Ok, checking back in now that I have made (and eaten) the Bengali Style Hilsa Arctic Char Pulao:
This definitely benefitted from being made in stages over a couple days. Yesterday I made the fried onions (note to self - frying lots of onions in mustard oil should be undertaken next when I can open some windows!) and the gravy base. It took a while for the oil to separate back out while I was cooking it, so you need some patience. In place of the mishti doi, I added the cream portion of my can of coconut milk. Then, once it was well incorporated and had again cracked, I added the milk part once I got to that part of the recipe. I cooled and stored it overnight so it could develop its flavors. Today I cooked my skin on arctic char and some green chiles in the gravy. I’m glad I went with the arctic char because it did stand up to all the other flavors very well. It also worked out fine with the cooking times and wasn’t dried out.
I used the cashews and black cardamom suggested by this recipe and watched the video linked in this other recipe that @Saregama shared upthread.
All told, I feel like this was a pretty successful attempt. Thank you to both @Saregama and @medgirl for your advice on making this!
