Shorshe Ilish Recipe: Try The Authentic Bengali Delicacy At Home

Shorshe Ilish Recipe: Try The Authentic Bengali Delicacy At Home

Shorshe Ilish is a traditional Bengali cuisine where Hilsa fish or the Ilish mach is cooked with mustard paste gravy which is also known as Shorshe bata in Bengali. It is an authentic Bengali dish that is relished by Bengalis from Bangladesh and India. Ilish and Shorshe are both Bengali terms that mean Hilsa and mustard respectively. This implies that mustard paste is an important ingredient for the Shorshe Ilish recipe. Other than sarso Ilish recipes there are other recipes of Ilish like Doi Ilish. In some other articles, we will discuss the Doi Ilish recipe as well. So without any further delay, let us have a look at the Shorshe Ilish recipe. 

Shorshe Ilish Recipe In Bengali Style

Shorshe Ilish is also known as Ilish bhapa. The ingredients are the same and the process also. The item name differs from place to place. Since Bengali culture and food are diverse that covers Bangladesh as well so the same dishes tend to have different names in Bengali. So let us have a look at the Shorshe Ilish recipe or the Ilish bhapa recipe Bengali style.

Ingredients Required

  • 6 pieces Hilsa fish or Ilish
  • 1/2 tsp Kalo jeera or kalonji or nigella seeds
  • 1 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 3 green chilies
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 3 tbsp mustard oil
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • Salt (as required)

Sorshe Ilish Total Preparation Time

It takes 5 mins to prepare before cooking. The cooking and serving time is 20-25 minutes. The dish serves 5-6 people as per the ingredients taken.

Process For Making Bangladeshi Ilish Recipe/Shorshe Ilish Recipe

  1. First, wash all the pieces of Hilsa fish with water. Then add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt over it. Mix it well so that both sides of each piece get a nice coat. Keep it aside.
  2. Wash the mustard seeds 2-3 times in a strainer. This is a simple way to wash poppy seeds and mustard seeds without letting a single seed go wasted and soak it in water for 15 mins.
  3. After 15 mins, drain the water from the seeds and put the mustard seeds in a small blender jar then add 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 medium tomato, and 3 green chilies and blend it well and make a fine paste. 
  4. Next, take a pan and keep it at medium heat and then add 3 – 4 tbsp of mustard oil to it. 
  5. Then add ½ tbsp of onion seed Kalo jeera to it and stir it well. 
  6. Then add the mustard paste and mix it for 1 minute. 
  7. Then add ½ tbsp of chili and turmeric powder and mix it well. 
  8. Next when the smell of raw masalas starts to go off and you can see the oil getting separated from the curry, add water and let that come to boil. 
  9. Once the gravy starts to boil, add the marinated pieces of Hilsa to it and add 3 – 4 green childish slightly torn directly in the pan. 
  10. Cover the lid of the pan and cook it for 5 – 6 minutes. 
  11. After 5 – 6 minutes if you see that the gravy is consistent then turn the flame off and serve it with plain white rice. 

Shorshe Ilish Recipe In Gist

Bengali’s Monsoon is complete without Ilish or which is commonly known as Hilsa. And among so many Hilsa recipes Bengalis find it incomplete if they do not have Shorshe Ilish at least once every year. So here is the Shorshe Ilish recipe in a gist.

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Sorshe Ilish

Shorshe Ilish is a traditional Bengali cuisine where Hilsa fish or the Ilish mach is cooked with mustard paste gravy which is also known as Shorshe bata in Bengali. It is an authentic Bengali dish that is relished by Bengalis from Bangladesh and India.

Preparation

5 Minutes

Cooking Time

20-25 Minutes

Total Time 

30 Minutes

Cuisine 

Bengali

Course

Main Course

Servings

5-6

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 pieces Hilsa fish or Ilish

  • 1/2 tsp Kalo jeera or kalonji or nigella seeds

  • 1 ½  tbsp mustard seeds

  • 1 medium tomato

  • 3 green chilies

  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

  • 1/2 tsp chili powder

  • 3 tbsp mustard oil

  • 1 ¼  cup water

  • Salt (as required)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Wash the Ilish pieces and marinate with salt and turmeric powder.

  • Next, wash the mustard seeds and put them in a blender. Add green chilis, salt, and tomato and make a fine paste.

  • Next heat a pan and add 3 tbsp of mustard oil.

  • Then add onion seed or Kalo jeera and stir it. Then add the mustard paste and add green chilis, turmeric powder, and salt and mix it well.

  • Once the raw smell of the spices starts to get off and oil starts to separate from the gravy add water and bring it to boil.

  • Once it starts to boil, add the marinated Hilsa fish and cook it for 5 – 6 minutes.

  • Once it is done, serve it with plain white rice.

Conclusion

Bengali cuisine is incomplete if you do not include Hilsa or what is commonly known as Ilish in it. And that too Shorshe Ilish. So above is a complete Shorshe Ilish recipe that will give you the exact feel of the royal Bengali cuisine.

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Donna Hussain

Everything that makes you lucrative about food and travel is the magic of Donna Hussain who has continued to influence us by her knowledgeable and quirky articles on travel, tour, and food.

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