Sorshe Bhetki (Fish in mustard seed gravy)

Bengalis has a special love for mustard, not only mustard oil is most preferred cooking oil, but also seeds and paste are widely used in bengali cooking. Not only fishes, vegetables and even egg are also cooked with mustard paste and why it shouldn't be, Mustard is referred as one of the World's healthiest spices, which has numerous properties beneficial for health.

Mustard seed :
Research shows that mustard seeds have Phytonutrient Compounds that is protective against Gastrointestinal Cancer. Mustard seeds emerged from our food ranking system as a very good source of Selenium, a nutrient which has been shown to help reduce the severity of asthma, decrease some of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and help prevent cancer. They also qualified as a good source of magnesium. Like selenium, Magnesium has been shown to help reduce the severity of asthma, to lower high blood pressure, to restore normal sleep patterns in women having difficulty with the symptoms of menopause, to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks, and to prevent heart attack in patients suffering from atherosclerosis or diabetic heart disease.
Mustard seeds also qualified as a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids as well as a good source of iron, calcium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, protein, niacin and dietary fiber. (Information source : WHF foods)

Mustard Oil :
Mustard oil has the lowest amount of saturated fat(only 1%) and quite a good amount of monounsaturated fat(76%), the most desirable fat in our diet because it helps to decrease the LDL (bad) cholesterol in the blood and helps to increase the HDL (good) cholesterol. Good sources of monounsaturated fat are macadamia nut oil, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, and most nuts. Visit this page for more information on which oil is good for you.
Today I'll share Bengali's all-time favorite and one traditional fish recipe, which is Sorshe Mach(Mustard is sorshe in bengali). I made it with Seabass fillets, which is very close to Bhetki fish(or Koral in Bangladeshi fish store) and another advantage of seabass is it has less bones, who has difficulty eating fish because of bones, they should try this fish. It is very sweet in taste and has no odour(fish smell). Can be substituted with Red Snapper. This recipe taste great when made with carp like Rohu or Hilsa.



Ingredients :
Bhetki (seabass or red snapper) fillets : 4-5 pieces
Onion(medium) : 1 (chopped)
Mustard seed(sorshe) : 2 tblsp.
Black cumin seed(kalo jeera/kalonji) : 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder : 3 tsp.
Chilli powder : 1/2 - 1 tsp.
Green chillies : 2 for grinding+1(slitted)
Mustard oil : 2 tblsp. for cooking + 1 tsp. for garnishing
(Mustard oil enhances the taste of mustard seed paste)
Any other oil : 2 tblsp. for frying
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing(chopped)

Method :

• Wash fish pieces, pat dry. Rub with 1 tsp. turmeric powder and 2 pinches of salt on fish pieces. If possible, keep them aside for 5-30 minutes.
• Preperations : Prepare mustard seed paste, by grinding mustard seed with a pinch of salt and 2 green chillies. ( while grinding, mustard seed tend to taste bitter, salt prevents that. so don't forget to add salt while grinding) Grind as fine as possible. Make a paste of rest of the turmeric and chilli powder in 3-4 tblsp. water.
  
• In a pan, heat oil, fry the fish pieces until brown on both sides on medium flame. Keep them aside.
• Take another pan for cooking(never use the same oil where you fried fish, as the oil gets black because of turmeric.). Heat Mustard oil, when the oil is really hot and the smoke comes out, lower the flame and temper with kalonji, then add chopped onions. Fry till light brown.
• Then add turmeric-chilli powder paste and fry for 1 min. then add mustard seed paste. Fry for 2 min. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Add salt, slitted green chillies and fried fish pieces. Cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes.
• When gravy thickens to a desired consistency, add 1 tsp. mustard oil and coriander leaves. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice.

This traditional bnegali fish recipe is off to
my event Spotlight : Fish
Check out my Pomfret fish curry recipe.