Macha Mahura Recipe – Odia Style Fish Curry With Vegetables

Mahura is a traditional mouth watering odia dish, that can be either made with no onion and garlic called Niramish Mahura or with fish known as Amish Mahura. What makes this recipe unique is that here the fish is steamed first then de-boned and then fried in oil before being added to the curry. Course : Dinner Ingridients : 1/4 cup Kaddu (Parangikai/ Pumpkin) 2 Colocasia root (Arbi) 1/4 cup Elephant yam (Suran/Senai/Ratalu) 2 Plantain Stem 2 tablespoon Kala Chana (Brown Chickpeas) 5 Badi (wadi) , fried 500 grams Rohu fish 1 tablespoon Coriander (Dhania) Seeds 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf) 4 Cloves (Laung) 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1 tablespoon Whole Black Peppercorns 1 inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini) 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1 teaspoon Panch Phoran Masala 1 Onion , finely sliced 1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste Salt , as required 2 tablespoon Oil Water , as needed Instructions To begin making the Macha Mahura Recipe, soak the black chana overnight. Heat a frying pan and dry roast whole coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and grind to make a fine powder. In the same pan, dry roast the wadis and keep aside.In a pan steam the fish along with some salt, turmeric and bay leaf for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain the water in a wire strainer and start smashing the fish with the back of the spoon. This way the bones will get separated from the flesh and you have to collect the flesh only.Heat the required oil in a kadhai and once it is hot, transfer the boneless fish into the pot and fry till it resembles small pebbles. Keep it aside. This process is known as Macha Kharada. This can be served with Pakhala also.Chop all vegetables in small cubes. Boil all vegetables with salt, turmeric powder, water and black chana. After the vegetables are half boiled, add 2 tablespoons of powdered masala powder and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cover and cook till the vegetables cooked completely.Add some more oil to the pan and add panch phutan. Add the sliced onions and fry till the onion turns golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and cook till they blend well.Next, add the fish and the boiled vegetables. Cook for 10 minutes and then add the fried crushed badis. Sprinkle the powdered garam masala on top and serve hot.Serve Macha Mahura along with Steamed Rice for your weekday meal. You can also serve Kachumber Salad on the side to complete the meal.