Autumn-Special Bengali Ilish Maacher Matha Diye Pui Shaak

By Shreya Goswami

October 26, 2023

Prepared with autumnal vegetables like Malabar spinach, colocasia roots, pumpkin and brinjal, and a delicious addition of Hilsa fish heads, this Bengali dish is a burst of flavours. Here is the recipe for you to try out.

Ingredients

2 Hilsa fish heads 3 cups Malabar spinach ½ cup pumpkin, chopped ½ cup colocasia root, chopped ½ cup brinjal, chopped ¼ cup onion, chopped 2 green chillies, slit ½ tsp panch phoron 1 dry red chilli 1 tbsp garlic, minced Salt, to taste 2 tsp turmeric powder 3 tbsp mustard oil

Step 1

Wash and clean the fish heads, then marinate them in salt and turmeric for half an hour. 

Step 2

Heat mustard oil in a wok and fry the fish heads until golden-brown. Set aside.

Image Credit: iStock

Step 3

In the remaining oil, add panch phoron, dry red chillies, green chillies and garlic.

Step 4

Once these stop spluttering, add the onions, pumpkin, colocasia root and Malabar spinach one by one.

Step 5

Add salt, turmeric powder and saute the veggies. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are almost done.

Step 6

Now add the fish heads, crush them a bit with the ladle and mix well. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Step 7

Once ready, serve the dish with a garnish of ghee alongside rice.