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Katla Mach er Kalia/Spicy Katla Fish Curry

Katla Mach er Kalia/Spicy Katla Fish Curry

Katla Mach er Kalia is a traditional, age-old Bengali fish curry. Cooked with aromatic spices this curry tastes best with steamed rice.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Keyword gluten-free
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6 People
Author Chandrima

Ingredients

  • 6 pieces- Katla Fish
  • 2 medium-sized- Onion (peel and cut into halves lengthwise)
  • 1 big sized- Tomato (roughly chopped)
  • 8-9 cloves- Garlic
  • 1 tbsp- Ginger paste
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp- Sugar
  • ½ tbsp- Kashmiri mirch powder/Red chilli powder (Adjust as per your tolerance)
  • 5-6- Green Chillies (halved)
  • Turmeric powder
  • 1 tbsp- Cumin powder
  • 1 tsp- Coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp- Garam masala powder

For tempering

  • 2- Dry red chilli (halved)
  • 2- Bay leaf
  • 4- Green cardamom (lightly crushed)
  • 3-4- Cloves
  • 1” (two pieces)- Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp- Cumin seeds
  • Mustard oil

Instructions

  1. In a food processor add onion, garlic, green chillies and tomato, blitz until smooth paste forms, keep aside.

  2. Rub salt and a ½ tsp of turmeric powder on the freshly washed pieces of Katla.

  3. Heat ½ cup of oil in a kadai/deep frying pan and shallow fry the fish pieces until golden brown. Remove and keep aside. 

  4. In the remaining oil (5-6 tbsp oil should be there in the kadai, otherwise, add some more oil) temper with all the ingredients mentioned for tempering, sauté for a few seconds.

  5. add the onion-chilli-garlic-tomato paste. Mix and fry for 1 minute over medium heat. 

  6. Add ginger paste, cumin powder, ½ tsp of turmeric powder, coriander powder, kashmiri mirch powder, and salt. Mix well and fry for a few seconds.

  7. Now add ¼ cup water into this, mix, stir continuously and cook over medium heat until oil separates from the masala.

  8. Add 1 cup of water. Mix and give this a quick boil over high heat.

  9. Lower the heat, add the fish pieces now. Mix, cover and cook over low heat until the raw smell of the masala goes (15-20 minutes max). 

  10. Add sugar, garam masala powder, mix gently and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

  11. Your spicy, delicious Katla Mach er Kalia is done. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Recipe Notes

  • Adjust the gravy according to your desired consistency, add more water if you want. I prefer the kalia to be on the thicker side.
  • Sugar doesn’t make the fish curry sweeter, it balances the taste of other spices in a Bengali style Fish Curry.