Doi Maach
Doi Maach literary, translated to yogurt fish, is a quick weekend fish curry. It takes roughly 20 minutes to prepare the dish, and it tastes best with steamed white rice. Bengalis are known for their love for seafood, and I saw Ma preparing fish curry based on season. The rich curries are saved for cold winter nights and these light non-spicy fish curries are meant for warm summer days.
What variety of Fish is used to prepare Doi Maach?
The most common fish that is used to prepare this dish is rohu fish, a species of fish of the carp family. It’s fresh lake water fish. If you live in Bay Area, California then you can easily find this variety in several Indian stores that sells non-veg items. Here is one shop, I always visit to stock up on Bengali items, including seafood.
What other fish variety will work for Doi Maach ?
I have made this dish with salmon fillet too or tilapia. Except in those cases, you don’t need to deep-fry the fish, instead just a quick pan fry. You can also try the same with shrimp or king fish.
Vegetarian version
The tangy yogurt curry base is so good that you can switch up seafood with assorted veggies too. Cauliflower works amazing in this curry. If you try a vegetarian version, please do let me know!
Adding Yogurt while cooking
If yogurt is not added the right way and at the right tome, it will curdle, and the curry will not be creamy at all. So here are few tips:
- Use thick yogurt and whisk it until smooth
- Always use yogurt right at the end when all the spices are cooked through. Because once you add yogurt you don’t want to cook for longer.
- Make sure the heat is medium low when you add yogurt. The high heat can curdle it easily.
- This tip is from my Mom. She adds a bit of all-purpose flour to the yogurt while whisking. I don’t know the science behind it, but it definitely helps to avoid curdling.
Bengalis love for fish!
Growing up in a Bengali family meant waking up listening to Rabindra Sangeet playing in the living room and watching Mom frying fishes for lunch. Things have changed a lot now since my parents eat more vegetarian meals. But there was a time when, probably just two days in a week, fish was not prepared. By the time I reached teenage, I started disliking the taste of fish. It was only after several years of staying away from home, not eating that classic everyday Bengali curries and especially, not eating river fish that my palate unexpectedly started craving for it. I would call mom asking for recipes and tips on how I could prepare the same dish with sea fish instead, because those regional river fishes were not available there.
Check out for more fish recipes
Fresh Lake water fish
Unlike sea fishes, river fish has a lot of tiny bones, and it’s not possible to eat it gracefully using a fork and spoon. You have to use your hands to pick those bones, as you mix the gravy with steamed white rice. There is an extreme casualness about it, and we Bengalis love it!
