MURO GHONTO / BENGALI STYLE FISH HEAD CURRY

MUROGHONTO is Bengali Fish Head Curry. It is mostly done with the big sized heads of Rohu or Catla.... which belongs to the Indian Carp family. Back in Kolkata, it was a regular affair at home because there big heads of these fish are sold separately. This particular recipe calls for heads of Bengal carp fish above 5-6 kg weight, and we need not buy such a big whole fish to prepare the dish. God, I miss home a lot. 

Here in this island I do it less but I do, the "Bangaliana" of my kitchen has to be maintained. Here we need to buy a whole fish, that too frozen from the selective stores. It is perhaps a mental block but I cannot do it with sea-fish heads. While cooking a signature dish, I wish to maintain authenticity, particularly while cooking a Bengali dish!

Given the limitations in a foreign land, let us keep cooking our favourite recipes and remember home. In both sides of my family, we prefer doing it with "Katla" fish heads as they are more oily than that of a "Rohu". The fish oil needs to incorporate well in the curry. We need a good quality fragrant rice variety "gobindo bhog" for this dish, you can use Thai fragrant rice or Basmati. I have used the kalijeera / chinigura rice available in the Bangladeshi shops! I have used onions too because the fish may not be that fresh. If in Bengal, you need not use onions Let us see how we do it.

INGREDIENTS :

Catla / Carp fish head : 1[of bigger fish] [You can use any big fish head]
Gobindo Bhog or Basmati rice : 2tbsp [I used kalijeera / Chinigura rice]
Potato : 2medium [peel, wash, cut each into 4 pieces] [optional]
Ginger Paste : 2tbsp
Cumin Powder : 1tsp
Coriander Powder : 1tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As required
Sugar : 1tsp[optional]
Onion[sliced] : 2medium
Bengali Garam Masala : 1/2tsp[an equal amount of cinnamon, cardamon, cloves dry roasted and ground]
Bayleaf : 1
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 2
Cinnamon Stick : 2-3 one inch length
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Cloves : 2-3
Mustard Oil : 1/2 small tea cup

METHOD :

Ask your fish seller to cut the fish head into four pieces, later after frying we will break them further. Wash them thoroughly. Rub with some salt. Keep aside for an hour, then wash thoroughly few times! This helps remove the raw smell from the fish head! Again marinate the fish pieces with salt & turmeric!

Soak the rice for 1/2 an hour. Heat the the oil in a wok. Add some salt and turmeric powder to the potato pieces and fry lightly. Take out and keep aside.

Fry the fish heads nicely, break into smaller pieces and keep aside.

Temper the oil with the bay leaf, cumin seeds, halved dry red chillies, cinnamon sticks, green cardamom, cloves. Add the sliced onions and fry until brown. Add the uncooked rice draining the water. Fry for 2 minutes.

Add the ginger paste, the remaining turmeric and salt. Stir well for 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander and red chilli powder, stir for 1minute. Add water and cover to boil.

Remove the cover after 3-4 minutes, add the fried potato pieces.

When the rice is 70% cooked, add the fried pieces of fish head. Cook covered for 5-8 minutes.

Remove the cover, add sugar and the garam masala powder. Stir cook for 2-3 minutes.

We do not use potatoes in this dish always! Enjoy with steamed hot rice!