Fish stands pretty close to lamb in my books when it comes to my favourite curry. When I was 14, I began tutoring a little girl on my road twice a week and her Mother would always make sure I always ate before I left. They were Bangladeshi, so fish was a regular part of their menu.
It was there that I fell in love with fish curries, something rarely cooked at my Mother's home. Where before I had only ever heard of tilapia, cod and salmon, here there were so many different types of fishes! Different sizes, different textures, so many different tastes!
I purchased this particular fish, called 'Pabda' from a Bangladeshi shop in a frozen block. I was intrigued by it, but also slightly intimidated by the fact that it had it's head on. Eeeeeeeek!
In a mixture of disgust and fear (strange since I myself had willingly purchased this), I pushed the Pabda to the back of my freezer, in denial that one day I'll have to deal with this scary little headed fish. Of course, I could just choose to cook and eat it with it's head on, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.
Eventually, a friend of mine popped over for dinner not too may days ago and I had initially planned the humble Pakistani daal chaawal for dinner, something that felt fine as regular meal, but not something to serve my food-loving friend for dinner. So out came the frozen block of Pabda fish.
Unwillingly, I beheaded it and cleaned out it's innards. Thankfully, the experience wasn't as gory and gross as I had imagined it to be , i.e. I didn't puke and now I have the comforting knowledge that no matter what fish life throws at me, I'll be able to de-head it, cook it and make a fantastic dinner out of it.
'Bhuna' refers to a cooking technique in which the water is dried out on high heat and entails vigorous stirring and shaking of the pan. If you've ever cooked fish, then you'll know vigorous stirring will only lead to a mush, which is fine if you're going for a Fish Keema, but in most other cases isn't what we want. Hence the ' around the 'Bhuna' in the title. Instead, I've bhunn-ed the onions and tomatoes till they have little water remaining in them, but still maintain their shape to add some texture to the curry, then carefully added the Pabda and allowed it to steam gently till cooked.
This dish went down very well with my friend and I alongside some tadka daal and a zesty salad. Pabda fish has a very delicate and soft texture unlike many other fishes I have had before. The flesh peels away from the bone so easily that fishing for bones (get the pun? Lol) isn't a problem at all! Goes best with plain white basmati rice but I can imagine it would go quite well with a crispy naan - yum!
Enjoy, with love x
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ lb (250 g) Pabda fish
- 2 onions sliced thin and long
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 green chili for garnish
- Fresh coriander for garnish
- 4 tablespoon oil
- Additional oil for frying the fish as needed
Instructions
- First, we take off the head of this fish. Cut the head of at an angle and clean out the innards using a sharp knife.
- Rub the fish well in 1tsp salt and ½tsp turmeric and allow to marinate in a colander for a minimum of half an hour.
- Fry the fish (shallow or deep, your call) for 1-2 minutes in very hot oil. Set aside.
- In a skillet or pan big enough to fit all the fish in one layer, add 3-4 tablespoon of oil, the sliced onions and minced garlic. Sauté this till very lightly brown.
- Add the tomatoes and spices. Sauté this on high heat till the tomatoes slightly mash and release some of their water.
- At this point, add the fish in a single layer. Using a spoon, take some of the onion and tomato masala and spread it over the fish. Turn the heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped coriander and green chilli. Serve immediately.
Notes
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Paul
Hi Fatima,
Another Beautiful recipe. I had this this evening when my non fish eating partner was out with old work colleagues for a long overdue reunion.
I used a small piece of Monkfish tail, sliced into 1cm wide chunks which I added straight to the Masala. It cooked in about 7 minutes on a medium heat. It would be nice to try it with Pabda. I may be able to get it at the fish stall on Bolton Market. They usually have a good range of Indian River and Sea fish available. I have bought Pomfret from there before.
I really enjoyed what I had, despite not being the same fish.
Thanks again,
Paul
Paul
Hi Fatima,
This looks lovely. As my partner will not eat fish or seafood I think I’ll cook this tonight as he’s going out with ex work colleagues this evening!
Your story about the fish head and eyes reminds me of my late Grandma. She enjoyed eating Rainbow Trout until one day at a restaurant it was served head and all. She quickly covered the head with a lettuce leaf followed by “well, I can’t eat it with it looking at me can I?”. We all fell about laughing!
Fatima
Love it 😂😂😂
Saima
Thank you for another foolproof recipe. I used hake which I had in the freezer. It was very quick and easy to make and enjoyed by hubby too, he loved the masala.
Fatima
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! ♥️
Eliza
Gona try doing this today