Macher Jhal is a staple Bengali fish curry. It is prepared by cooking fish in a spicy gravy , flavored with nigella seeds , green chili, mustard paste and cooked in mustard oil. Pabda is a very delicate fish with extremely flavourful flesh. Hence Pabda Macher Jhal is cooked light with minimal usage of spices.
As the name says , Begun-Basanti , Begun/Eggplant is a very popular vegetable in Bengali cuisine and ‘Basanti’ comes from the color of the dish which is basically light yellow.
It is one of the popular vegetarian Bengali dish , prepared by cooking the fried eggplants in , rich and creamy , tangy-spicy yogurt-mustard based gravy.
Shukto is a traditional bengali dish prepared with very minimal spices and combined with various kind of vegetables in a poppy seed-mustard gravy. It has a pleasant bitterness , yet , it’s slightly sweet and salty , makes it unique in taste.
Bhapa Ilish means ‘Steamed Hilsa’ , where BHAPA represents ‘STEAMING’.
It is a classic Bengali preparation where fresh Ilish/hilsa is marinated in mustard seed paste , along with turmeric, green chili, salt and a liberal dousing of mustard oil , and then steamed in a stainless steel tiffin box or covered pot.
Bhapa ilish can be prepared in pressure cooker, steamer , or even in a microwave oven.
It is a bengali style fish curry , prepared with mustard and tomatoes. This curry is easy to make with a little twist to regular mustard fish. Fish like rohu, katla, aar, pabda, hilsa etc. can be prepared with this gravy.