Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Macher Chop/Maacher Chop -- or a Fish Croquette




I made Maacher Chop on Saturday.

Perfect accompaniment to Argentina playing Netherlands.

Bongs love Maacher Chop. They also love Football. It is hard to say which they love better.

This version of Maacher chop is an easier one, more like a croquette. The real Maacher Chop has an outer casing of potato, stuffed with a separately cooked spicy fish stuffing, the whole of which is then deep fried. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water and not watch Football and cry because Maradona has aged, and Batista does not play and I have lost the passion to become a fan.

In short THAT Maacher Chop is much more work than THIS Maacher Chop. If you raise an eyebrow, I will say "Thank You, This is the most I can do in servantless US of A. If you don't want a bite, you are more than welcome"




The roundup for "Of Chalks and Chopsticks" will be up in a couple of days. Bear with me till then and fry some Fish Chops and get yourself a cup of tea.


Read more...






Maacher Chop -- or Fish Croquette


I had 3 standard sized Tilapia Fillet and I made about 14 croquettes/chop

Cook the fillet of fish in the MW for 5-6 minutes. I would suggest do it in intervals of 3 minutes each. I had Tilapia fillet which was frozen and it took me 6 minutes to cook it fully. Yours might take like 3-4 minutes.


Cook one potato whole in the MW. Prick the potato with a fork mercilessly and then wrap in a plastic cling wrap. Zap in the MW for Baked Potato setting which is like 3 minutes. I think I learned the MW trick from Nupur (or is it someone else ?)


In a big mixing bowl put the cooked fish, breaking and crumbling it. Add 1 tsp of lime juice.
Once the potato has cooled, peel and mash it. With your hand mix the fish and potatoes to make a smooth mix



Heat about 2 tsp of oil in a frying pan. Add 1 clove of garlic minced. When fragrant, fry about 1 cup of onion till it is soft and browns on the edges. Add 1 tsp of Garlic paste, 1 tsp of Ginger paste, 4 green chili chopped fine and fry for couple more minutes.

Add the above to the fish + potato mix

Next add
1 tsp of fresh Garam Masala
1/2 tsp of Paprika (or Red Chili Powder if you want it hot)
1 tsp of Coriander Chutney (or 1-2 tbsp fresh chopped Corriander)
salt to taste
15-20 golden raisins
a little sugar(optional)


Mix everything well with hand till you get a smooth dough like mix.

Fashion your chop either like flat discs or make oblong shapes. 

Now prepare for frying and set up the following

a plate of all purpose flour --> Egg Wash --> a flat platter with Seasoned Bread Crumbs -->You can deep fry these or shallow fry. I would suggest deep frying for the full on taste
Note: I season the bread crumbs with garlic-pepper powder

Roll the croquet in flour --> Dip the chop/croquette in egg wash --> roll in bread crumbs --> shallow fry till golden brown on both sides. It tastes better if you can deep fry though.
Note: After rolling in bread crumbs , I leave them in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Then I roll them in bread crumbs for the second time and then shallow fry

Serve with chopped onion, mustard and Ketchup.


Note: You can freeze the chops in a single layer before frying. Keeps well for a week. Deep fry in hot oil after taking out. The frozen croquettes might take longer to get heated inside so fry twice







I am sending this entry to Mansi @ Fun n Food who is having a giveaway for my favorite Magic Bullet.


Similar Recipes:

Baked Tuna Fish Chop

28 comments:

  1. Sandeepa - Looks lovely. I have made only THIS shortened version for a few years now. "THAT" maccher chop onek din hohlo banayini :-)

    I ahve enver tried cooking the fish beforehand in the microwave before. I either use tinned tuna or put the fish fillets in the oven for some time. WIll try your microwave methid next time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh my it looks so yummy i want to have it now for lunch

    ReplyDelete
  3. darun hoeche aar ja bolecho amader bariteo sabai football jwar e akranto. thats perfect for the game nites.

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOOOW... this is so good. Nice recipe. Mouthwatering.... YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have heard that Bengalis and Keralites are the only 2 states in India who love Football more than Cricket. Wonder why?
    Macher Chop looks wonderful, pics are great, looks like somebody stole few bites already!;D
    My son loves Seafood more than anybody here at home. I must try Tilapia once.
    Take care, I will be back in July. Hugs to you and little ones too!:))

    ReplyDelete
  6. To Asha's coment this keralite doesn't like football and cricket
    Love love the fish cutlets, they look absloutley delicous. And i love that jug/pot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is the way my mom makes it, but last week, I decided to take an even shorter cut and just mixed raw ginger-garlic paste, onion and spices to the potato-fish mixture and made croquettes with them. I was afraid the raw garlic-ginger taste would come through but they tasted just fine. I would love to try THAT authentic Bengali chop some day.

    Mamatha

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maradona was looking like a Santa in grey! Fifa everywhere I look, including in fish chops! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the fish chops. Not sure about Mardonna though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello Sandeepa,

    This looks so yum!! Must try..I have all the ingredients...i will make it right away..it will be a Mast snacks for my hubby who loves fish..

    Thank you

    Tc

    ReplyDelete
  11. ami oi aloo coat kore chop banano chere dieychi..only once in a while. This is a perfect way - quick and easy and tastes as good. I like the use of the chutney. will do it next time.

    will email you ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have made your baked tuna chop several times and it is soooo good.Baked too! Must try this one soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. dekhte bhalo, kheteo bhalo hotei hobe.....ar football-priiti milechhe dekhe khushi....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Amar besan e dobano kono chop e bhalo lage na ... tai bhetor er pur tai shudhu kheye feli. Eta darun idea ... tikkir moton! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. They looks super yummy, and indeed are perfect to eat while watchine football :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Asha, Not just Bengalis and Keralites but Goans too... and all three like fish as wekk :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Maccher chop with football. Aar kee chai?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I havent made maacher chop for such a long time. Tilapia diye bhalo taste hoye? I have always had/made with rui maach, you know like us Bongs.

    I will get some tilapia fillets and try yours.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My mom does fish croquette with mackerel- those chop reminds her!
    So u guys are ardent lover of soccer? I was a huge fan when I lived in Europe probably the envir made me crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  20. HI sandeepa,

    It was Jamai shoshti, i guess last week(thursday), My mom told me to prepare all good stuff, especially Maach for her Jamai... so tried these fish croquette..oh!!! they were awesome... my hubby loved it... Shob gulo kheye nilo..

    Thanks a lot for this lovely awesome recipe

    ReplyDelete
  21. B

    Thanks for liking the chop. You are a fantastic cook I think. I saw your prev comment about cooking for 40 people, that would give me the jitters. I can never cook well in bulk

    ReplyDelete
  22. Can this be baked instead of shallow fried? It sounds divine but I never end up making any fried items these days.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anon

    http://www.bongcookbook.com/2007/12/fish-chops-that-were-baked.html

    I would bake tuna fish chops. Though the fried tastes better. Also experiment a bit with the coating for getting the perfect baked result.

    I think i saw almond meal + bread crumbs in some blog

    ReplyDelete
  24. Bong Mom's recipe darun.....yuum! Dukkher ei je amader ekahne telebhaja bhalo paoya jayna. Ei blog-er boudi-ra, keu baniye pathiye debe bhai?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks a lot for this... I made it and came out awesome!! followed exactly what you did here.. kudos!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. hi didi.. ami kotodin ei chop ta store korte pari ba kibhbae store korbo ektu bolbe? can I store it in the freezer?

    ReplyDelete
  27. hi sandeepa di..I love your recipes and stories behind the recipes as wel. its so familiar to all bongs..:) ami jante chai maach er chop ba vegetable kutlet egulo ki freezer e store kora jae? mane,hut kore keu ele jate snack hisebe serve korte pari? kotodin ba kibhabe store korte pari ektu jodi bolo. thanks in advance..:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can freeze them after breading. Then fry them frozen as needed. Don't defrost. Ektu carefully fry korte hobe as you have to fry it frozen but it will take more time. First e low heat e kore tarpor heat bariye baireta try koro.

      BongMom

      Delete

Thanks for your Comments. I hope you will be nice and not Spam.