"Ilish Polau" - A traditional Bengali fish recipe

Hello readers,
    Today is the time to taste something different. In rainy season we Bengalis love to eat Ilish (hilsa fish), I thought why don't we make "Ilish Pulao" today? So what are you waiting for let's start!

Ingredients:-

1. Gobindobhog rice (4 cup)
2. Ilish Fish (5pc)
3.Vegetable oil- 4 table spoon
4. Ghee-2 table spoon
5. Flour-1 tea spoon
6. Coconut milk:- 3-4 table spoon
7. Sweet curd:- 1 table spoon
8. Milk:- 2 cup
9. Red chili:- 2 to 3 (whole)
10. Water:- 6 cup

** Gobindobhog rice:- This rice cultivated mostly in West Bengal in India, it is a short-grain, White, aromatic, sticky rice having a sweet buttery flavour.

## Always remember that water should be double quantity of rice, here I took 4 cup rice, so I added 6 cup water with 2 cup milk.

Spices:-

1. Onion:- 2 tea spoon (paste), 2 tea spoon (juice)
2. Garlic:- 1/2tea spoon(paste), 1 tea spoon (juice)
3. Ginger:- 1 tea spoon juice
4. Kashmiri chili powder:- 2 tea spoon
5. Salt:- to taste
6. Sugar:- to taste (optional)

Preparation:-

1. First soak the rice in water.

2. Take a pan, add 2 table spoon vegetable oil and 1 table spoon ghee in it.

3. Add onion & garlic paste and let them became soft .

4. Take a bowl & mix sweet curd with flour.

5. Once onion and garlic paste became soft add kashmiri red chili powder, mixture of sweet curd and flour, then stir them well. When this mixture release oil add coconut milk into it with some water, then add very little salt.

6. When this mixture will start boiling add all Ilish pieces and red chili (whole). Let them cook well from both sides for at least 5 minutes. After that turn off the gas oven.

7. Take another pan.

8. Add remaining vegetable oil and ghee into it.

9. Put red chili, ginger juice, onion juice and garlic juice one by one, let them cook well.

10. Add Fish gravy into it and cook well for while.

11. Now add 6 cup water and 2 cup milk into it.

12. Add soaked rice while this mixture start boiling.

13. Add salt and sugar to taste.

14. Now let the rice cook for 20 minutes in low flame.

15. When rice will be cooked 80%, make 5 places (holes) into them so that you can keep fish pieces into that holes.

16. Take cooked fish pieces and put them the places we made on rice (handle fish pieces softly else they will be broken).

17. Again you will have to cook them for 10 minutes (low flame) so that rice can be cooked well.

18. Its now ready to serve. When you will serve them remember first serve rice on the plate and softly take out the fish and keep it on serving plate else fish will be broken.

*** Source of images used in this article : web