Macher Maatha Diye Moog Dal. The name has two important parts – Macher Matha – Fish Head & Moong Dal – Yellow Split Gram Lentil. Which is the base of my today’s recipe.
As I have mentioned in my previous post, fish is not only an integral part of Bengali diet, but also an inseparable part of Bengali culture. Hence, it is inevitable that Bengalis have different processes and different ways to cook different parts of fish. Yes, you noticed right. Different Parts. Being it vegetables (like lauer bakoler chechki or preparation with bottle gourd peels) or fish, Bengali traditional cooking methods are ingrained with no-waste philosophy. Hence, for fish, parts like fish head and fish tail, which are considered waste by many fish eaters from other regions, are actually relished by Bengalis.
Although I can go on writing non-stop about Bengali’s love for fish head, and this is also a fact that Bengalis have lot of ways to cook fish head, but, one must not ignore the truth, that innovation to cook unusual fish head is not confined to Bengali cuisine. The Singaporean fish head curry is a classic example.
Well, coming back to Bengali cuisine, as I have mentioned above about the varieties, which should not be surprising, as fish being part of the culture since ages, and the ever-evolving human brains would definitely find ways to come out from monotony. And of-course, fish head finds a special place, as eating macher matha is directly proportionate to once intelligence (one of the popular Bengali secret formula to crack IIT, which every Bengali mom imparts to her child)🤓. Although, Bengali Moori Ghonto is the most popular dish prepared with fish head, however, the other existing fish head preparations are no less a delicacy.
Just like that, Macher Matha Diye Moog Dal is another delicacy where the regular lentil soup made of roasted yellow split gram is made married to gelatinous fish heads. The soupy dal is flavoured with different spices and then the fried fish head pieces are included, thus, making the dish highly desirable.
So, without wasting time, let us explore the waiting fish head.
Recipe: Maacher Matha Diye Moong Dal Or Fish Head In Yellow Split Gram Lentil
Preparation Time: 1 hour 50 minutes (approx.) Cooking Time: 45 minutes on low flame (approx.) Equipment used: A bowl to marinate fish pieces, 2 pans, a small bowl used as a pan, a turner, and a grater Yield: 6 – 7 Servings
Ingredients:
- 1 Rohu or Catla fish head cut into halves (I have used half Rohu fish head)
- 1 and ½ cup moog dal or yellow split gram
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Around 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/8 teaspoon red chilli
- 6 tablespoons & 1 teaspoon mustard oil
- 6-7 cups water
- 1 red chilli split into half
- 1 bay leaf
- 12 cinnamon pieces of 1 cm X 0.5 cm each
- ½ teaspoon jeera powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 3 cm X 1.5 cm ginger
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon paanch phoron
- 1 teaspoon ghee
Method:
- Wash the fish head pieces properly and remove scales from fish skin, if there is any left
- Marinate the fish head piece for a while, with ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon red chilli powder and ½ teaspoon mustard oil
- Heat a pan and roast the dal till 7 – 10 minutes or when the dal slightly changes colour towards little pink and you can feel the aroma of roasted dal
- Wash the roasted dal
- Pressure cook the dal with 3-4 cups water, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon mustard oil, till one whistle
- In the mean-time heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and start frying the fish head piece
- Break the fish head into small pieces when the fish head is almost fried
- Switch off the flame, when the fish pieces are completely fried and leave the pieces in the pan
- Heat another pan and add 3 tablespoons mustard oil
- When the oil is hot, temper the oil with, red chilli, bay leaf and cinnamon sticks
- Add the pressure-cooked dal into the pan, followed by jeera powder and garam masala powder
- Add the fish head pieces
- Stir and mix the ingredients properly
- Add 3-4 cups water
- Grate ginger to the dal when the dal starts boiling
- Add ½ teaspoon sugar and 1 and ½ teaspoon salt or add salt and sugar as per your taste
- Switch off the flame when you acquire the desired consistency for dal
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in another small pan
- Temper the oil with 1 teaspoon paanch phoron
- Pour the contents of the pan into dal when the spices crackle
- Add 1 teaspoon of ghee into dal and leave the pan/container covered for 10 minutes so that the aroma of ghee spreads across the dal
Wash the fish head pieces properly and marinate the fish head piece with turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder and mustard oil.
Heat a pan and roast the dal till 7 – 10 minutes.
Wash the roasted pulses.
Pressure cook the dal water, salt, turmeric powder and mustard oil, till one whistle.
In the mean-time start frying the fish head piece in another pan.
Break the fish head into small pieces when the fish head is almost fried. Switch off the flame when the pieces are completely fried.
Heat another pan.
Add 3 tablespoons mustard oil into the pan.
When the oil is hot, temper the oil with, red chilli, bay leaf and cinnamon sticks.
Add the pressure-cooked dal into the pan.
Add jeera powder and garam masala powder.
Finally, add the fish head pieces to the dal and mix the ingredients properly.
Add 3-4 cups water.
Grate ginger when the dal starts boiling.
Add salt and sugar as per your taste.
Switch off the flame when you acquire the desired consistency for dal.
Heat a tablespoon oil in another small pan.
Temper the oil with paanch phoron.
Pour paanch phoron into dal when the spices crackle.
Add ghee.
Keep the pan covered for 10 minutes before you serve.
Tips:
- It is said that mustard oil and red chilli powder not only add flavour to marination, but also reduce the splattering of oil
- If you have time, roast the dal on low flame. In this recipe I have roasted the dal on high flame
- Stir continuously while roasting the dal, so that roasting is done evenly
- While frying the fish head, keep on adjusting the flame and flip the fish piece time to time, so that every part of fish cooks properly without getting burnt
- Do not fry the fish on low flame. Else the fish piece will get stuck into the pan
- Put into use the left-over spices and oil used for frying the fish head, by adding them into the dal along with the fish head pieces
