.

But I cannot overlook the fact that my blogging has been marred with breaks and has me thinking if it is jinxed for me. I am not superstitious ...
 still cannot make out why the moment I do a few posts, I have to take a break ...
that are turning longer by the time ...
with health related issues.

I am not ready to turn superstitious just yet ... but do wonder if having a havan done for Kichu Khon or chanting of a few mantras would let me do my favourite thing in peace ..
... i.e. cook and share it with you all.

And since I have not yet found the answer,
I am thinking of at least hanging a string of nimbu mirchi from my nose when
I sit down to make a post.  :-)

Am slowly getting back my kitchen to myself.
And was waiting for a taste of this year's Ilish/Hilsa.
Since I have been traveling a lot in the recent past, I did not get the chance of having ilish
even once this season.
So when my fishwala called, I rushed and bought a good 1.5 kg 'Kalkatta ka Ilish'.
Ilsih from Calcutta means Ganga's Ilsih ...
which is said to be tastier than the other varieties.

The fish was good.
Not too small ... too small sized Ilish has too many bones ... thin as threads ... and very difficult to deal with.
Not too big ... too big and with too much roe fish does not taste as good.

And after relishing the plain Ilish Bhaja, Patla Jhol, Ambol, and Chanchra,
I still had a few pieces and part head left.
Wanted something different, so called out to my FB friends for a recipe.

Sudeshna suggested making it with Lau / Lauki / the Bottle gourd
after coming to know of the few vegetables I had in my fridge.

Thanks Sudeshna for the quick suggestion!

 I'd been watching a lot of cookery shows the past few months and all the Bengali channels had Ilish as the main ingredient ever since the monsoons started.
And I kept track of all the recipes.

Since the Ilish is such a flavourful fish, too many masalas are not needed.
Just a variation in the tempering and you will get a wonderful dish!

So here is a new dish that I made with the Ilisher matha.
It was so good I did not need anything else to go with my plate of steaming hot rice!
I believe this will make a wonderful dish on the side if you are planning
a traditional Bengali meal or feast.

Here's is how I made it.

Need :  One Ilish / Hilsa head - medium sized

( marinate with some salt and turmeric powder ... no need to keep for longer than 10 mins )

Mustard oil - around 6 tbsp

Kalo Jeere / Kalaunji - around 4 tbsp

Kalo Morich / Black Pepper - 1 tbsp

Lau / Lauki - 1 medium sized

Grated Ginger - 1 tbsp

Green Chillies - 3

Haldi / Turmeric powder - a pinch ( not more )

Salt - to taste

Sugar - to taste - 1 small pinch

How to :

Peel and chop the Lau into small sized pieces.

Grind the Kalo Jeere and the Black Pepper seperately in the mixer ... without water.

( I just ran the Kalaunji twice  but made a finer powder of the black pepper ).

Heat the mustard oil in a kadahi / wok.

Fry the fish head well on all sides ... cover after letting in  and when turning ... splutters real bad.

Do not over fry or brown it too much.

Remove and lightly break it into pieces ... usually pressing it down with a strong ladle helps it to break into proper sized pieces. 

Heat a little more oil in a fresh kadahi

( usually the same oil is used but if the oil gets burnt or there is too much turmeric when frying the head, it affects the taste ).

Break the green chillies into half and add them to the oil.

Next, add the chopped lau and toss well.

Now add the grated ginger, a little turmeric, sugar and salt.

Cover and cook till the lau is almost done.

Remove cover and add the ground Kalo jeere / Kalaunji.

Cover again and cook for 5 mins. This helps in the flavours to seep in.

Now remove cover and add the fish head and replace cover.
Do check if there is enough moisture or add a little water if needed.

Cook for 10 more minutes.

Remove the cover, sprinkle the ground black pepper and give a good stir.

Replace cover and remove from heat.

Serve with hot steamed rice and a dal on the side.

This dish turned out to be one of my best experiments so far!

It is so different that I'd encourage vegetarians to try making the Lauki this way once.

Enjoy!

Other Ilish Recipes on Kichu Khon

Baked Shorse Ilish 

Ilisher Matha diye Ambol

Ilisher Dim diye Ambol

Ilish Maach Bhaja

Ilisher Chenchra 

Ilisher Dim Makha

Ilisher Patla Jhol