I used Rui (Rohu) fish head for this recipe, the fish weighed little more than 1 kg. At the time of Cutting the whole fish, the fish vendor would cut 1 whole fish head into two halves length-wise.

Sprinkle salt and ½ tsp of turmeric powder on top of the fish head pieces, toss to coat, and keep aside.

Wash gobindobhog chal 3-4 times, drain, and keep aside.

Peel the potato and cut into cubes, wash and keep aside.

Heat 1/2 cup oil in a kadai/deep frying pan.

Fry the potato pieces until golden, remove and keep aside.

Over medium heat start frying the fish heads, make sure that you covered the kadai with a lid by keeping a small gap so that the steam can escape. At the time of frying, Fish heads tend to splatter oil, so one needs to be careful at this step. Fry the pieces of fish head until they turn golden brown in colour. Remove and keep aside.

After frying the fish heads there should be 4 tbsp oil in the kadai for further cooking. If not, add some at this stage.

Temper with bay leaf, dry red chilli, and cumin seeds.

Add chopped onion, and fry over medium heat until light brown in colour.

Add ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, green chilies, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, and kashmiri mirch powder. mix and cook over medium heat for a few seconds. Now add a few tablespoons of water, and keep stirring the masala until it starts leaving oil. Adding water at this stage prevents the spices from burning, helps to dissolve the masala, and enhances the flavour.

Add gobindobhog chal and potatoes. Mix well, over low heat cook for 5 minutes, stir in between.

Now add 1 cup of hot water and fried pieces of fish head, mix well, cover, and cook until the rice grains are cooked through. All this over low heat.

Keep stirring in between to prevent burning from the bottom of the pan.

Break the pieces of fish head with the help of the spatula while you stir Muri Ghonto. Add splashes of hot water if you feel that the Ghonto is drying up too much. The consistency of Muri Ghonto should be on the thicker side not runny. Due to the starch present in the rice, Muri Ghonto starts to thicken a bit when it gets cooled.

Add sugar and garam masala powder after the potatoes and rice get cooked. Mix gently, and cook for 2-3 minutes more uncovered. A little addition of sugar is necessary here, it doesn’t make the dish sweet, balances the flavours instead, and enhances the taste.

Remove from the heat. Muri Ghonto is ready to serve now. Enjoy this hot with steamed rice.