andrejthechef
BangladeshSeafoodDinner

Chitol Macher Muitha

Dumplings made from deboned clown knifefish, simmered in a spiced potato gravy.

prep
40 min
cook
30 min
total
1 h 10 min
serves
4
level
hard
Chitol Macher Muitha, a dish from Traditional Bengali households

Chitol macher muitha turns a notoriously bony fish into something that uses its one real advantage: clown knifefish flesh is naturally sticky enough to shape into dumplings without much else holding it together.

It's a dish that takes real patience, scraping and deboning the fish by hand, which is part of why it's treated as a special-occasion dish in traditional Bengali households.

Part of our 20 best Bangladeshi recipes list.

method

  1. Mix the scraped chitol fish flesh with the grated onion, a little ginger-garlic paste, green chile, turmeric, rice flour and salt until it comes together into a firm, slightly sticky mixture.

  2. Shape the mixture into small oval or round dumplings with wet hands.

  3. Heat mustard oil in a pan, and shallow-fry the dumplings in batches until lightly golden on all sides. Set aside.

  4. In the same pan, fry the potato chunks until lightly golden, then set aside with the dumplings.

  5. Add a little more oil if needed, and fry the remaining ginger-garlic paste, cumin, coriander and chile powder until fragrant. Add the chopped tomato and cook until it breaks down.

  6. Pour in the water, season with salt, and bring to a simmer. Add the fried potatoes and cook until nearly tender.

  7. Gently slide in the fried dumplings, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked through and they have absorbed some of the gravy. Serve hot with rice.

chef's tips

  • Shallow-frying the dumplings first, rather than poaching them directly in the gravy, is what keeps them from falling apart during the simmer.
  • Chitol fish is prized specifically for this dish because its flesh is naturally sticky and binds into dumplings without much added binder.