Fish in five-spice sauce with potatoes and peas

Name: Fish in five-spice sauce with potatoes and peas
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 75 ml/5 tbsp sunflower or light olive oil; Plain Boiled Rice, to serve; 2.5 cm/1 in piece cinnamon stick; 150 g/5 oz potatoes, cut into 1cm/½ in cubes; 1 bay leaf; 5 ml/1 tsp ground turmeric; 1.5 ml/¼ tsp asafoetida; 1.25 ml/¼ tsp nigella seeds; 2.5 cm/1 in fresh root ginger, grated, or 10 ml/2 tsp ginger purée; 2 cloves garlic, crushed, or 10 ml/2 tsp garlic purée; 675 g/1½ lb firm white fish fillets, such as cod or haddock, skinned; 2.5-5 ml/½-1 tsp chilli powder; 115 g/4 oz/¾ cup frozen peas; 30 ml/2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro); 6 fenugreek seeds; 4 green cardamom pods, bruised; 5 ml/1 tsp salt, or to taste; 1.25 ml/¼ tsp fennel seeds; 1.25 ml/¼ tsp black mustard seeds; 1.25 ml/¼ tsp cumin seeds

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Complete Indian Regional Cookbook

By Mridula Baljekar

Published 2017

About

Macher Kalia is one of West Bengal’s signature dishes. It is hugely popular all over eastern India, and contains warm, fragrant cinnamon and cardamom and pungent asafoetida. Bengalis serve it with plain boiled rice, which is the best way to enjoy the blend of spices. As the recipe contains a generous amount of both potatoes and peas, there is no need to make an accompanying vegetable dish.

Ingredients

Asia
India
West Bengal
Fish course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free
Spicy

Ingredients

Method