Machh'er Chop
An intense, spicy filling of aar/rohu/katla fish, breaded and deep-fried
- Cooking time90 minutes
Calories257kcal
Fish chop is a spicy fish croquette that can be made with any fish. In Bengali homes it is usually made from Rui/Katla (i.e., carps), but in restaurants and cabins it is commonly made with trimmings of Bhetki fish fillets (that get turned into fish fry). We are using Aar, which is a type of large cat fish because it is fattier and more delicious and has fewer bones.
It is usually served with a cabin salad (cucumber, onions, beetroot, carrot) and kasundi (the Bengali fermented mustard condiment).
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DonateIngredients
Serves
12 chops
- 600 g aar machh (or rui/katla)
- 350g onions (finely chopped)
- 20 g ginger (finely chopped)
- 20 g garlic (chopped)
- 10 g green chillies (chopped)
- 70 g mustard oil
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 tsp aamchur (dried-mango powder)
- 20 g salt
- 20 g sugar
- 1 tsp gorom moshla
- 1 tsp bhaja moshla
- breadcrumbs, maida/flour, eggs (for breading)
- vegetable oil (for deep frying)
Method
- Coat the fish with vegetable oil, cover with clingfilm, and microwave at 1,000 power for 4½ minutes. Leave aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, chop onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies.
- Heat mustard oil in a kadai. Once hot, add onions. Fry until they are golden, about 8 minutes.
- Once the fish is cool to the touch, carefully pick out all the fish bones; separate the skin and fat. If you want to incorporate the skin and fat, now is the time to add it to the pan, so that it fries nicely alongside the onions.
- Then to the pan, add garlic. Fry 3 minutes. Add ginger, and fry another 3 minutes.
- Now add the powdered spices: cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chilli, kashmiri red chilli, and aamchur. Add salt and sugar.
- Braise well until the raw smell of the spices dissipates.
- Add chopped green chillies.
- Add the deboned fish meat, as well as bhaja moshla and gorom moshla. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Turn off the heat and set to cool. Once cool, mash the filling with your hand so that it's uniform.
- Divide into 50 g portions and shape into logs.
- To bread the chops, season maida, breadcrumbs and eggs with salt and pepper. First, dust each chop with flour, followed by a dip in the beaten eggs, then rolled in breadcrumb. We usually double-bread the chops for a crisp crust. If you want to do that, simply dip the chops in egg again, followed by a second roll in the breadcrumbs.
- Deep-fry until brown. Serve hot.
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