Ilish Bhaja — The Spice Odyssey

‘Twas the dish that started it all — Ilish Bhaja as in Fried Hilsa Fish. This is the first recipe we featured on our blog and it’s a regular in our Pohela Boishakh menu every year. Today, I am sharing an updated version — this is what we call “kora bhaja ilish” as in a crisp fried hilsa which is coated in more spices and fried longer. There are over hundred ways of making ilish and kora bhaja ilish is a delicacy on its own!

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This year Pohela Boishakh fell on a weekday and coincided with Ramadan. It felt like the usual festivities of new year was lacking and most people in our Muslim majority community were more apprehensive because Ramadan is meant to be a month of piety and self-restrain, not celebrations.

Nonetheless, we celebrated over the weekend and I cooked up some of my favorite noboborsho recipes — ilish bhaja (fried hilsa fish), chingri diye shaak (amaranth with shrimp), begun bhaja (fried eggplants), and sheem bhorta (spicy mashed green beans). You can see my non-curated plate of food in my “boishakh” highlight on Instagram.

Ilish Bhaja was the very first recipe we featured when we started The Spice Odyssey. Although much has not changed, we have made quite the progress both in our culinary and photography endeavor, you can see the before and after picture below. I wanted to recreate the same recipe and give you guys an easy-to-follow video tutorial this time. And after doing a survey on Instagram, the consensus seems the same — you guys want my ilish recipes more than anything else! I will also be sharing a lot more insight on Hilsa as a fish, lots of tips and tricks as well as decent substitutes. Read along!

Let’s talk Ilish!

Ilish or Hilsa is the king of king among all fish! It is a very popular and sought-after fish in the Indian Subcontinent, and is the national fish of Bangladesh and the state fish of West Bengal. The most famous hilsha fish comes from Chandpur, Bangladesh. This fish alone contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh.

It can be eaten in many different ways — fried, steamed, mashed, salted, smoked, fermented, baked in young plantain leaves, prepared with mustard seed paste, curd, eggplant, and many different vegetables and condiments, cooked in rice pilaf. I once read a book that showcased preparing Ilish in 200 different ways. To say, Bengalis love this fish is an understatement.

Substitutes

Ilish is an oily fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids and belongs to the herring or shad family. In North America, where ilish is not always readily available, other shad fish are sometimes used as an ilish substitute, especially in Bengali cuisine. If you aren’t able to find ilish where you live, this recipe does work with other types of fish and you have plenty of options. Here are some really good substitutes

American Shad — the atlantic cousin of Bengali ilish
Salmon — like ilish it is full of omega-3 fatty acids
King Mackerel — also known as kingfish, another oily fish but eat in moderation because it is high in mercury
Pomfret — this is nothing like ilish but Bengalis love this fish, especially when it’s crisp fried with lots of spices

Recipe — Ilish Bhaja

Fried Hilsa Fish

Serving Size: 6

You will notice a slight difference in ingredients between this and the previous version of ilish bhaja that we shared. When it comes to frying hilsa, the idea is to keep the preparation very simple. You are to highlight it’s unique flavor and delectable texture by using minimal spices. BUT there is a catch — ilish is usually imported from Bangladesh and the process involves freezing the fish for preservation. When buying it, make sure to read the packaging and try to buy from the newest batch available in the freezer section. It also helps to communicate and be in good terms with your local Bengali grocery store owner, just saying!

Fatty fish like ilish, salmon and tuna do not last long frozen and overtime the high levels of omega-3 will oxidize and develop "off" flavors. This is pretty common in ilish and in that scenario you want to give it the extra treatment with more spices. Normally when I buy ilish, my plan is to cook it within that week which is what I did previously. But this time around, I had purchased a huge ilish about two months ago. I saved few pieces aside, so I could make a proper “kora bhaja ilish” which means a crisp fried ilish with more spices — also a delicacy on its own, unlike the lighter fried version from before.

Ingredients

Ilish Steaks — 6 pieces
Turmeric — 1/2 tbsp
Red Chili Powder — 1 tbsp
Salt — 2 tsp or as needed
Mustard Oil — 1/4 cup
Vegetable Oil — 2 tbsp
Onions - 1 large, sliced thin
Fresh Green Chilies - 8-10

Directions

Pat dry the ilish steaks with paper towel to remove any excess moisture.
Coat the fish pieces wth turmeric, red chili powder and salt.
In a skillet, heat mustard oil and vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke. Note: I like to mix the two oils when frying but traditionally you are to fry it in mustard oil only.
Add the fish pieces carefully and fry on each side until it is crispy and golden-brown. Once the fish is fried to your preference, remove it from the heat and set it aside.
Add the sliced onions and green chilies to the leftover oil with rendered fish fat. Fry them until the onions are translucent and changes to a yellow color and the chilies start to blister on the side.
Garnish the fish with the crisp fried onion and green chilies, then pour the hot oil with rendered fat on top.
Serve the ilish bhaja with gorom bhat (hot steamed rice) or panta bhat (fermented steeped rice).