Recipe: Appetizing Ilish bhapa

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Recipe: Appetizing Ilish bhapa
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Recipe: Appetizing Ilish bhapa Delicious, fresh and tasty.

Ilish bhapa. "Bhapa Ilish" means Steamed Hilsa where "Bhapa" depicts for Steaming. Traditionally Bong ladies used to steam their Hilsa in a "Stainless Steel Tiffin Box" while making the rice in a Handi (Ha-n-ri). That actually is the ideal process of making Bhapa Ilish.

Even though it looks very polished, it is a fairly easy recipe to execute, requiring few ingredients, no special technique, and very little time.

Ilish or Hilsa is a seasonal fish.

The fish is mostly available during the monsoons and that too in very limited quantities.

You can cook Ilish bhapa using 5 ingredients and 3 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Ilish bhapa

  1. Prepare 2 pieces of Hilsa fish.

  2. Prepare 1 small bowl of Sorshe posto bata(mustard and poppy paste).

  3. Prepare 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder.

  4. It’s 4 spoons of Mustard oil.

  5. It’s as per taste of Salt.

That explains why it is so expensive.

Like everything, hilsa too has it's favorites.

Ask any Bengali about the best hilsa in India, and he or she will point you towards Bangladesh.

Today we will learn famous traditional Bengali fish recipe Ilish Bhapa or Bhapa Ilish.

Ilish bhapa step by step

  1. Wash fish pieces and set them aside. Now prepare the paste by mixing sorshe posto bata and turmeric powder and salt. Put fish pieces in it. Drizzle mustard oil over it.

  2. Now put it inside the kadhai half filled with water and let it steam for 25 to 30 minutes..

  3. Take it out and serve it hot with rice.

It is one of the best Bengali Recipe in Bengali Cuisine.

A generous glug of mustard oil.

A throw of wicked green chillies.

All snugly packed in an old-school stainless steel tiffin-box and steamed to perfection.

Bhapa ilish can be prepared in different ways.