Spicy Sea Bass and Lentil Fritters Fish Curry- Mushoor Dal'er Bora diye Sea Bass mach'er tel jhaal

 

I have always dreaded relocations in my life. But things which you fear the most will surely happen no matter how hard you may try to avoid it. Yes, we have relocated to India again. And with that another beautiful chapter is closed in our life. Memories will stay with us always, and the journey of life will take new turns with each passing seasons. But we won’t stop walking on the road, the road which we call life.

This fritters and fish curry was supposed to be published long back but due to reshuffling etc, it wasn’t possible. We have developed a liking for sea bass fish there as it reminds us of Bhetki fish. And masoor dal ‘er boda or fritters are great when accompanied with tea. I just thought of making a gravy with dal ‘er boda/lentil fritters but soon the recipe started to evolve.
I had some fried sea bass fish fillets in refrigerator and then thought of using them in the gravy. What was supposed to be a vegetarian affair ended up being a non vegetarian recipe with some tangy and spicy touch. I really don’t know the substitute for sea bass fish or for that matter any fish, as fish curry without fish is something unimaginable for me.

Mushoor dal’er bora diye sea bass mach’er tel jhaal-Lentil Fritters and Spicy Sea Bass Fish Curry
For mushoor dal ‘er bora/ masoor dal fritters

• 1 cup of mushoor dal /masoor dal
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 green chilly chopped

For the fish curry

• Sea bass fish fillet-4-5
• 1 tomato
• Seasonings
• 1 tsp of grounded turmeric and some more for marinating the fish fillets
• 2 tsp of grounded red pepper powder
• Salt as per taste and to marinate the fish fillets
• 2-3 tbs of cooking oil
• Some more oil for frying the fritters

Method

• Soak masoor dal for 3 hrs. Generally if I am going to prepare fritters fish curry for lunch then I soak them early in the morning.
• Wash the soaked masoor dal very well.
• Now grind the masoor dal in food processor. You don’t need to prepare a smooth paste but coarsely grounded masoor dal will work fine too. In fact all the fritters turn out crisper with coarsely grounded dal.
• Add in chopped onions (add onions and green chilly when you are about to prepare the fritters) Add in chopped green chilly. And mix it very well. 
• Heat up a saucepan; add cooking oil enough to fry up fritters. Drop some cumin seeds to check if the oil is heated enough to fry the fritters. Cumin seeds will sizzle and that means the oil is ready for deep frying.
• Now fry up masoor dal fritters slowly.
• Drain on tissue paper.
• Marinate the sea bass fillets with some turmeric powder and salt.
• Heat up a saucepan, add cooking oil.
• Fry the fish pieces /fillets at medium flame for 5 mints each side in a wok or saucepan or kadhai.
• In that oil which is left after frying the fish pieces( if you think , the oil is less then add oil a little bit more)Add in 1 and half cup of water, chopped tomato and all the seasonings-turmeric powder, red pepper powder and salt.
• Now add in fish fillets. Cook at low flame for 5-6 mints. Add in masoor dal fritters at the end and cover it.
• Fritters will tend to soak up the gravy. If you don’t want soggy fritters then add them at the time of serving but reheat the gravy first. I generally prefer soft fritters soaked up with the flavors of gravy, so I generally like to add the fritters while the gravy is still simmering in the pan and ready to be taken out.
• You may use urad dal bora/wadis in place of mushoor dal fritters also.

Happy Cooking friends