What is a katol

[Monica Bhide]

What is a katol or turbot?? Can someone help

[Suvir Saran]

FISH

[Suvir Saran]

It is a flatfish. Makes it an interesting (not great) match for tandoori cooking.

I remember hearing something odd about the eyes of this fish... either that it had an extra eye or that both eyes are on one side. Some such detail that escapes my memory.

It is an oily fish and is very high in pottasium... I remember that from my fathers liver failure debacle... pottasium was toxic to him at that point...

[Monica Bhide]

Thanks Suvir -- i thought as much.. can you give some details onwhat type of fish it is ? Someone sent me a recipe of katol curry -- looks interesting. Any idea what fish here will make a good substitute

[Suvir Saran]

Dover sole is often confused with turbot but not the same.

You can find it in most specialty seafood stores. I know sometimes at the restaurants I have worked with, they found them through vendors that had Canadian and Norwegian fish.

You can find steaks and fillets.

As a curry, it is of limited desire for non-Indian tastes. But certainly if prepared with care, it will be just fine. Many Indians find it rather fishy and oily...but there are marination tricks that change that.

Is this research for the cookbook or dailygullet? Wish you well.

[Monica Bhide]

The cookbook, Everything Indian, is done -- galley should be in this week. so nope its not for that.

A bengali friend of mine sent me this recipe via email and i was just wondering what it is.. i have not eaten it before.

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations! That must feel wonderful.

I just called a friend in Eastern Canada, and they confirmed that turbot is found there and also sent to the US for restaurant sale mostly.

[Monica Bhide]

Thanks Suvir -- if you do find that fun fact on the fish eyes.. let me know -- sounds interesting

[Suvir Saran]

As I speak with my friend, I am being chastised for not remembering that turbot is a bottom dweller. Hence both eyes are on one side.

I am being hounded for I love animals, fish and birds, and spend a great deal of time learning about them...hence my friends first reaction was duh... and I said.. bottom dweller...

So, it has two eyes, and both on the left side.

The right side is facing the bottom... so it is also lighter than the left side... and the left side will have markings that are more pronounced. All of this will make sense if you know that turbot is a bottom dweller.

Not sure if the lack of a 3rd eye still makes this a "fun fact". But now you have it.

[Monica Bhide]

fascinating!! Not sure i would want to eat this though

[mongo_jones]

all this squeamishness about eyes--bengali cuisine not only has recipes for things made predominantly with fish-heads but many bengalis also eat the eyes of fish. and i don't think bengalis in general object to oily fish either given the obsession with macher-tel.

[Monica Bhide]

A lot of people swear by fish eyes. I was fascinated by eyes on one side of the head

[mongo_jones]

well, humans have that too.....

[Human Bean]

It took a bit of searching, but I found a reasonably good pic of the fish eyes, and a really big fish. Both are halibut, a similar bottom-dwelling flatfish.

[Suvir Saran]

Bengalis have mastered the art of cooking fish I think.

And yes fish eyes and fish heads play a very important role.

[bong]

What Monica calls "katol" is what we Bengalis call "Catla" [ pronounced kat (rhymes with the british way of pronouncing "bath") - la ]: Catla fish

This fish is similar to the Rohu fish (called "rui" in Bengali): Rohu fish

I have not been able to find Catla fish in the USA. In the Chinese grocery stores here in the west coast, we find Grass Carp, which is similar to the Rohu in india, but not quite the same. In some Indian/Bangladeshi stores here, they sell frozen Catla/Rohu, imported directly from Bangladesh. Along with other Bengali staple fishes.

Catla is indeed a very popular fish in Bengal, we cook it in many different ways.

One of the ways is to cook a "Machher Jhol" (or fish stew) with it:

- cut fish into 1/2-inch thick steaks and dry-marinate with turmeric powder and salt for 30mins-1hr.

- deep fry or shallow fry the fish in oil, till outside is brown, and the inside is slightly undercooked.

- separately, temper some oil with kalonji (some folks use cumin seeds instead)

- add some tomatoes, chopped. stir until tomatoe becomes paste-like.

- Optional -- add some coriander powder to the oil and stir it around.

- Add some ginger paste or grated ginger.

- Optional -- Add some potato wedges (but fry the potatoes in hot oil first to brown them)

- Optional -- add some veggies. Popular veggies are cauliflower florettes (fry these in hot oil first to brown them), green peas. brinjal aka aubergine aka eggplant.

- Stir for a while, and then add some water. Add salt to taste.

- Once the water comes to boil, cook until veggies are almost done.

- Add the pre-fried fish to this stew.

- Boil some more until fish is done.

This above recipe is one variation that I use. Like any other home-made food, there is not an authentic recipe -- everybody has their own variation.

[Monica Bhide]

Thanks Bong -- this sounds delicious

[M65]

Monica,

One of the ways I would cook Turbot is, Slow Roasting it in the Oven, with a generous drizzle of Lemon Olive Oil with some Mustard Seeds and Curry Leaves, right before pulling it out a sprinke of some good Sea Salt to season it. In the Pan juices I would add some diced tomatoes and onions, little dry sparking wine and a small small small pinch or turmeric and simmer for a couple a minutes. Strain the sauce and plate the sauce first, then fish, as a garnish i would make a web of Sev and throw some raspberries lightly dusted with chaat masala and a sprig of curry leaf.

if you try this let me know how this works out, try and use the dryest sparkling wine you can find though for the sauce.

[Suvir Saran]

Monica,

One of the ways I would cook Turbot is, Slow Roasting it in the Oven, with a generous drizzle of Lemon Olive Oil with some Mustard Seeds and Curry Leaves, right before pulling it out a sprinke of some good Sea Salt to season it. In the Pan juices I would add some diced tomatoes and onions, little dry sparking wine and a small small small pinch or turmeric and simmer for a couple a minutes. Strain the sauce and plate the sauce first, then fish, as a garnish i would make a web of Sev and throw some raspberries lightly dusted with chaat masala and a sprig of curry leaf.

if you try this let me know how this works out, try and use the dryest sparkling wine you can find though for the sauce.

welcome to eGullet!

Your post will make me think hard as I try and rest my mind and body. You have shared some interesting things here.

Looking forward to reading more of your posts.