ilish’er tel jhal (hilsa in spicy mustard oil gravy)

Today, after bringing ilish maach(hilsa) from the market, Dhiman(my husband) said, “You often make bhapa ilish, sorshe ilish, and doi ilish — why don’t you try something new with ilish today?”
I thought about it and decided that among the hilsa recipes I know that require the least effort, ilish’er tel jhal (hilsa in spicy mustard oil gravy) would be the best choice — because I’d never made it before. It’s simple, delicious, and though I’m not sure if it can be called “healthy,” it’s definitely a light dish.

To make ilish’er tel jhal, apart from the hilsa fish, you only need black cumin seeds (kalonji), tomato(optional), green chillies, a generous amount of mustard oil, salt, and turmeric — that’s it. The fish weighed around 600–650 grams — not too big, not too small — just perfect for this dish.

I got started. The fish was already cut into pieces at the market. I washed them well, cleaned off the scales, and rubbed them with salt and turmeric for marination. Then I heated a little more mustard oil in a pan, though a good quality hilsa always releases oil while frying. This dish tastes best in mustard oil, though you can use regular oil if you must. I lightly fried the fish pieces until golden, then took them out.

I personally don’t 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 dish without frying the fish at all — that way, the natural aroma of the fish comes out beautifully, and the fish stays wonderfully soft after cooking.

Next, I poured out most of the oil from the pan and kept it aside in a bowl, leaving just a little in the pan. I added black cumin seeds for tempering, then added ground tomato and green chili paste. You don’t have to grind them, but if you do, you won’t get bits of tomato or chilli in your mouth, and the gravy becomes thicker.

I sautéed everything well until the mixture reduced, then added turmeric powder and a pinch of red chilli powder (optional). After stirring well, I poured water into the pan.
When the water started to boil, I slit a few green chillies and added them. Once the gravy came to a full boil, I gently added the fried fish pieces one by one.

I simmered everything for about 12 minutes on low heat. Finally, I poured in the mustard oil I had set aside earlier, mixed 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, 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.