Koshano Mach Recipe: 

Today’s recipe is a special one. It is a fish curry so that makes it naturally a bit more special as A Bengali. But what makes it extra special ,particularly in the context of Moni Dadi’s recipe diary, is that there are two versions of this recipe. This should be the first version of Koshano Mach (slow cooked fish curry) recipe you should be seeing, unless there are changes made in the release schedule. 

This begs the question, why are there two different recipes for the same dish? Honestly, I don’t know why of all the recipes  Koshano Mach has two different versions noted down. There is a difference in process, but Moni Dadi did not specify which fish to use. So the difference in process could be for different types of fish, or it could just be a different recipe which shares the same name. And I cannot make comments regarding the taste because I have not tasted the other recipe. Maybe once Ms Shortcut Sokhina has made the other Koshano Mach, I will get more clarity. 

Now how exactly do the two recipes of Koshano Mach differ you ask? In today’s recipe the  coriander leaf, mustard seed , coriander and sliced red chili are blended together. Then the blend is fried. Whilst on the other recipe, the spices are directly fried, without prior blending. Again, I have not tasted both dishes so I cannot say what kind of a difference blended spices make. And I would recommend you do not attempt to alter today’s recipe based on this paragraph only. But anyone who knows what they’re doing can spice up the recipe any way they want, I have no say in that. 

I already mentioned that Moni Dadi did not specify which fish should be used for the recipe. Ms Shortcut Sokhina decided to use Rui Mach (Labeo rohita). You can probably use any other big carp fish for the dish as well. I also saw a recipe online using Bata Mach (freshwater minor carp). So you have freedom while it comes to which fish you want to cook. 

Something I should also mention is that today’s recipe is a rare one. There are not many online recipes for Koshano Mach. I was not familiar with the recipe before today either. The dish I knew of, and what you will mostly find online, is Kosano Mangsho (slow cooked meat). Cooking red meat like beef or mutton in this process is much more common. 

I have been translating Koshano as “slow cooking” in this article so far. I do not know if that is the exact translation, feel free to correct me. But slow cooking is the closest thing I can think of as Koshano. The process of cooking something over a long period on medium heat is roughly what we call Koshano. Since the cooking is done for a prolonged period, the gravy is much thicker in these types of dishes. You can make it more curry-like by adding more water, but the spicy thick gravy is the preferred flavor by most people. 

Now slow cooking red meat makes perfect sense, they take a long time to cook. That’s why Koshano Mangsho recipes do not use chicken. Though there are Koshano Murgi recipes, or you can try to make it yourself. If you can slow cook fish, as done in this recipe, you can slow cook chicken as well. 

One pet peeve I would like to add about the Koshano Mach recipe is the use of coconut. I do not like the flavor of coconut in curries, but Moni Dadi added shredded coconut in the recipe. The shredded coconut was quite prominent in the dish, especially because Koshano Mach has a thicker gravy. So if you are like me, and do not like the taste of coconut in curries, I will recommend skipping the shredded coconut.