Ilish Macher Matha Diye Moong Dal

Ilish Macher Matha Diye Moong Dal | ইলিশ মাছের মাথা দিয়ে মুগডাল | Biye Bari Style Bengali Dal Recipe | Yellow Lentils with Hilsa Fish Head

“Ilish Macher Matha Diye Moong Dal” is one of the delicious fish-lentils traditional Bengali dishes. This dish is prepared with a few common ingredients. This is a very simple and easy recipe. The main ingredients are Moong Dal (Yellow Lentils) and Ilish/Hilsa fish head. Dal is cooked with fried Ilish fish head.

If you want to have the exact flavor of this dish then serve hot with plain steamed Basmati Rice.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cock time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4 People

  • Cuisine: Indian
  • Category: Non-Veg | Fish
  • Course: Side Dish

Ingredients:

  • Hilsa fish head: 1 (cut into 4 pieces)
  • Moong dal or Yellow Lentils: 1 cup
  • Red Chili: 2 pcs
  • Green Chili: 2 pcs
  • Salt: To taste
  • Sugar: ½ tablespoon
  • Bay Leaf: 2 pcs
  • Turmeric powder (Haldi): ½ teaspoon
  • Cumin powder (Jeera): 1 teaspoon
  • Garam masala powder: ½ teaspoon
  • Cardamom powder, 1 pinch
  • Mustard Oil: ½ cup

Preparation:

  • Marinate the fish head with salt and turmeric powder.

Procedure:

  1. Heat a non-stick pan. 
  2. Roast the moong dal in medium flame for 2/3 minutes. Stir continuously until it turns to light brown and the aroma comes out. In parallel make warm water.
  3. You can wash and clean the dal if needed. This step is optional.
  4. Transfer the dal into a pressure cooker.
  5. Add one and a half cups of warm water. Do not add much water at this stage otherwise, dal will not boil properly.
  6. Add green chili, salt and turmeric powder, and one teaspoon of mustard oil.
  7. Pressure cook in medium flame for 1 or 2 whistles. The time and number of whistles may vary depending on the pressure cooker, the quality and quantity of dal, and temperature. 
  8. Once done, let the pressure cooker settle down. Take off the lid and check whether dal is perfectly boiled. It should be 80% boiled. Adjust with adding warm water and gently mix it and keep aside.
  9. Heat a tablespoon of mustard oil in a deep-fry non-stick pan. Once hot, add the marinated fish head. Deep fry the fish in medium-high flame. Break the fish into pieces. Keep aside fish and fried oil separately. 
  10. Heat half tablespoon of fresh mustard oil and add the whole red chilies, bay leaves. 
  11. Sauté for a minute and then add the fried fish and dal.
  12. Put the flame in high until the dal starts boiling.
  13. Add the leftover fish fried oil. It will add more Hilsa fish flavor to it.
  14. Add sugar and adjust the salt.
  15. Add Garam Masala powder and cardamom powder and mix them well.
  16. Cover the pan and cook on low flame for a few minutes.
  17. Check the consistency of dal. It should be moderate consistency, not so thick-not so thin.
  18. Once done, switch off the flame.
  19. Transfer it to the serving bowl and sprinkle some cumin powder.
  20. Serve with steamed rice.

Serve with: Plain steamed Basmati Rice

Tips:

• During roasting the dal, we would need to stir it continuously for even roasting.
• Make sure the dal is not over-fried, it may spoil the taste.
• Always use warm water. It will help to boil the dal perfectly.
• Adding leftover fish fried oil at a later stage will add more Hilsa fish flavor.

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