Traditionally this preparation is made with Rohu/ Hilsa, but a lot of people find tilapia to be a good substitute, in the absence of the said fishes. However I prefer Salmon over Tilapia in this curry. Am not sure how authentic can you call this recipe (compared to the Bengali and Oriya style) as I have tried to check almost every blog/ site, but found each one slightly different from the other in some way. So learning from my earlier numerous attempts and instinct, I tried this today with some more variations, and I think, this was the closest to the mustard fish I have tasted in some restaurants. It has a balanced flavor of pungent mustard, tang from tomates and sweetness from onions.
You need:
Salmon steaks (cut into 3 inch x 3 inch)
Mustard seeds – 3 Tbsp
Poppy seeds – 1 Tbsp
Green Chili – 3 nos
Coriander leaves – 3 tbsp
Oil
Nigella seeds
Potato – 1 No (Cut into wedges, dont peel it)
Tomatoes – 1 No (Cut into wedges)
Garlic Paste – 1.5 tsp
Onion – 1 no. (Thin sliced)
Coriander powder
Turmeric powder
Garam Masala
Salt
Mustard oil
1) Coat the fish with salt, turmeric powder and little mustard oil. Leave it for 15-20 min.
2) Take oil in a non stick pan. Fry the potatoes wedges till light brown (almost cooked)
3) In the same oil, fry the fish till 3/4th done. Remove the fish.
4) In this oil, add nigella seeds. Once it gives an aroma, add the garlic paste and fry till light brown.
5) Now add the onion, salt and turmeric and fry till light brown.
6) Add coriander powder, garam masala and fry.
7) Add water depending on the consistency you like and bring to a boil.
8) To this, add the potatoes and fish, cover and cook for 2-3 min.
Serve hot with steamed rice.