Bhetki macher jhal recipe

Bhetki macher jhal is a simple Bengali bhetki fish curry recipe cooked with simple ingredients and spices. Made with bhetki fish(gada piece) onion (no garlic), ginger, tomato, chilli, curd & garam masala powder. Bhetki macher jhal, Bhetki macher kalia, bhetki macher rosha & bhetki macher tel jhal are the same preparation as almost similar ingredients are used in making these 4 Bhetki fish curry recipes.

What is Bhetki Macher Jhal?

Bhetki macher jhal means a spicy Bengali bhetki fish curry recipe or this recipe can be described as Bhetki fish curry that comes with a spicy gravy. This Bengali Bhetki fish curry is simple yet scrumptious and goes best with steamed rice.

I first had Bhetki (vetki) macher jhal in Bhojohari Manna restaurant, Koramangala in Bangalore. Since then my family and I loved this Bhetki fish curry and I started making this recipe in my kitchen. Only with 2 attempts I was able to bring the same restaurant-style taste.

Whenever my husband brings bhetki (cut into pieces, not boneless fish fillets), I mostly make bhetki macher jhal, aloo phulkopi diye bhetki macher jhol or bhapa bhetki recipe. Last Sunday my husband brought a bhetki fish weighing around 1100g, I made jhal with half of this fish and the rest half kept in the freezer to make aloo phulkopi diye bhetki macher jhol. However, you can also use bhetki fillets for making this bhetki fish curry.

Large-size bhetki always tastes great but its price does not suit our pocket, right? So try to use bhetki weight at least of 1 kg or more. Make sure to make this Bhetki fish curry, try to use fresh water Bhetki fish or even Bombay vetki but do not use Bhola vetki.

You can easily get bhetki fish in Indian & Bangladeshi fish markets. By the way, if you are staying abroad, you can search for the Bhetki (Vetki) in the name of Barramundi fish, Bekti fish or Indian sea bass fish(English name of Bhetki) in the fish shops there. There you can get frozen bhetki (whole fish, cut into pieces or fish fillets) mostly in Bangladeshi Shops.

Do not worry this Bengali bhetki fish curry recipe contains very simple ingredients with very simple methods. Try this Bengali fish curry at home and let me know your valuable feedback about this recipe by writing your comment in the comment section end of this post.

You can try my other Bhetki Macher recipes, 

1. Bhetki Fish Fry

2. Bhetki Macher Paturi

3. Bhetki Maach Bhapa

4. Bhetki Macher Matha r Kanta Diye Chorchori

How to make Bhetki macher jhal – with step by step recipe

1. First wash the bhetki fish pieces, drain the water well. Then coat the fish pieces with 3/4 tsp salt & 3/4 tsp turmeric powder.

2. Heat a pan, heat oil, and fry the fish until golden from both sides. Remove the fish from the pan.

3. Put the bay leaves & jeera seeds in that oil and let them splutter.

4. Then add half crushed whole garam masala(3 cardamom, 4 cloves & small pieces of cinnamon) in the oil. Sauté for a second.

5. Add onion paste and fry until the paste gets golden and the onion’s raw smell goes off.

6. Then blend tomato, ginger, green chillies, and curd or yoghurt, add the paste to the pan, and mix well.

7. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, spicy red chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, salt & sugar one by one to the pan. Mix all well.

8. Sauté the masala, until the oil separates from the masala & masala’s raw smell also goes off.

9. Add 5-6 cups of water, mix well with the masala, and let the gravy boil.

10. Once the gravy starts boiling, add the fried fish pieces into the gravy and cover the pan.

11. Cook the fish until the fish gets soft and juicy and the fish gravy gets thick or slightly dry. Turn off the heat.

12. Bhetki macher jhal is ready, serve this Bengali fish curry at lunch with steamed rice and enjoy your meal.