Shorshe Ilish (Hilsa in Mustard)শর্ষে ইলিশ
⏱ Prep 25m🍳 Cook 15m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Non-veg
Video: Banglar Rannaghor (YouTube)
Shorshe ilish — hilsa in a pungent mustard gravy — is the crown of Bengali cuisine, cooked with reverence during the monsoon. Just a handful of ingredients: the prized ilish, freshly-ground mustard, green chillies and mustard oil, steamed until the fish is silken.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪Ilish (hilsa) steaks (ইলিশ)6 pieces
- ▪Yellow and black mustard seeds (সরষে)3 tbsp
- ▪Green chillies5–6
- ▪Turmeric powder1 tsp
- ▪Mustard oil4 tbsp
- ▪Nigella seeds (kalonji)1/2 tsp
- ▪Saltto taste
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Hilsa is sold frozen at Bengali/South-Asian grocers abroad. If unavailable, Spanish mackerel or shad approximate its oily richness (the dish will differ, but works).
- Grinding mustard fresh is key — bottled mustard paste is a passable shortcut; add a little to taste and do not boil hard.
Method
- 1Soak the mustard seeds 20 minutes, then grind to a smooth paste with 3 green chillies, a pinch of salt and a little water. Strain if you want it silky (mustard turns bitter if over-ground or heated hard).
- 2Rub the hilsa steaks with turmeric and salt.
- 3Mix the mustard paste with turmeric, salt, 2 tbsp mustard oil, nigella seeds and about 1/2 cup water in a pan or steaming bowl.
- 4Lay the fish in the gravy, top with the remaining slit green chillies and a drizzle of raw mustard oil. Cover and cook on low heat (or steam) for 12–15 minutes until the fish is done — gentle heat keeps the mustard from turning bitter.
- 5Rest and serve with plain steamed rice; the raw mustard-oil finish is traditional.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.