Delicious and Traditional Bengali Fish Dishes

There is a magical bonding between food and Bengalis. We Bengalis’ are famous all over the country for our delicious dishes. The traditional food of West Bengal have always surprised people from different regions of India as well as foreign countries. Thus, in order to have a proper insight about Bengali dishes you must have to visit a Fish market to see the variety of fishes that cover up the plates in our lunch time.

It will definitely surprise you when you see within an area of 100 meters more than hundreds of species of fishes are being sold in a market. Amid such verities few deserves a special mention as those are the most common in maximum Bengali dishes.

During the monsoon time you can certainly see the first row in any fish market is packed up with the king of fish “Hilsha”. The white shining bodies seem to reflect bright white ray out of it when the hanging blub puts light on it. The red eyes remain wide open with a black shad beneath it. Those who have already tested Hilsha at least once in their life time, seeing the shining Hilsha in the market would certainly envisage a well cooked piece of Hilsha just in their plate with Mastered seeds on top of it with white steaming rice.

Then comes Pron, both Hilsha and Pron have great significance in Bengali culture. Hilsha regarded as the symbol of East Bengal and Pron, on the other hand attributes to Mohun Bagan. So whenever the Asia’s biggest derby football match between East Bengal and Mohun bagan takes place its impact can be noticed in fish market as well. The display of Prons in any fish market would for sure attract your attention if you visit once in any Bengali fish market. It’s covered with grey shells and innumerable stings coming out of every parts of its body.

Anyway Pron, which generally do not get the status of fish and as per science it, falls into the category of insects or crab, throughout the year adds flavor in Bengali dishes. There are plenty of mouthwatering dishes of Prons. Among all the most common when Porn (Galda Chingri) is cooked with Master Seeds and coconut.

“Koi” without the mention of this fish no traditional Bengali dish would be satisfactory. In Bengali there is a proverb ‘Koi ar jan’ which means the life of Koi. Koi, has long life and can be seen moving even after it is thoroughly cut. In fact in few cases it can also be noticed that the fish is moving just a moment after it is disposed in the frying pan. Anyway, thus, it is indeed a common sight where in small pot without water in it plenty of this spices are moving in fish market to be sold out.

‘Tel Koi’ (Tel – Oil), which is a pure Bengali dish tests delicious when it will be served with rice. It not only testy but also health as well, therefore Koi is a common item in any Bengali lunch dish.

Rohu or Rui fish and Catla fish are among the most common Bengali traditional dishes which are being cooked most in any families. Other than gravy there are varieties of items that can be cooked with different body parts of these two fishes. The head of Catla fish is regarded as a prestigious dish when a son-in-law visits his in-laws house in any special Bengali occasions like ‘Jamai Sasthi’. The oil of these fishes are also cooked separately with Brinjal and other vegetables, this dish is really special and can’t be cooked other than someone who has a Bengali background.

Apart from the above dishes there are plenty of Bengali traditional fish dishes which would definitely be no less tasteful than any foreign dishes. We Bengalis have invariably been attracted and have special bonding with variety of fish items and thus, when it comes to cooking our expertise can really be spotted at the top of the list of delicious dishes worldwide.