Macha Besaraମାଛ ବେସର
Video: Cook with Swag odia (YouTube)
Macha Besara is one of Odisha's most soulful everyday dishes — fish simmered in a pungent, earthy mustard paste sharpened with green chillies and soured lightly with tomato. The word besara refers to the ground mustard-and-spice paste that is the backbone of this preparation, a technique Odia cooks have perfected over centuries. Village kitchens make this with freshly pounded mustard on a sil-batta, and the result is robust, deeply flavoured, and best eaten with steaming hot rice.
📍 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
- ▪rohu or catla fish, cut into steaks — hilsa (ilish) is the festive choice600 g
- ▪yellow mustard seeds3 tbsp
- ▪black mustard seeds1 tbsp
- ▪garlic cloves5
- ▪green chillies (slit)4-5
- ▪turmeric powder1.5 tsp
- ▪tomatoes, roughly chopped2 medium
- ▪mustard oil4 tbsp
- For the tempering
- ▪panch phoron (Odia/Bengali five-spice blend)1 tsp
- ▪dry red chillies2
- ▪saltto taste
- Rohu and catla are freshwater carp widely available in South Asian grocery stores in the UK and US (often frozen). Alternatively, use any firm white fish with skin on — tilapia, barramundi, or carp work well. Avoid delicate fillets that will fall apart in the gravy.
- Panch phoron — the Bengali/Odia five-spice blend of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds — is sold pre-mixed at Indian grocery stores. To make your own, combine equal parts of all five seeds.
- Mustard oil is essential for the authentic flavour and is available at all South Asian grocery stores. If it is unavailable or restricted in your country (it is food-grade safe but labelled for external use in some markets), use a neutral oil and add an extra tablespoon of ground mustard seed to the paste to compensate.
Method
- 1Rub the fish pieces all over with half the turmeric and a generous pinch of salt. Set aside for 15 minutes to firm up and let the turmeric work.
- 2Soak the yellow and black mustard seeds in 4 tablespoons of water for 15 minutes to soften them. Transfer to a blender along with the garlic cloves, 2-3 of the green chillies, and the remaining turmeric. Add a small splash of water and grind to a smooth, fine paste. Set aside.
- 3Heat the mustard oil in a wide kadhai or heavy pan over high heat until it just begins to smoke, then reduce to medium — this removes the raw pungency of the oil. Shallow-fry the fish pieces in the hot oil, 2 minutes per side, until lightly golden and sealed. Remove and set aside; do not cook through at this stage.
- 4In the same oil, add the dry red chillies and panch phoron. Let them sizzle for 20-30 seconds until fragrant.
- 5Add the chopped tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until they completely break down and the oil starts to separate at the edges.
- 6Lower the heat to medium-low and add the ground mustard paste. Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes to cook out the raw flavour — mustard paste can turn bitter if rushed or cooked on too high a heat.
- 7Pour in 200 ml of water and the remaining slit green chillies. Bring to a gentle simmer, taste, and season with salt. Carefully slide in the fried fish pieces and cook uncovered for 8-10 minutes, spooning the gravy over them, until the fish is cooked through and the gravy has thickened.
- 8Finish with a final drizzle of raw mustard oil if desired. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.