Ilish Maachh Bhaja..Tel Kaancha Lonka diye

(Fried Hilsa fish eaten with Mustard Oil & Green Chilli)

Even as I write, I'm salivating thinking of this simplest of simple, yet heavenly fish preparation.

To say it is easy to prepare, is an understatement.

Hilsa or Ilish tastes best when the size is big, minimum of 1 kg. But staying away from the fish lovers' hub that my home town is, I dont always have a choice. And have to be satisfied with whatever size the vendor has. Hence when last Sunday, a tiny Hilsa, Khoka Ilish (literally translated, it would mean Khoka=young boy ;)), weighing around 300gms was all that was available, I bought, two such Hilsas. But the bones of Ilish are such, that it would scare even the most loyal of fish lovers! And the smaller the size, the finer the bones.

Hence decided to prepare this particular preparation, which is a crispy, deep fried dish, where the crunchy bones can be chewed and eaten up!

Ingredients :

Illish Maachh (Hilsa) - cut into pieces and washed and cleaned (I used 2 Hilsas, 300gms each)

Salt - to taste

Turmeric/Halid - 1 tsp

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

Mustard Oil - 200-250 ml

Procedure :

1. Smear the washed fish pieces with Salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and keep aside for about 15 minutes

2. In a wok, pour around 250 ml of mustard Oil for deep frying. Heat the oil.

3. Deep fry the marinated fish on high flame till they are browned and crispy.

To eat this fried fish :

The mustard Oil in which the fish is fried, is mixed with hot plain rice, smeared with Kaancha Lonka (Green Chilli) and a bite of the crunchy, crispy Ilish Maachh bhaaja.