ilish’er tel jhal | ilish macher tel jhol | hilsa fish in spicy mustard oil gravy

Today, after bringing ilish maach(hilsa fish) from the market, Dhiman(my husband) said, “You often make bhapa ilish, sorshe ilish, and doi ilish — why don’t you try a new recipe with ilish today?”
I thought about it and decided that among all ilish macher recipes I know that require the least effort, ilish’er tel jhal or tel jhol(hilsa in spicy mustard oil gravy) would be the best choice — because first of all, I’d never made this dish before. And this fish curry is simple, delicious, and a time-saver. Although I’m not sure if it can be called “healthy,” it’s definitely the lightest hilsa recipe in Bengali cuisine, as almost no spices are used here.

To make ilish’er tel jhal, apart from the ilish maach, we only need black cumin seeds (kalonji, kalo jeera), tomato(optional), green chillies, a generous amount of mustard oil, salt, and turmeric — that’s it. No onion, no garlic, no mustard paste and no vegetables are required for making this fish curry.

Today, the fish Dhiman bought is weighed around 600–650 grams — not too big, not too small — just perfect for making this dish.

Let’s get started. The fish was already cut into pieces at the market. Just them well, clean off the scales, and rub them with salt and turmeric for marination. Then heat a pan with a little more mustard oil. Though a good quality of hilsa always releases oil while frying. Hilsa always tastes best if cooked in mustard oil, though you can use regular oil that you generally use in your kitchen. Slightly fry the fish until golden, then take them out of the pan.

Though I personally do not like frying hilsa too much — like my grandmother and great-grandmother used to say, hilsa tastes best when it’s only lightly fried. Over-frying makes the fish a bit hard, prevents the spices from soaking in properly, and even reduces the flavour a little — at least that’s what I believe (though it’s not a rule!).
You can even make this curry without frying the fish(kacha Ilish diye) at all — that way, the natural aroma of the hilsa comes out beautifully, and the fish stays wonderfully soft after cooking.

After frying the fish, pour out most of the oil from the pan and keep it aside in a bowl, leaving just a little in the pan. Add black cumin seeds to the oil for tempering, then add ground tomato and green chilli paste. Grinding is not mandatory, but if you do, you will not get bits of tomato or chilli in your mouth, and the gravy becomes thicker.

Sauté the masala (tomato-green chilli paste) until everything combines well and reduces. Then add turmeric powder and a pinch of red chilli powder (optional) and mix them altogether. After stirring well, pour water into the pan.
When the water starts to boil, slit a few green chillies and add them. Once the gravy comes to a full boil, gently add the fried fish pieces one by one into the gravy.

Simmer everything for about 12 minutes on low heat by covering the pan. Finally, pour the mustard oil set aside earlier, mix it into the gravy, let it boil briefly, and the ilish’er tel jhal was ready!

I made it my own way, so it might differ slightly from the authentic version, but it paired perfectly with hot rice at lunch.
If you trust me, give this recipe a try at home sometime — I’ll leave the feedback up to you!

You can also try begun kancha lonka kalo jeere diye ilish macher patla jhol er recipe, kolkata style ilish biryani recipe or ilish paturi from my website.

How to make ilish’er tel jhal step by step

1. Clean the fish scales and thoroughly wash the fish pieces, then marinate them with salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside.

2. Heat a pan on medium to high heat. Add oil, and once the oil is hot, place the fish in the oil one by one. Do not overcrowd the pan to turn the fish easily.

3. Once the fish get golden on both sides, remove them from the pan, keep them aside.

4. Remove most of the oil from the pan and keep it aside.

5. Now temper the oil with 1/2 tsp kalo jeere(kalonji or black cumin seeds), stir once or twice.

6. Just after adding tomato and green chilli paste(I made a paste with 1 tomato and 5 green chillies). As jhal represents a spicy curry so I used more chillies; however, you can use chillies as per your taste.

7. Sauté the spices until they get almost dry and start spluttering, then add turmeric powder and red chilli powder(though optional).

8. Fry a little, then add water, mix well, add salt, slit 4 green chillies(optional, add as per taste) and also add them to the gravy.

9. Once the gravy starts boiling, gently add the fried fish pieces to the gravy.

10. Simmer the heat, cover the pan and cook the fish for 5-6 mins in the gravy.

11. After 6 minutes, gently turn the fish pieces and again cover the pan. Again, cook the fish for 5-6 mins on low heat.

12. After 10-12 mins, remove the cover, pour the mustard oil(kept aside earlier) into the gravy.

13. Raise the heat on high, boil the gravy for 1 min, and ilish’er tel jhal is ready.