Simultaneous reduction of soot and oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) is a prime requirement for modern day diesel engine to meet the increasingly stringent emission standards. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is one of the most effective techniques for reducing oxides of nitrogen emissions in diesel engine. This study is an attempt to analyse experimentally the performance and emission characteristics of methyl esters of jatropha oil methyl ester (JOME) and fish oil methyl ester (FOME) blends with diesel with and without exhaust gas recirculation on a stationary single cylinder diesel engine. Compared with the diesel fuel, the performance of 20% methyl ester blends and 20% EGR shows a considerable reduction of oxides of nitrogen 6.1 g/kWh for JOME blends and 6.3 g/kWh for FOME blends compared with 7.3 g/kWh for Diesel. Adverse effects are a reduction of brake thermal efficiency 25.6% for FOME blends and 26% for JOME blends compared with 28.4% for diesel, an increase of unburnt hydrocarbons 0.8 g/kWh for JOME and 0.9 g/kWh for FOME compared to 0.7 g/kWh for diesel and carbon moNO_xide 23.0 g/kWh for JOME and 25.5 g/kWh for FOME compared to 16.8 g/kWh for diesel. Considering both NO_x and soot emissions, 20% EGR is observed to be optimum for both 20% JOME and 20% FOME.