Rui Macher Kalia/Spicy red thick curry with rohu fish

In a Bengali house rohu fish is the most common item, as we all know Bengali menu is not complete without a delicious fish dish. Rohu fish is called the king of fish and it does justice to any preparation. Every Bengali house have their own way of cooking it so you will find may be hundreds of varieties of dishes cooked with rohu fish or rui mach like jhol, doi mannch, kalia , korma, jhal are few from the many. This fish is also easily available in the fish markets of Bengal and the price is within the reach of almost every one. Rui macher kalia is a rich, spicy, colorful delicious gravy preparation. Today we are exploring this traditional spicy dish from Bengali kitchen.

Preparation time   15 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 thick steak size pieces of rohu fish
1 onion paste
1tsp of garlic paste
1tsp of ginger paste
½ tsp of green chili paste
½ cup fresh tomato puree
1 bay leaves
1 tsp of turmeric powder
½ tsp of red chili powder
1tsp of Kashmiri red chili powder
1 potato cut into long thick slices fried (optional)
1 tbsp of thick yogurt 
½ tsp of garam masala powder
1tsp of ghee / clarified butter
½  cup mustard oil
½ tsp of sugar
Salt to taste

Methods of Cooking

Wash the fish and pat dry then rub the fish with salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Then heat oil in a pan fry the fish till they are golden both sides and keep aside. Now in this oil add onion paste and ginger garlic paste and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Now in a small bowl mix all the dry masala except garam masala with little water and make very thick paste. Now add the tomato puree and the thick masala paste and salt and sugar and the yogurt. Stir and continuously cook until oil comes out from the masala. Now add the fish and fried potato if using potatoes are used mainly because Bengali kids love to have them. Mix well so that all the spices get well coated with the fish and fried potato. Now add 1 cup of water. Let it comes to boil. Cook for 10 minutes. When the gravy becomes thick add the ghee and the garam masala powder. Mix well. Cook for another 2 minutes. Put off the flame then cover and give 5 minutes standing time before serving. Garnish with green chilly or ripe red chili. Serve rui macher kalia with hot basmati rice or pulao.

HAPPY NAVRATRI TO ALL MY INDIAN FRIENDS AND HAPPY DURGA PUJA TO ALL MY BENGALI FRIENDS WORLD OVER.

Happy Cooking!