Macher Jhol

Interested in some Bengali style fish curry? Try this…

Ingredients

• 4-5 pieces Fish (preferably Rohu)
• 2 Onions -Grated
• ½ inch Ginger- grated
• 1 Potato cut into 4-5 slices
• 1Tomato - chopped
• Fresh Coriander – chopped for garnishing (optional)
• Mustard oil for cooking

Method

• Heat mustard oil in a frying pan, lightly fry the fish and keep aside.
• Fry the sliced potato and keep aside.
• In a deep bottom frying pan heat oil and add the grated onion and fry till golden brown then add the grated ginger, chopped tomatoes and fry for 5 min.
• Add ½ tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp chilly powder ,salt and fry for 1 min.
• Add the fried potatoes and then add water .Bring it to a boil.
• Add the fish and simmer till the gravy reaches the desired consistency.
• Pour into a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander.

Note:

• This dish is best eaten with steamed rice.

Gulab Jamuns

Okay, why limit yourself to the "safe" recipes? Get a bit adventurous, and try this simple yet yummy recipe for gulab jamuns!

Ingredients

• Ready-made Gulab Jamun mix - 100 gm
• Sugar - 220 gm
• Water - 250 ml
• Ghee/Oil - for frying as required

Preparation

• Mix sugar and 220 ml of water in a wide-mouthed vessel and boil for five minutes. Turn off the gas. Let the sugar syrup remain on the gas stove.
• Knead the Gulab Jamun mix with 30 ml of water. 
• Roll the dough into small balls (gulab jamuns). 
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan, and fry the gulab jamuns till they turn golden brown.
• While frying the gulab jamuns, turn on the gas and simmer the sugar syrup.
• Remove the gulab jamuns from the oil, and drop them into the sugar syrup.
• When the sugar syrup comes to a boil again, turn off the gas.
• Fry the remaining gulab jamuns, if any, and drop them into the sugar syrup. 
• For best results, let the gulab jamuns cool completely before you serve them.

Tips

• Use a measuring cup to measure the exact amount of Gulab jamun mix, sugar, and water. When it comes to sweets, these measures are very important. Anything less or more can ruin your sweets.
• The gulab jamuns expand when you fry them, and they expand further when you soak them in the sugar syrup. So, use a wide-mouthed vessel for making the sugar syrup, and fry four to five gulab jamuns at a time in the frying pan. This gives the gulab jamuns enough space to expand and the gulab jamuns would cook evenly.
• Ready-made Gulab Jamun mix comes in a minimum of 200g packets. The instructions on the packets say that you should use at least 750gm to a kilo of sugar for the entire amount. Use this amount of sugar if you want a generous amount of sugar syrup. The gulab jamuns made using the measures that I have provided in this recipe would absorb all the sugar syrup, and you would have almost no sugar syrup left. I prefer these measures as I don't want to waste the sugar syrup, and so, I prepare only that much that is needed for the gulab jamuns to taste sweet.
• Use a combination of ghee and oil to fry your gulab jamuns. That is, less ghee and more oil. I find gulab jamuns fried only in ghee to be saccharine.