Tel Koi

Jun 14, 2020

Serves: 4

Why you should make this recipe:

Another of my very favourite fish recipe. Koi belongs to the family of Carp . There are a few varieties available. But, I will be using the black one in this recipe.
Koi as a part of Hindu Bengali culture symbolizes prosperity. A very stong fish, which has the ability to stay alive for a considerable amount of time even when out of water. I remember during my childhood days, my father will buy them from the fish market alive, and my mother will keep them in a drum of water, before the domestic help will start cleaning and preparing the fish.
Tel Koi literally means Koi cooked with oil. Which signifies the requirement of extra oil in the recipe and it should be only good quality mustard oil.
Unlike many other Indian cuisines, Bengalis have limited the use of garlic in their cooking of fish. Tel Koi has none. Still very rich and robust.
The fish is cooked whole along with its head. Even though I have removed them while cooking. Try to use the larger ones as the natural fat content increases with size and age.

Ingredients

Koi- 4 in numbers
Turmeric powder- 1.5 tsp
Kitchen king masala – 1.5 tsp (optional)
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Dry red chillies – 3 to 4
Ginger – 1 inch
Green chillies slit – 3 in numbers
Kasundi Mustard – 1tbsp
Mustard oil – 100 ml
Salt – to taste
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Method

Put gashes in the fish and apply the salt and turmeric powder.
Grind to a paste cumin seeds, ginger, kitchen king and the red chillies with 1/4 th of the mustard oil.
Heat the remaining mustard oil and lightly fry the fish.
Mix the ground masala with bit of water and add to the fish.
Bring it to boil and then add the kasundi mustard paste and the slit green chillies.
Allow the fish to cook at a very low temperature while continuously basting it.
The fish should not have too much sauce, but have a good coating of sauce.
Check the seasoning and finish with ghee and garam masala