Maacher Jhol

Name: Maacher Jhol
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 4 large fish steaks (Kingfish, Salmon, Halibut); 1 tsp turmeric powder; half tsp salt; 3 tbsps mustard oil; 10 minature potatoes; 1 large bay leaf; 5 green cardamom pods, bruised; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp mustard seeds; 1 large onion; 5 cm ginger, crushed; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped; 2 tomatoes, finely chopped; half tsp turmeric powder; 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed; 2 tbsps Greek yogurt; 2 green chillies, sliced lengthways; handful of fresh, green coriander, finely chopped

Instructions

Maacher Jhol is a classic Bengali dish usually eaten with rice. ‘Maacher’ means fish and ‘Jhol’ is gravy, and in the Bengal region this dish would be cooked using a freshwater carp known as Rohu or Hilsa. These are boney, oily fish so a good substitute for you would be steaks of kingfish, salmon or mackerel but if you prefer a white fish try pomfret, sea bass, red snapper, tilapia or halibut. Traditional Bengali cooking is utterly unique and this recipe reflects that cooking style. Dishes always need the main ingredient to be fried in mustard oil before being added to the sauce; people from this region believe that this method enhances the flavours by allowing the meat or fish to absorb the spices in the gravy more effectively. But for us, I’ve drastically reduced the amount of oil that would traditionally be used. This makes it healthier and a little more tuned to our Western tastebuds.

Updated at: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:53:50 GMT