Rohu (Labeo rohita, Bihar - रोहू मछली, Odia - ରୋହୀ, Urdu - رھو, Sindhi - ڏنڀرو، ڪرڙو) is a species of fish of the carp family, found in rivers in South Asia.^[1] It is an omnivore.^[2]

It is called rahu in Nepali. In Hindi it is called rehu (rawas is the Indian Salmon, which is quite different). It is called rohi in Odia, rui in Bengali,rehu in Maithili, rou in Assamese and Sylheti, rohu itself in Malayalam,^{[citation needed]} and is reared in Kerala. It is popular in Thailand, Bangladesh, northern India and Pakistan. It is a non-oily/white fish.

It reaches a maximum length of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a weight of about 110 kg (240 lb).^[3]

Biology [edit]

During the early stages of its lifecycle, it eats mainly zooplankton, but as it grows, it eats more and more phytoplankton, and as a juvenile or adult is a herbivorous column feeder, eating mainly phytoplankton and submerged vegetation. It has modified, thin hair-like gill rakers, suggesting that it feeds by sieving the water^{[original research?]}.

It is diurnal and generally solitary. It reaches sexual maturity between two and five years. In nature, it spawns in the marginal areas of flooded rivers.

It is the main diet of people of Bengal.

Aquaculture [edit]

It is an important aquacultured freshwater species in South Asia.^[4] When cultured, it does not breed in lentic environments, so induced spawning becomes necessary.

Preparation as food [edit]

It is treated as a delicacy in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Indian states of Bihar, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.^{[citation needed]} The Maithil Brahmins and the Kayastha community of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh treats it as one of their most sacred foods: to be eaten on all auspicious occasions.^{[citation needed]} Rohu is common food in Pakistan and is usually eaten deep fried, or in a sauce with spices.

Fried Rohu dish, Bangladesh.

The roe of rohu is also considered as a delicacy by Bhojpur^{[disambiguation needed]}, Maithili^{[disambiguation needed]}, Oriyas and Bengalis. It is deep fried and served hot as an appetizer as part of an Bihari, Oriya and Bengali meal. It is also stuffed inside pointed gourd to make potoler dolma which is considered a delicacy. Rohu is also served deep fried in mustard oil, as kalia which is a rich gravy made of concoction of spices and deeply browned onions and tok, where the fish is cooked in a tangy sauce made of tamarind and mustard. Rohu is also very popular in northern India and Pakistan such as in the province of Punjab. In Lahore it is a speciality of Lahori cuisine in Lahori fried fish where it is prepared with batter and spices.^[5] It is also a very popular food fish in Iraq.^{[citation needed]}

See also [edit]

• Bengali cuisine
• Fish head curry

References [edit]