Aar Macher Jhol (Long Whiskered Catfish Curry)

Day 77 of Lockdown 5.0 and Day 9 of Unlock 1.0

The weather has turned very monsoony. I know that is not a genuine word, but when you see these lovely rain laden clouds float by your balcony, you don't feel like sticking by any grammar rules. Your heart just kind of gets into a romantic mood.

The vista in front of my home is getting surreal by the day. Though  officially monsoon is stated to enter Maharashtra by weekend, the sky feels like monsoon is already here. See the below images and you will know what I am talking about. I am one of those still fortunate to have this view from my balcony even after living in the city, or I may say fringes of the city. So it may be a bit far away form the heart of Pune, but each day when I used to come back home from office before lockdown I used to feel like this view is every bit worth the travel time.

I wake up to birds chirping outside my window. I hear the breeze blowing through the mango grooves below. I can see the clouds making different formations all the time. And yeah on a clear full moon night I stand in the balcony for hours admiring the play of the moon and the clouds. I cant tell you how surreal it feels at that moment. You need to be here to witness and experience it, only then you might get an idea of what I am talking about.

The base recipe is that of my mom's. She used to make this all the time with prawns. And believe me when you make this with prawns or any freshly caught fish, the aromatics in this simple dish elevates the flavor of the fish by hundred times. When you read the recipe you will know why I am calling this a simple dish. Practically there is no ginger, garlic any of those stuffs which we often use to enhance a good spicy curry. But still whenever mom makes this, I feel it is just out of the world yummy. The trick is in how patiently you fry the onions, to give it a nice color and flavor.

After a long long time I had chanced upon some pumpkin in my neighborhood market and I was too eager to add it to my curry. So I thought why not combine the base recipe and pumpkins. I faintly remembered mom also made this combination recipe, so I was confident on the outcome.

This is the first time I was cooking Aar fish by myself. So as they say whenever you try a new fish, make it with spicy gravy so that even if the fish tastes not so good, the curry will save the day. I got the Aar fish from Fresh To Home. FTH has been such a great savior in this lockdown, and i think I am going to stick with it even in the long term because the products they give are really fresh and awesome.

Though this was the first time I was about to work with Aar, it being from the catfish family made me at easy. I am practically a pro with anything to do with the regular magur or catfish curry. It is one of my favorite foods and I love it to the core. When you put magur in any dish you barely need to do any heavy lifting in the curry. The freshness and flavor of Magur itself changes the entire dynamics of the dish.

This recipe goes well with any fish - Magur, Aar, Shoal, Rohu, Catla even prawns and other sea fishes.

Marination Time : 30 minutes

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serving : 3-4 people

Ingredients :

• Aar Mach - 500 gm (5-6 pieces)
• Onion - 2 medium, sliced thinly
• Green Chilli - 3-4
• Pumpkin - 100 gm, diced (optional)
• Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Red chilli powder (Kashmiri lal mirch)- 1 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Cardamom - 1
• Cinnamon - 1 inch
• Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tsp
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Salt and sugar to taste
• Mustard Oil

Procedure: 

1.  First of all wash and clean the fish. Sprinkle salt,turmeric and 1 tsp of mustard oil and coat them well. Let it marinate for about 30 minutes.

Tip: Add oil to the marinade when marinating catfish family of fish. They have a tendency to splutter a lot otherwise while frying. This will reduce the spluttering to a great extent

2. Take mustard oil in a wok. When oil is steaming, fry the fish pieces in batches till they are lightly browned on the sides. Take them out and keep it aside.

3. In the same oil saute the diced pumpkins. Please note this is completely an optional step. But since I love having regular catfish with pumpkins I decided to add some in this gravy as well. Slightly brown the edges of the pumpkin and take them out.

4. Check the oil level in the wok, if it is less add extra mustard oil and let it heat up. Add enough oil to fry two onions. When the oil is hot, temper it with a bruised cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and jeera. 

5. Toss in the thinly sliced onions. Add a pinch of salt to the onions to cook it faster. Give it a good toss and let the onion cook

6. Meanwhile in a bowl, take about half a cup of warm water. Add all the dry powdered spices to create a spice mix - turmeric, coriander, red chilli powder. Give it a good stir and let it sit till the onions are done

7. Onions should get cooked and slightly browned along the edges. Add the spice mixture and give it all a good stir. Keep the flame at medium-high. Add the salt and sugar at this stage. 

Tip: I like this particular gravy a little sweet and spicy. So the amount of sugar is more than other fish gravies, like i almost added 2 and 1/2 tsp of sugar to this. But if you don't like a sweeter curry then adjust the taste accordingly. 

Also, pumpkin gravies go well with a little sweetness, so that's another reason for adding sugar.

7. When it starts to release oil, add about two cups of warm water and fold in. Add the fried fish pieces and slitted green chillis.

8. Let it cook for about 5 minutes with lid on. Then add the fried pumpkins and cook for 5 more minutes giving it a slight stir.

The quick and easy fish curry is ready in a jiffy. Serve it with white rice and enjoy!

Do try this out and tag me (@curriesnstories07) on Instagram on your photos whenever you try the recipe and I will give a shout out to you.