March 23, 2010

Bhapa Ilish /Steamed Hilsa in Microwave


I think Hilsa fish needs no introduction. Those who are cognized with Bengali recipes and culture must know that Hilsa fish is one of the famous fish of Bengal. Being the national fish of Bangladesh, it is very popular in "India's Assamese-, Bengali, Oriya-speaking regions and in Telugu-speaking regions (the fish is known as Pulasa or Polasa), in Pakistan (known as Pallu Machhi) and in Gujarat, it is known as either Modenn or Palva". Whether in pujas or in any auspicious ceremony offering an Ilish/Hilsa or a pair of Ilish/Hilsa is considered very propitious in Bengal. More than 50 ways Ilish/Hilsa can be cooked into delectable dishes. Apart from the scrummy taste of the fish one minus point of it, is the presence of excessive amounts of tiny bones which requires trained eaters/hands to handle.


One of the most famous recipes of Ilish/Hilsa fish is Bhapa Ilish or Steamed Hilsa. I don’t know the exact authentic way of cooking the dish. Still in Bengal most of the families follow the traditional way of cooking Bhapa Ilish, that is, marinating the fish with mustard, poppy seed, coconut paste and mustard oil, and steam it whether in a cooker,  or folding the fish into banana leaves and then steaming it (Though the version of steaming in wrapped Banana leaf is famously known as Paturi).


Now our life has become so fast that we are always looking for shortcuts to save our time. To cook Bhapa Ilish we put straight the dish into an oven. I took one more short cut step, saving the pre-heating time, directly put the dish into the Micro-oven. There will be thousands of recipes on net on Bhapa Ilish/Steamed Hilsa, and again I am also adding another, more or less the same recipe. I just thought that being a Bengali, my blog would not be successful if I would not post some traditional dishes of my place and share with you all. So here I am with the dish Bhapa Ilish/Steamed Hilsa cooked in a crosscut.


Ingredients:-



Ilish/Hilsa fish- 4 pieces

Mustard Paste- 2 ½ table spoons full

How to make the Mustard Paste:-

1. Soak the mustard seeds into water for 10-15 mnts.
2. Add a green chilli and a pinch of salt and grind into a smooth paste.
3. If you wish you can strain out the skin of the seeds. 
Poppy seeds paste- 1 ½ table spoons full

Yoghurt- 2 table spoons full
Mustard oil- 3 table spoons
Water- ½ cup
Turmeric Powder- ¼ tea spoon
Salt – as per taste
Green Chilli- 2-3




Method:-

1. Make a nice paste with the mustard paste, poppy seed paste, yoghurt, water, turmeric powder and salt. Take a microwavable bowl with a lid. Put the fish and the mixture and mix well. Add the green chilli as a whole.

2. Scatter 2 table spoons of mustard oil on the mixture. Put in the microwave and cook for 10 mnts. Bring out the bowl turn the fish very carefully then again cook for 10 mnts more. Keep on checking that the dish should not get very dry. If in between cooking the juice gets too dry add little water.

3. After the dish is done, scatter the leftover 1 table spoon of mustard oil and serve with rice or pulao.

Variations:-


Along with the mustard and poppy seed paste, coconut paste can also be added.


This recipe goes to the Kolkata Food Bloggers Online Event Microwave Expedition conducted by one of my favourite bloggers Indrani Dhar. Please visit  her blog Recipe Junction.


26 comments:

Sushma Mallya said...

Tempting clicks, and what a nice recipe too..love coconut based gravy,give such a nice taste...

Sharmila said...

How is it that I have never seen this beautiful blog before? :-)
I do bake islish in the oven ... never MWed it. Looks great!

Priya Suresh said...

Woow such a creamy dish, looks utterly delicious SS!!

Sarah Naveen said...

I love this...I got a similar recipe sometime back and tried it once...was too good..
This looks super delicious,...

Tina said...

Its new to me...Looks rich and creamy...

Bong Mom said...

Never did Bhapa Ilish in the MW. Is it a regular MW ?

The fish pic looks gorgeous

Unknown said...

Thanks to all of u for ur nice comments....

@Bong Mom, yes i did it in the regular MW....

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Kamalika
Ami santiniketan-er na,,,amar sosur BaDi Okhan-e, ratan pali te ..tai jai, anek smriti Jodie achhe sei univ. days theke 1969...


Video clip ta emni tule chhilam...amra sab somoe joke martam...No- other Dhale-r par-e another dhal asb-e ( because it is in between the 2 other dhals...)
This dish is very nice...there is a bangladeshi shop near by and full of Ilish,,,but cant buy as my kitchen is not equipped.
WIll try your recipe...the main problem of cooking ilish in Micro is...the fat layer explodes ...but will try your way soon.
Dekhi ar ki ki bhalo bhalo recipe rendhechho,...try korte hob-e
as soon as I am back home
Bhalo theko
Ushnishda
Milano

MyExperimentsWithFood said...

Dear please collect your awards at my blog :)

MaryMoh said...

The fish looks like spanish mackerel. This dish looks like curry......sooo tempting. beautiful colour and looks very delicious.

MaryMoh said...

The fish looks like spanish mackerel. This dish looks like curry......sooo tempting. beautiful colour and looks very delicious.

ARUNA said...

Wow gorgeous dish and wonderful clicks!

Vrinda said...

First time to ur blog..gr8 recipe with hilsa,never tried this way...nice shots

Hayley said...

Lovely and delicious dish!!

Unknown said...

@Ushnishda,
Khub bhalo laglo apni amar blog visit korechhen abong alap hoe..sure do visit my blog...

About the dish, u have to cook the dish in MW with lid on..then there will not be a prob of "explosion"...:)

@Mary, Aruna, Jagruti, Thanks a lot for ur wnderful comments...

@Vrinda, Thanks for visting my blog..and keep on visiting...thanks for ur nice comment too...

@NS,
Thanks a lot for sharing the awards with me...

Manju said...

Its a shame that I havent seen your blog before and that I havent heard of Hilsa fish before!! I need to do a lot more reading, i guess. What a gorgeous fish recipe!

Uma said...

lovely fish recipes.. loved the fish paratha.

ARUNA said...

Thanks for ur lovely comment yaa!

Subhie Arun said...

lovely fish dish...grt snap!

Unknown said...

@Super Chef, Aruna,Uma and Subhie Arun thanks for ur lovely comments....Keep on visiting....

SathyaSridhar said...

Wooow,,fish looks lovely n tempting,,,steamed food is good for the health,,, very healthy version of eating food,,thanks for sharing dear,,

shahana said...

Loved your gravy ingredients.Will try it soon.

Soma said...

Drooling here;-) I do it in the MW too. will post soon. Looks beautiful.

PreeOccupied said...

I do ilish too in the microwave, when we were small and did not have a m/wave at home, my Mum would put everything in a steel tiffin box and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Microwave has made life easy. I do my chingri bhapa too in the same way. Though I add water to neither.

reena said...

Amazing nice work. This is very useful article. Thank you. For more

Viraj said...

Amazing nice work. This is very useful article. Thank you. For more

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