How to make Ilish Macher Paturi -

Bengalis simply love this dish - Hilsa fish cooked in banana leaves

Sanjeev Kapoor

This is a Sanjeev Kapoor exclusive recipe.

Main Ingredients : Hilsa, Banana Leaves (केले के पत्ते )

Cuisine : Bengali

Course : Main Course Seafood


Ilish Macher Paturi

Ilish Macher Paturi Recipe Card

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The Bengalis are great food lovers and take pride in their cuisine.  In fact so obsessed are they about food, that the man of the house goes to the market daily to buy a fresh supply vegetables and fish which is a must in their daily menu.  The medium of cooking is mustard oil which adds its own pungency.  Another very important item of Bengali cuisine is the variety of sweets or mishti as they call them.  Most of them are milk based and are prepared from chhena.
A meal, for the Bengali, is a ritual in itself.  Bengalis spend not only the great deal of time thinking about the food but also on its preparation and eating. 

Prep Time : 11-15 minutes

Cook time : 31-40 minutes

Serve : 4

Level Of Cooking : Moderate

Taste : Mild

Ingredients for Ilish Macher Paturi Recipe

  • Hilsa sliced 1 kilogram

  • Banana Leaves 6-8

  • Mustard powder 2 tablespoons

  • Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon

  • Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon

  • Salt to taste

  • Mustard oil 3/4 cup

  • Green chillies slit 8-10

Method

Step 1

Cut each banana leaf into half. Mix mustard powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt, mustard oil and green chillies and apply this paste evenly on the fish pieces.

Step 2

Place three to four banana leaves on a tawa and then put another set of leaves on top crosswise. Carefully place the hilsa pieces on top and put the remaining masala and oil on top. Fold the banana leaves on the fish pieces and tie with a string. Place tawa over high heat and cook.

Step 3

Colour of the leaves will start changing from green to yellow. It will take twenty to twenty five minutes for hilsa to cook. It is always better to cook the fish just before serving.

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MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine. He is Chef extraordinaire, runs a successful TV Channel FoodFood, hosted Khana Khazana cookery show on television for more than 17 years, author of 150+ best selling cookbooks, restaurateur and winner of several culinary awards. He is living his dream of making Indian cuisine the number one in the world and empowering women through power of cooking to become self sufficient. His recipe portal www.sanjeevkapoor.com is a complete cookery manual with a compendium of more than 10,000 tried & tested recipes, videos, articles, tips & trivia and a wealth of information on the art and craft of cooking in both English and Hindi.