A traditional Bangladeshi "fish recipe" - Malai Koi (Creamy climbing perch)

    

    image source

Hello readers,
Today, let's go out of India. Bangladesh is our neighbouring country, they also like to eat fish like us. I'm going to share a recipe called "Malai/Dudh Koi (মালাই/দুধ কই)" also known as "Jessore Koi", one famous recipe of Jessore from Bangladesh. Are you familiar with the name of this fish "Koi" ? It's called "climbing perch" in English, and the scientific name is Anabas testudineus. 

Here is a picture of Koi fish-

    image source : profishingvideos
Ingredients:

1) Koi Fish (5-6 pc) big size.
2) Coconut Milk (Malai) 2-3 cups
3) Mustard oil - 100 ml
4) Green chilies - 3 to 4

    Coconut Milk image source  Please red "How to prepare Coconut Milk"

Spices:

1) Onion-2 medium size
2) Garlic- 3 clove's for fry/1 tea spoon paste.
3) Cumin-2 tea spoon powder/1 tea spoon whole.
4) Bay leaves - 2 pc
5) Salt-To taste
6) Sugar-To taste
7) Turmeric powder-3 tea spoon
8) Chili powder- 2 tea spoon.
9) Tamarind paste-1 tea spoon.

  ** Take koi fish and add salt and 2 tea spoon turmeric powder with it and let them marinate.
*** Take a bowl add tamarind and water make a paste.

Preparation: 

1. Cut onion in a thin slices.

2. Take a pan, pour half mustard oil and let it became very hot.

3. Add 3 garlic, cloves and fry. Take out them when they become golden brown.

4. Add Onion slices in the same oil and let them fry until they become golden. Once they become golden brown take them out from the oil.

5. Take another pan and roast bay leaves and whole cumin one by one.

6. Now make a paste with all of the above.

7. Add remaining mustard oil in the other pan and fry marinated koi fish. When fish fried well, take out them from oil and soak them into 2 cup of coconut milk (malai).

8. Take a bowl, add remaining coconut milk, turmeric powder, cumin powder, garlic paste, chili powder, salt, sugar. mustard paste and make a thick mixture.

9. Add this mixture in the oil left in the pan after frying koi fish, and let this mixture cook well. Take out little gravy and add in the paste which we made with fried spices.

10. Now add fish which soaked in coconut milk (malai).

11. Mix the fried spices paste into the fish, you can add water (if needed).

12. When gravy will start boiling add tamarind paste and let gravy to boil for 5 to 7 mins on medium low flame.

12. Garnish with green chilies, now it's ready to serve with rice.