Rui Mach er Kalia is a traditional, popular and age-old Bengali style fish curry. I grew up eating this, and it has been a family favourite. I learned the recipe from my mother and now I am sharing it with all of you. If you’re trying this recipe don’t forget to share your experience with me. 🙂
Rui Mach er Kalia / Spicy Rohu Fish Curry
Rui Mach er Kalia is a traditional, age-old Bengali style fish curry. This delicious, spicy and flavourful curry tastes great with steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 6 pieces- Rui/Rohu Fish
- 2- Onion medium-sized (peel and cut into halves lengthwise)
- 1- Tomato large (roughly chopped)
- 2 tbsp- Ginger-garlic paste
- 2- Dry red chilli (halved)
- 1- Bay leaf
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp- Sugar (read notes)
- 1 tbsp- Kashmiri mirch powder/Red chilli powder
- 5-6- Green Chilies (adjust according to your tolerance)
- 10-12- Raisins
- Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp- Cumin powder
- 1 tsp- Coriander powder
- 4- Green cardamom (lightly crushed)
- 3-4- Cloves
- 1” (two pieces)- Cinnamon
- ½ cup- Mustard oil
- ¼ tsp- Garam masala powder
Instructions
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Rub 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp of turmeric powder on the freshly washed pieces of Rui/Rohu, keep aside.
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In a food processor add onion, green chilies, and tomato, blitz until smooth paste forms keep aside.
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Heat oil in a kadai/deep frying pan and fry the fish pieces until golden crisp. Remove and keep aside.
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In the remaining oil (5-6 tsp oil should be there in the kadai, otherwise add some more oil) temper with dry red chilli, bay leaf, green cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Sauté for a few seconds.
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Next to add the onion-chilli-tomato paste. Mix and stir for 1 minute over medium heat.
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Add ginger-garlic paste, cumin powder, ½ tsp of turmeric powder, coriander powder, kashmiri mirch powder, and salt. Mix well and fry till the oil separates from the masala (2-3 minutes approximately). Add 1 cup of water. Mix and give this a quick boil over high heat.
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Reduce the heat. Add the fish pieces, mix well with the curry. Keep the cover little open; this is to allow the steam to escape and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the raw smell of the masala goes.
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Add sugar, garam masala powder, and raisins, mix gently. Cook for another 2-3 minutes more. Your spicy and delicious Rui Mach er Kalia is done.
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Serve hot with steamed rice, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Adjust the consistency of the fish curry according to your liking. Add more water to the curry if you prefer. Typically, Kalia should be prepared to have a thicker consistency.
- Sugar doesn’t make this fish curry sweeter, it balances the overall taste of the other spices in a Bengali-style Fish Curry.
- You can cook Kalia using Katla and Bhetki fish also.
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