Madam Nupur Sen's Mudi Ghanto (fish Head With Rice)

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 fish head (if its too large, halve or quarter it or use 1 medium- preferably use rohu, katla or any sweet-water)
• 50 g basmati rice
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces
• 1 onion
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 4 cardamoms
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 bay leaf
• salt

Recipe

• 1 firstly, wash the pieces of fish head thoroughly.
• 2 rub in a little turmeric powder and salt.
• 3 keep aside.
• 4 roast dry cumin and corriander seeds.
• 5 grind these with ginger and garlic.
• 6 keep aside.
• 7 roast half the quantity of dry cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and powder these.
• 8 keep this powder in a tightly sealed jar.
• 9 heat oil in a frying pan.
• 10 fry the fish head pieces till they turn dark brown.
• 11 remove from heat and set aside on a plate.
• 12 fry basmati rice lightly in the same oil.
• 13 keep aside.
• 14 fry potatoes and keep aside.
• 15 now coarsely crush the remaining half of the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
• 16 put the bayleaf and cumin seeds in the oil.
• 17 following this, once the cumin seeds crackle, put in the cardamom-cloves-cinnamon mixture made in the previous step.
• 18 add grated onion and fry till it turns brown.
• 19 then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and the paste made earlier.
• 20 fry well till the oil separates.
• 21 put the fish head pieces, potatoes and the rice into the oil.
• 22 fry again for a few more minutes, ensuring that the fish head pieces do not break.
• 23 add 1 cup of water and cover the pan.
• 24 when the water gets absorbed and the rice is cooked well, add in ghee, sugar and roasted masala powder made earlier that was kept in the tightly sealed jar.
• 25 serve hot with plain steamed basmati rice.
• 26 tip: the larger the fish, the better the dish!