Doi Katla (Katla fish or "Labeo catla" in a curd based gravy)

I am back to this blog after a long break. Actually, let me remind you that I am a doctoral research scholar with a passion for cooking. So I have to work on my dissertation and cook simultaneously. I had loads of work piled up on my professional front and hence this delay. So coming back to this blog feels great now! And I will start with a simple recipe anyone can follow. This is a bong's delight on any given day, at least I have never heard someone saying no to this particular dish. 

Doi katla is a staple in Bengali households, especially during the weekends or when there is a need to welcome the guests with some "easy to cook and digest" and hearty meals. Doi means curd or plain yogurt here, the unsweetened one. As mentioned in the title, the fish variety being used here is Katla, which is a freshwater carp we bongs usually consume on a daily basis apart from Rui or Rohu fish. Besides, we eat these carps with vegetables in a runny broth (which we refer to as "shobji diye maacher jhol") or in a mustard based gravy ("maacher shorshe bata diye jhaal"). This recipe can also be done using the Rohu fish or rui maach as we call it, but tastes better with a mature katla maach. Now, let me not keep you all waiting for long, as I will straightaway go to the recipe part. 😊😊

Ingredients:

Katla fish - 7-8 pieces

Thick Curd - 1/2 cup, whisked smooth

Bay leaves - 2

Green chillies - 1 (or as per taste)

Whole cardamom - 3 pieces, roughly crushed

Whole cinnamon - 1 stick, roughly crushed

Whole clove - 4 pieces, roughly crushed

Whole pepper corn - 3 pieces, roughly crushed

Raw cashew nuts - 7-8 pieces

Raisins - 12-15 pieces

Refined oil - 150 ml

Onion paste - 2 tablespoons

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

Salt - as required

Sugar - 1.5 teaspoons 

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Water - 300-350 ml or as required

Procedure:

Firstly, wash and pat dry the fish pieces. Then, marinate the pieces with salt and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and massage the pieces well before leaving it aside for at least 15 minutes. Also, soak the raisins and the cashew nuts in water. Heat oil in a pan, and then shallow fry the marinated fish pieces on both the sides. Do not overdo it as it will make the pieces hard and chewy, and in turn mar the taste. Once done, keep those fried fish pieces aside. In the same oil, add the bay leaves, followed by cloves, cinnamon and cardamom, and saute for a minute or so. Then add the onion paste and fry till the raw smell is gone. Then add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry for another minute or so, ensuring that there is no raw smell. Add the turmeric powder and little salt and mix well. If you see that the masala is sticking to the pan, add a splash of water to it and continue stirring. That way you will not end up burning the masala. Now add the whisked curd to the mixture and keep of stirring vigorously, while keeping the gas on low. This is done so that the curd does not separate out in the oily masala mixture, and gets blended up evenly forming the base of the gravy. Once this is done, continue to keep the flame on low and sugar and give it a nice mix. Add water to it and let the gravy come to a boil when you need to add the fried fish pieces. Dunk them in the gravy. Cover and cook for a while. The water content in the gravy should reduce a bit (around 2/5th reduction) and become thick. Then add the soaked cashew nuts and raisins to the gravy and check for salt and sugar in it. Adjust if needed. Remember that this gravy is sweet and sour in taste. Continue boiling it to reduce the gravy to half. Finally, add a slit green chilli to it before taking it out on a serving bowl. The fish curry is ready to be devoured with steamed white rice (this is my personal preference), or Bengali style fried rice (this is very different from the Indo-Chinese fried rice we usually consume😉), or Bengali mishti pulao (Bengali style sweet pulao).