Maach er Matha Diye Mug er Dal (Yellow Moong Lentils Cooked with Fish Head)

Well this is probably my first typical non-vegetarian Bengali food post. And I chose to talk about Maach er Matha Diye Mug er Dal (Yellow Moong Lentils Cooked with Fish Head) because it is one of those unique Bengali delicacies we have. Yes you read it right, we add fish head to lentils. Those who ate this will know how much tasty it is, and those who did not, I request you to try it out once, you will not repent the choice. In fact, you will keep asking for more. This recipe is a must in Bengali weddings in the afternoon feast with the family apart from other family get-togethers where we enjoy some fritters or fries along with it. Apologies for the poor picture quality, but I promise the recipe is perfect if done in a proper manner.

Fish is considered to be auspicious by us, the Bengalis. And we typically start a meal with plain rice (we prefer plain rice as it does not mar the taste of the other dishes we consume along with it), dal and fries. Then comes a sabji, followed by some non vegetarian course such as fish, mutton, chicken or eggs. Before ending, we eat chutney (sweet and savoury) with papad/poppadom and end the meal with some chhena-based sweets (chhena is made from curdled milk, Bengali sweets are entirely different from other regions of India, as they use fresh chhena to make sweets). So, in this post I will talk about an authentic Bengali style yellow moong dal preparation which is much loved by all!
 

Since this pandemic started, our movements are very much restricted. I have two senior citizens at home, my parents, and hence do not want them to go out as well. Although my father goes out once in a while in case there is some urgency. So the other day I got my groceries and vegetables delivered by a prominent online retailer. I ordered fish heads separately as I had was yearning for delicacies using fish head. This post is about one such delicacy I prepared. Some of the other dishes we cook using fish head are Maacher Matha Diye Bandhakopi-r ghonto (Cabbage with fish head), Murighonto (Bengali style pulao with fish head), and Pepe-r Torkari Maacher Matha Diye (raw papaya with fish head) to name a few. So I cooked this dal for lunch and made some fries along with it and an omelette. With that, we were good to go with. Now without much delay, I will proceed to the recipe which is stated as follows.

Ingredients:

Fish head - 1 large (preferably Katla/Rohu); cut, cleaned and halved

Ginger - 1 inch piece; grated 

Yellow moong dal - 100 gms 

Oil - 4 tablespoons

Dried red chillies - 2

Bay leaves - 2

Green chillies - 2; slit longitudinally 

Turmeric powder - 1.5 teaspoon

Salt - as required 

Jeera or cumin powder - 1 teaspoon

Water - 500 ml or as required

Procedure:

First step is to dry roast the yellow moong dal in a pan till it turns aromatic. Do not burn it by roasting more than required. Make sure you stir it continuously to ensure it gets evenly roasted. Keep the roasted dal aside for using later. Once it cools down a bit, wash it thoroughly under running water. Then boil the dal properly till well done in a cooker. I used around 300ml of water to pressure cook it. It should be done within 3-4 whistles. Let the pressure release on its own. Now take the fish heads, rub those with half teaspoon turmeric powder and some salt. Massage the pieces nicely with the marinade (we use salt and turmeric powder for marination). Leave it for some 15 minutes or so. Now, take a pan, and heat oil till it starts to smoke (I have given this with respect to mustard oil or sunflower oil or rice bran oil). Add the fish heads and cook for 1 minutes on each side. It should be well-cooked but not over-cooked or burnt. Overcooking will render the fish hard. After you have fried both the halves, remove it from the hot oil and keep it aside to let it cool down a bit. In the same pan, add cumin seeds, dried red chillies and bay leaves. Once the cumin seeds start to crackle, add grated ginger to it. Fry for 30 seconds or so, and then add the boiled yellow moong dal to it. Add required amount of water, salt to taste, and some turmeric powder. Let it come to a rolling boil. In the meantime, break the fried fish heads into large chunks, preferably using your hand. Wash your hand thoroughly before you do this. Now, add these pieces to the dal and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add some more water if needed after 5 minutes. At this point, add green chillies to the dal. Check for the salt and adjust accordingly. Switch off the flame and the dal is ready to be served along with piping hot rice and fries of your choice.