Komola Kopi Chingri

This Durga pujo we got more busy than usual, as both me and my teenage daughter decided to volunteer at the pujo venue. Serving food for hundreds at the pujo meant that we lost our appetite and barely ate lunch. Tired we also decided to turn in early.

A few of our friends learned about a Bengali buffet in a local Indian restaurant. Since
Pacific Northwest does not have too many Bengali families, having a Bengali spread at a local restaurant was a first time. My social media feed soon filled up with folks having luchi-mangso and other Bengali delicacies.

Next week I decided that I am going to give myself and the family our own version of a Bengali pujo spread and got into cooking frenzy. The menu was chapor ghonto, mochar ghonto, dhokar dalna, gondhoraj bhapa bhetki, komola-kopi-chingri, akbari-hundi and rabri.

In this post I bring to you the komola kopi chingri or orange shrimp cauliflower. This is a in-shell shrimps cooked with cauliflower in a orange flavored curry.

Ingredients

• 1 medium cauliflower cut into medium sized florets
• 1 large potato cut into medium sized cubes
• 1 lb prawn deveined (you can also prawns without the shell)
• 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• Rind of one orange
• 1 medium tomato
• 1" ginger
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2 green cardamom
• 1 tsp. powder of cinnamon and clove

Procedure

Make a paste of tomato and ginger in a grinder.

Heat oil in a pan and fry potato and cauliflower pieces on medium heat till they take a nice golden brown hue. Remove and set aside.

Smear the prawns with turmeric powder and salt. Now fry them on very low heat till both sides turn pink.  Remove and keep aside.

Now add little more oil if you need and temper it with bay leaf, cardamom , cinnamon and cloves. 

When the oil becomes fragrant add fried potato to it. Now put the tomato ginger paste along with little water. Saute on low heat for a while till the raw smell of the spices go away. This is the time you add the cauliflower florets, turmeric and chili powder. As it takes less time for cauliflower to get cooked you add it later.

Mix everything together with the spices till you see oil oozing out. Now add  half a cup of water. Season with salt and sugar. Give a nice stir.

Cook  it covered on medium heat till potato and cauliflower are done. Throw the sautéed  prawns and allow it to sizzle for another one minute.  By this time the curry will be almost dry. Turn off the heat and let it cool down a bit before you pour the orange juice to it. Gently mix. 

Sprinkle cinnamon and clove powder along with the orange rind and keep it covered till you serve,

Goes well with plain rice.

Chingri Maacher Pulao (Prawn Pulao)

We are still in Durga pujo mode here in Seattle. Pujo is over, but the ever going Bijoya parties are not yet over. I sometimes feel that they continue to next years pujo

This year I was telling my husband the story of my mom making prawn pulao every year for Mahalaya because on most of the pujo days she’d be fasting and hence wouldn’t be able to make something nice for us. The petuk guy jumped at the opportunity and established that this is a custom apparently we are also starting. I was coaxed into agreeing to this and I made some prawn pulao and egg rezala.

Here goes the pulao recipe.

Ingredients

• 250gms gobindo bhog rice or kali jeera rice (1 cup)
• 500 gms. medium sized prawn deveined and cleaned
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger
• 5 - 6 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. refined oil
• 3 tbsp.
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder

Procedure

Wash rice and soak it in water for thirty minutes.. Now drain the water and spread it on a wide tray. Let it dry. It will take about 3-4 hours.

Sprinkle salt, sugar , grated ginger and half of the garam masala on the rice and mix it with a gentle hand.

Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker till it melts, then fry prawns till their surfaces turn pink.. Do not fry them for more than thirty seconds. Remove the prawns from the oil.

Now add the spice mixed rice to the hot oil and fry on low heat for about five minutes. You will see the grains turn opaque. This is the time you add a cup of coconut milk and a cup of plain room temperature water to it. Stir well and add the fried prawns and green chilies to it.

Cover the pressure cooker and crank up the heat to the highest heat mark. Ensure the pressure builds up inside and the steam is not escaping through the sides of the lid. Wait till one whistle comes up.

Turn off the heat and wait till the pressure release on its own.

Open the lid and sprinkle rest of the garam masala powder. Immediately spread the pulao in a wide serving plate.

Enjoy this with Egg rezala or korma of your choice..

Prawn Cutlet

 

Yesterday I met with a bunch of friends for our monthly adda session. One of our friends had posted on Facebook, delicious photos of prawn cutlet she had made. We were after her about our missing share of the booty.

That reminded me that my post of chingrir cutlet was languishing in drafts. Time to post it.

With summer around the corner this makes for a fantastic eat on your patio paired with some nice white wine or Riesling.

Ingredients

• 2 large king prawns (each about 150gm)
• 2 tsp. chopped green chilies
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 2 large egg
• 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 cups bread crumb
• Mustard oil enough for deep frying

Procedure

Devein the prawns. Remove the shell other than the tail part. Slit and open it flat. Score lengthwise on each side of the central cut. This will help to keep the prawn flat while giving them the shape of a cutlet.

In a bowl mix everything other than the last four ingredients. Apply on both sides of the prawn and marinate them in the refrigerator for about an hour.
Take out the marinated prawns.

In a bowl mix the flour with the egg and 1 tbsp. mustard oil. Season it with salt and sugar and mix well to make a lump free batter.

**Take each marinated prawn at a time and first roll it over the bed of bread crumb. Take the blunt side of a knife and press it against the side of the prawn to give them the shape of a cutlet. Repeat the same process for the other marinated prawn.

In a deep wok heat mustard oil enough for deep frying. Now take each prawn and dip into the egg batter. Shake off the extra batter from it and gently slide it into the medium hot oil. Fry on medium heat till both sides are crispy and golden brown..

Serve with your favorite ketchup and salad..

**NOTE: Normally you first dip in batter and then roll in bread-crump, in this recipe it is intentional that it is done the other way around so as to stop the prawn from curling up.

Prawn Butter Masala

In our last Kolkata visit my venerable Buria Pishi asked my daughter, what she’d like to have. My daughter asked for some butter masala without eluding to butter masals of what. Pishi cooked up this amazing prawn butter masala. I asked her for her recipe and she sent me this beautiful hand written note.

I followed her recipe and made some fantastic prawn butter masals (if I may say so myself ). Hope you get equal success.

Ingredients

• 1kg tiger prawn cleaned and deveined
• 2 medium onions chopped finely
• 2 medium onions ground to paste
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 100gms. cashew
• 50gms. golden raisins
• 50gms. chaar magaz
• 1tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tbsp. turmeric powder
• 1 lit whole milk
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 3 tbsp. ghee (clarified Butter)
• 1/2 cup refined oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Tempering
  • 4 whole dry red chilies
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 4 green cardamom
  • 1" cinnamon
  • 4 cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. shahi jeera

Procedure

In a grinder make a fine .paste of cashew, raisin and chaarmagaz with minimum water and keep it aside for later use.

In a mixing bowl take the cleaned prawns and smear them with turmeric powder and salt. Keep aside for about 15 minutes.
In a pan take 2 tbsp. oil and heat it. Add the marinated prawns and sauté. Lower the heat and keep it covered for a minute. You will find water releasing from the prawns. Turn off the heat and reserve the sautéed prawns along with its water.
Take another big clean pan and add rest of the oil along with 2 tbsp. ghee to it. Heat it up and temper it with whole red chili, broken whole garam masala, bay leaves and shahi jeera. When the spices stop buzzing lower the heat and add 1tsp. sugar to it. Soon you will see the sugar frothing. Immediately add chopped onions to it and fry on low heat till the onions turn golden brown.
Add onion paste along with the ginger garlic paste to it. Sauté till you see oil seeping out of the spices. In a bowl mix coriander and chili powder with little water to make a paste.
Next to go in are the reserved sautéed prawns along with coriander and chilii powder paste. Mix everything well on low heat for about 2 minutes. Add cashew, raisin and chaar magaz paste. Mix well. Now add about a liter of whole milk and give it a nice stir. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. Remember don't boil too long after you add milk. So adjust the quantity of milk depending on how much gravy you want.
Let the entire mixture simmer for about a minute or two.
In a small pan heat 1 tbsp. ghee and temper it with Bengali garam masala powder. Pour it over the gravy and turn off the heat. Keep it covered till you serve.

Chingri Potol er Jhal

Potol or Parwal was rarely available outside Bengal. However, with the whole world shrinking I do see them now even in the US at the local Indian grocery store. It is one of those veggies which kids (at least mine) hate eating. So I add shrimps to make it more enticing.

The masala used has to be freshly roasted and ground spices without which the dish is incomplete.

Ingredients

• 10-12 potol or parwal
• 3 medium sized potato peeled and cut into quarters
• 20 medium sized prawns deveined and cleaned
• 1 small knob ginger
• 2-3 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. whole cumin
• 1 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
• 1 dry red chili
• 2 green cardamom
• 2 cloves
• 1” cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp. ghee (Clarified butter)
• Mustard oil

Procedure

Scrape off the skin of parwals and cut them into halves.

Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp. turmeric powder and salt. Keep them aside.

Now dry roast 1 tbsp. cumin seeds, coriander seed, dry red chili, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and 1 bay leaf. Roast till you just starting to get their aroma. Immediately remove them from the hot pan and allow them to cool down.

First dry grind the roasted spices into a powder. Add ginger to it and make a paste with all of these by adding little water.

Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry the marinated prawns on low heat for a minute. Remove and save them for later use.

Temper the same oil with 1 tsp. cumin seeds and 2 bay leaves. Let the sizzle. Add parwal halves and potato quarters to it. Fry on medium heat till the edges of the vegetables take a brownish hue.

Add the spice paste you made and reduce the heat to low. Keep sautéing till the raw smell goes off. You may need to sprinkle some water if the spices tend to burn.

Pour about a cup of water. sprinkle sugar and salt to your taste and mix well.

Cook it covered on medium heat till the veggies are done. Add the fried prawns and let it simmer foe another two minutes.

Add a dollop of ghee along with the green chilies and keep it covered till you serve with plain hot rice.

Chingri Macher Malaikari (Prawn in cream of Coconut)

Updated: With new photos

This makes it into the top 10 dishes of most bongs. Evolved in Bangladesh this has close ties to it’s neighboring Thai and Malaysian food. This is easy to make in the US because of the easy availability of canned coconut milk. The sweet tastemakes it a favourite among children.

Ingredients

1. Prawns 10-12 cleaned and deveined
2. Coconut milk - 1 can
3. Onion 1 medium sized
4. Ginger 1"
5. Green chilies 5-6
6. Bay leaf / tejpatta - 2
7. Cinnamon stick - 2"
8. Green cardamom - 2
9. Clove - 4,5
10. Turmeric powder
11. Sugar
12. Salt
13. Ghee
14. Oil

Procedure

1. Make a fine paste of onion, ginger and two green chilies.
2. Wash the prawns and pat them dry. Mix them with salt and turmeric powder and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they are light golden in color. Remove and keep them aside.
4. In the same oil add bay leaf, whole cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. As soon as you get the fragrance of whole garam masala add little sugar followed by the paste you made before. The sugar will give the onion paste a nice brown color because of caramelization.
5. Fry the masala in low medium heat till it gets a nice golden brown color and the raw smell of onion and ginger is gone.
6. At this point add little turmeric powder to it.
7. Season it with salt and sugar.
8. Add a can of coconut milk and stir it. Check the sugar level at this point. The malaikari is generally on the sweeter side.
9. Cook the gravy till it thickens.
10. Add the fried prawns and continue cooking them till the sauce takes a creamy consistency.

Serve it with white rice or pulao.

Note: Don't overcook prawns. It makes them stiff.

Malabar Prawn Biryani

UPDATED: With updated photo and content

Though I used to live in Kolkata, I grew up among Keralian neighbors. Even though the states of Kerala and West Bengal are on the opposite ends of India, they share a common cooking style, thanks to the common local coastal ingredients. They use prawn commonly in their food and since it was my favorite, I made it a point to never miss out on any parties at their home.

On the day after the party I’d drop by to snack on the left overs and figured out that the food tastes better the next day. Since the Biryani involves a lot of spices it tastes better on the next day after the spices settle down.

Ingredients

1. For Marinade
   1. 1lb. medium size prawns de-shelled and deveined
   2. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
   3. 1 tsp. ginger garlic pate
   4. Salt to taste
2. For Prawn Masala
   1. 1 tsp. shah jeera (caraway seeds)
   2. 5,6 cloves
   3. 1" cinnamon stick
   4. 1 tsp. black pepper corn
   5. 2,3 green cardamom pods
   6. 2 bay leaves
   7. 1 medium onion thinly sliced
   8. 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
   9. 2 green chilies finely chopped ( you can increase or decrease depending on your heat tollerance level )
   10. 2 tbsp. of coconut paste ( I used frozen grated coconut, but fresh is always the best )
   11. 2 tbsp of plain yogurt ( curd )
   12. 2 tbsp. of biriyani masala of any brand you like (I used Banne Nawab's biriyani masala )
   13. 1 tsp. sugar
   14. Salt to taste
3. For Rice
   1. 2 cups of basmati rice washed and soaked in water for 30 mins.
   2. 6 cups of water
   3. 1 tsp. salt
4. For layering
   1. 2 tsp. of oil or ghee
   2. 1/2 tsp. biryani masala
   3. Handful of chopped fresh cilantro (Coriander leaves )

Procedure

Wash prawns and marinate for half an hour with all the spices listed under it.

Heat oil in a pan and add pounded whole garam masala and bay leaves to it (item 2.1-2.6). Fry the marinated prawns on medium high heat till the color changes. Remove and reserve it.

Add chopped onions and green chilies to the same oil and fry till it turns light brown. Next to go in is the coconut paste. Fry on low heat. Add rest of the ginger garlic paste and fry. Once the raw smell goes away turn off the heat and add yogurt to it. Mix it well. Turn on the heat and add the fried prawn along with biriyani masala. Give a taste test and adjust the seasoning. Let everything cook together for a while ( 5 mins ).

In a heavy bottom pan take enough water and salt. Bring it to a boil. Now add pre soaked rice. Cook till its just done. Drain the water and spread rice on a flat plate.

Now its time to arrange in layers, the procedure of which differs slightly based on whether you want to use a conventional oven or a microwave.

In Conventional oven

Take a oven safe bowl and rub it’s inside with oil or ghee. Layer the bottom of the vessel with rice. Now pour prawn masala along with its oil all over it. Add chopped cilantro and sprinkle biriyani masala powder over it. Cover it up with another layer of rice. Wrap it up with aluminium foil and cook in the oven for 30 mins at 375F.

In Microwave

Take a microwave safe bowl and arrange rice and prawn masala as mentioned above. Cover it with a cling wrap or Microwave safe cover.

Cook it on high power for 5 mins. Allow it to stand for another 15 mins before you serve.

Enjoy with fresh salad or raita (beaten thick yogurt with chopped onions, coriander, salt).

Chingri or Prawn Paturi (Steamed Prawn in Plantain leaf)

 

I love Baitong Restaurant in Redmond (Overlake area).  My daughter loves their Gai Hor Bai Toey which is chicken wrapped in leaves and fried. While having it last time I was reminded of our East Indian steamed Prawn which are made in a similar fashion. However, it’s steamed and not fried. I came home and made some the next day. You can find the recipe I posted couple of years back at http://www.bongcook.com/2012/06/chingri-or-prawn-paturi.html

Potoler Dorma

This is a traditional Bengali delicacy. Potol also known as parwal or pointed gourd is first de-seeded to create a cavity inside. The potol is first fried, then filled with cooked shrimp and finally served in a gravy.

Ingredient

For Stuffing

• 8 pieces potol (Pointed Gourd or Parwal)
• 2 cups shrimps
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 green chilies chopped finely
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder  
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil

For Gravy

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. raisins
• 1 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala
• Whole Garam masala ( 1’ cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 bay leaf )

Procedure

First scrape the skin of the potols. Don’t peel them. Cut one end and scoop out seeds and flesh from one end with the back of a spoon. The other end will remain closed.

Wash and pat them real dry. Rub them with salt and turmeric powder and shallow fry them till their outer skin turn soft and golden yellowish. Remove and keep them aside.

Now make the stuffing. Heat 2 spoon oil in a pan and add chopped onion and crushed garlic. Fry on low heat till they turn soft and translucent. Now add shrimp, salt, sugar and all dry spice powder.  This stuffing will be on sweeter side. Add raisins and mix well. The shrimp will release water. Cook them on medium heat till all the water is dried up. Turn off the heat and let it cool down completely.

Take each potol and carefully stuff them with the shrimp mixture. Keep them aside.

Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan and fry onion slices along with raisins till they turn golden brown. Remove and allow them to cool. Now make a paste of them.

Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a pan and temper it with crushed whole garam masala. When the oil becomes fragrant add ginger garlic paste along with turmeric and chili powder. Fry on low heat till the raw smell goes away. Now turn off the heat and wait for few minutes before you add yogurt to it, else the yogurt will form tiny lumps in the gravy. Mix yogurt with the spices and turn on the heat. Add fried onion, raisin paste to it and mix well. Keep sautéing till you see oil oozes out of the spices.

Add 1/2 cup of water to it and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and carefully arrange stuffed potols in it. Let it simmer for a minute or two and then turn the heat off. Add a spoonful of ghee and sprinkle garam masala powder.

Best enjoyed with rice, and ghee bhat. 

Mocha-Chingri r Kofta

My husband bought a huge mocha (banana flower) from the local Indian store. It was way too large for our small family. After making mochar ghonto, I still had a lot left. So I chopped them up and along with shrimps made some kofta and gravy.

Mocha is very fibrous and because of that the kofta’s had a very unique texture. Give this a try, I hope you’d really enjoy this.

Ingredients For Kofta

• 2 cups mocha chopped
• 20 medium sized prawns cleaned and deveined
• 1/2 cup motor dal soaked for 3hours (Yellow split pea)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1” ginger chopped
• 2 green chilies finely minced
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin seeds ground into a powder 
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• Oil for deep frying 
• Salt

Ingredients For Curry

• 5 small potatoes cut into halves
• 1/2 medium sized onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 2 green chilies chopped
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil
• Whole garam masala
  • 1”cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • 2 bay leaves

Procedure

Drain soaked dal and make a paste of it in a grinder with minimum water. Remove and keep aside.

Boil mocha with turmeric and in a pressure cooker for a whistle or two on high heat.  Let the pressure drop on its own. Now drain the excess water from boiled mocha.

Take 10 cleaned prawn in a grinder and give a quick pulse to crush them.

In a mixing bowl take dal paste, boiled mocha, crushed prawns and one by one add chopped onion, ginger, green chilies to it. Season it with roasted cumin powder, garam masala powder and salt. Mix well and make lime sized balls out of it.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Deep fry the balls on medium heat till they turn crispy and brown. remove and drain them on a paper towel.

Fry potato halves on medium heat till they turn yellow. Remove and keep aside.

Smear the rest of the prawns with turmeric and salt. Fry them till they turn pink. Remove and keep them handy.

Remove excess oil from the pan and temper it with bay leaves and whole garam masala. When they stop sputtering add onion and garlic paste to it. Keep frying till you see oil seeps out from the edge.

Add chopped tomato along with salt and sugar. Keep frying on low hit till tomatoes become mushy. Sprinkle turmeric and chili powder to it.

Throw in fried potatoes and mix well so they are well coated with spices. Pour a cup of water and cook covered till potatoes are almost done. Now add fried prawns and koftas to it. Let it simmer for 2 more minutes.

Sprinkle garam masala powder before you take it off from heat.

Serve with rice, pulao, chapathi or parantha.

Sobji diye Chingri-r Jhal (Shrimp and Vegetable Medley)

This is made with prawns and a medley of vegetables. Based on individual choices, many of those vegetables could be replaced with others. For example traditionally, this is made with egg-plant, but since I do not like it so much, I used pumpkin instead.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. tiger prawns
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 3-4 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1 ridge gourd (Jhinge) cut into medium cubes
• 6-7 ladies finger (Okra)
• 4 medium sized potatoes cut into quarters
• 4-5 big chunks of pumpkin
• 1 tbsp. kalonji (Nigella seeds)
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2tsp. red chili powder
• 5 tbsp. mustard oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

In a microwave safe bowl take potatoes and add quarter cup of water to it. Cook it in microwave for 2-3 minutes and remove.

Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to the prawns and rub it well.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they turn pink. Remove and set aside.

In the same oil fry all other vegetables (Including the steamed potatoes) except ridge gourd. Remove and keep them aside.

Add nigella seeds to the same oil and allow them to sizzle. Add onion slices to it and fry them till they turn golden brown. Add Kashmiri chili powder, red chili powder, and turmeric powder to it. Mix well and pour a cup of water to it. Add fried vegetables other than the okra. Season with salt and sugar. Cook them covered till they are 3/4th done and now this is the time to add fried prawns, ridge gourd and okra followed by some green chilies. Remove the lid and cook it for another 3-4 minutes.

Serve with plain hot rice.

Chichinge Chingri (Snake Gourd with Shrimp)

This is one of those things which I make when my husband is not around. He feels it’s waste of shrimp and will only pick the shrimps out and eat them and not touch the vegetables. However, me and my daughter love this kind of traditional Bengali food with rice for lunch.

Ingredients

• 2- 3 snake gourds
• 10 – 12 medium sized prawns deveined and cleaned
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut (I used frozen one)
• 2 – 3 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1tsp. kalonji (Nigella Seeds)
• 1tsp. turmeric powder
• 1tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 3 – 4 tsp. mustard oil

Procedure

Wash snake gourds and scrape off the skin. Slice them into thin half moons.

Rub prawns with salt and half of the turmeric powder and keep aside for10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they turn pink. Remove and reserve them for later use. We want to retain the flavor of the prawns so temper the same oil with kalonji and green chilies. When they stop sizzling add chopped onion to it and fry on very low heat till they turn really soft. Now add grated coconut and fry it along with the onion on low flame till you get a nice aroma of fried coconut. It will take about 2 – 3 minutes.

Add chopped snake gourd followed by turmeric powder, salt and sugar. Mix everything well and cook them covered on low heat till the vegetable turns soft. Snake gourd will release enough water, so you really don’t have to add any. Throw the fried prawns in and cook them together for another 3 – 4 minutes. Remove and serve with hot rice.   

Prawn Korma

This was so tasty that right now while writing this post I am having the urge to make it again :). However, this is one of those things in which you cannot compromise on the quantity of oil and hence this is not something we can eat everyday.

I made this for some guests who were coming over. However, they got stuck on the earlier course of Muri-Ghonto and barely arrived to the Prawn Korma. So there were a lot of left overs which we didn’t really mind.

Ingredients

1. 2lb. large tiger shrimps/prawns
2. 1 small onion ground into fine paste
3. 1/4 cup fine paste of fresh or frozen coconut
4. 1 large ripe red tomato
5. 1tbsp. ginger paste
6. 1tsp. garlic paste
7. 1/2tsp. green chili paste
8. 1tsp. Kashmiri red chili powder (Paprika)
9. 2tsp. turmeric powder
10. 2 – 3 bay leaves
11. 1tsp. sugar
12. 1tbsp. clarified butter (Ghee)
13. 6 – 7tbsp. mustard oil ( Yes, you need more oil to make this)
14. 1tsp. freshly ground garam masala powder (Clove, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom)
15. Salt to taste

Procedure

Start with cleaning and deveining. If you want, you can keep the head and tail on. My daughter and husband don’t enjoy those so I removed them. Instead to extract the maximum flavor out of it, I boiled 4 cups of water with the shell, head and tail for 30 minutes on low heat and keep the strained prawn stock. I used this stock instead of water to make the gravy.

Smear the prawns with salt and turmeric and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Heat mustard oil in a kadai and fry the prawns in batches till they turn pink. Remove them.

Temper the left over oil with bay leaf and add sugar to it. Lower the heat and let the sugar caramelize. Add onion paste along with turmeric powder, red chili powder and a tsp. of garam masala to it and fry on low heat for about 5 – 6 minutes.

Now one by one add ginger, garlic, tomato and chili paste to it. Sauté and cook them on low heat for another 5 – 6 minutes. Check whether all raw smell subsides or not. If not cook for another few minutes.

Next to go in is coconut paste. Mix everything well and fry the masala on low heat for few minutes. If needed you may add little water to it so that the spices don’t stick to the vessel.

Season it with salt and sugar. Soon you will see a thin line of oil is separated out from the spices. This is the time you add one and half cup of water ( I used prawn stock) to it. Stir well and let it come to a rolling boil.

Gently slide the fried prawns in and cook for 3 – 5 minutes. Overcooking makes prawn stiff so be careful.

Taste and check the seasoning, if required adjust accordingly.

Add a dollop of ghee and finish it off with a pinch of garam masala powder.

Shrimp and Lentil Fritter (Pakora)

Having grown up as a single child of working parents, I had to; and liked spending some alone time. Even now and then I need that space for myself. My idea of spending such time is to curl up with some hot tea, pakora and a great book (preferably a detective novel). Everyone close to me knows of this. Sometime when I am stressed out, even my daughter goes and tells her father that they should head out biking or in the mountains to let mama get her “alone time”.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup red lentil ( Musur Dal ) washed and soaked for 3-4hrs.
• 1 cup tiny shrimps ( You can 10 – 15 bigger shrimps alternatively )
• 1tbsp. chopped ginger
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 3-4 hot green chilies ( Use 1 if kids are eating )
• 2tsp. chopped coriander leaves ( Cilantro )
• 1/2tsp. baking powder
• 2tbsp. besan ( Bengal gram flour )
• 1/2tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Drain excess water from the soaked dal and grind it into a coarse paste with garlic and green chilies. Transfer the content from the grinder to a mixing bowl.

If you are using larger shrimps  clean and devein them and then churn them in a blender. We don’t want paste of shrimps, so just use the pulse mode for few seconds. For tiny shrimps use as they are.

Mix all ingredients together other than oil. If you feel that the mixture is still loose you can add little more besan or rice flour for binding. Make small balls out of it.

In a wok heat enough oil for deep frying and drop the balls in it. Fry on medium heat till both sides turn light brown. Crank up the heat to high and fry for few more minutes to make them crispy. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.

Serve hot with your favorite chutney or ketchup.

Chingri–Sobji Diye Cholar Dal (Lentil with Shrimp and Vegetables)

Sometimes the bongcook is tired of cooking. Interestingly even though my little one will gobble down pizza/pasta when offered, prefers to eat at home, especially for dinner. So I take refuge in one of these simple recipes.

One of my daughter’s favorite food is daal. Adding Prawn quenches the non-vegetarian bong soul as well.We use this as a healthy one-pot dinner along with hand made soft rotis.

Ingredients

1. 10 – 12 medium sized prawns cleaned
2. 1 cup chana dal
3. 1/4th cup carrot chopped
4. 1/4th cup beans chopped
5. 1/2 cup cauliflower cut into small florets
6. 1 medium tomato finely chopped
7. 2tbsp. chopped coconut
8. 1 cup thick coconut milk
9. 1tsp. garam masala powder
10. 1tsp. turmeric powder
11. 1tsp. chili powder
12. 1tsp. sugar
13. 1tsp. ghee (clarified Butter) 
14. Salt to taste
15. For Tempering
1. 2,3 Bay leaves
2. 1” cinnamon stick
3. 2 cloves
4. 2,3 green cardamom
5. 2,3 Dry red chilies
6. 1tsp. whole cumin seeds
7. 1 pinch hing (asafetida)

Procedure

In a pressure cooker boil daal with 2 cups of water and turmeric. It takes 10 minutes if you are cooking on medium heat.

In a separate pan boil 5 cups of water with little salt. Now add carrots, beans and cauliflower florets to it. Turn off the heat and keep it covered for 5 minutes. Drain the water and dunk the vegetables in cold water for 10 more minutes. Drain the water. This will help the vegetables to retain their color.

Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry prawns. Remove and reserve them.

Temper the same oil with all the ingredients listed for tempering. When the oil turns aromatic and the spices sizzle add chopped coconut pieces to it. Fry till they turn light brown. Now add tomato and steamed vegetables to it. Season with salt and sugar. Sprinkle red chili powder over it. Mix everything well and fry on medium heat till oil separates out.

Add boiled daal to it. Mix the daal with sautéed vegetables. If you want pour little hot water to it and let it come to a boil.

Once it starts boiling add fried prawns and pour the coconut milk. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Finish it off with a spoonful of ghee, green chilies and garam masala powder. 

Hakka Noodles from My Mom In Law’s Kitchen

If I landed at my husband’s (my then classmate’s) home around evening, I’d always find him gorging on this Hakka noodles. Obviously I’d get my share :). She uses a bunch of non-traditional ingredients like cauliflower and green peas that are not common in the actual Indo-Chinese recipe. I used to say such good things about it in my circle that they demanded to try it out as well. On request my mother-in-law made two boxes for me to take to my friends. They loved it!!

I never really tried to make it myself. I always thought it’d never turn out to be the same. Sometime back in my visit to the local Indian grocery store, I saw some egg noodles (which isn’t common around here). I picked them up and called my mother-in-law. With her recipe I made this seemingly simple yet deceptively tasty dish which has a bong twist to it.

Ingredients

1. 1pkt noodles boiled as per package direction ( I used Ching’s egg noodles )
2. 2 eggs
3. 1/2lb shrimp cleaned
4. 1/2 cup small florets of cauliflower
5. 2 baby carrots cut into thin sticks
6. 1/2 cup green peas
7. 1/2 cup chopped green onions
8. 2 green chilies chopped
9. 1tsp. dark soya sauce
10. 1tsp. black pepper powder
11. Salt to taste
12. Vegetable oil

Procedure

Take a frying pan and heat 1tsp. oil. Break both the eggs and scramble them. Cook for a minute and remove.

In the same pan heat another spoon of oil and fry the shrimps on medium heat till they are cooked. Remove and reserve.

Take water in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Add all the vegetables other than chili and green onion  to it. Cook them on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and dunk all these vegetables in cold water. This will help to retain the color and shape of the vegetables.

In a wok heat rest of the oil and add green chilies to it. Fry on low heat for about a minute. Drain the water of the boiled vegetables and throw them in the wok.  Fry them on high heat for another one to two minutes before you add boiled noodles and shrimps to it.

Add salt, soya sauce and black pepper powder. Stir fry on medium high heat till all the cooked ingredients and noodles are well combined and the noodles are no longer soft but little crispy. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve hot.

Grilled Prawn with Lemon, Tomato and Basil Sauce

Winter break means that lots of meals are had at home. No banking on kids and husband finding their stuff in the cafeteria so that I can relax a bit. Making mundane stuff in the holidays doesn’t appeal to me either, more so because the first thing the little one asked me after getting up was what’s in lunch. “Can we get something interesting”. Grilled prawn is very interesting to me because it’s superfast to make and very very tasty :). The sauce I made went pretty well with it. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Ingredients For Grilled Prawn

1. 10 medium sized prawns cleaned and deveined
2. 1tsp. lime juice
3. Freshly ground black pepper powder
4. 1tbsp. butter
5. Salt to taste

Procedure

Rub the cleaned prawns with salt, lime juice and black pepper powder. Keep them marinated for 15 minutes.

Skewer them in the bamboo skewers and brush little butter on both the sides. Heat a skillet and grill them by frequently rotating the skewers .If you want to get a charred effect hold the skewers directly on top of the flame or the hot coil, whichever you have.  Remove and place it on a serving dish.

Ingredients For Sauce

1. 1tbsp. chopped onion
2. 2 garlic cloves chopped
3. 2tbsp. butter
4. 1tbsp. all purpose flour
5. 1 tomato on vine ( ripe )
6. 2tbsp. basil ( Fresh or Dry )
7. 1/2 cup vegetable stock or broth 
8. Juice of one lemon
9. Black Pepper
10. Salt

Procedure

In a sauté pan add butter, onion and garlic and cook for few minutes on medium heat. Whisk-in the flour until they all get combined.

Add the broth to the pan and simmer for a couple of minutes till it starts to become thick. Toss the tomatoes till they turn soft. Season it with salt and pepper. Turn the heat on low and now add lemon juice and basil to it and mix well.

Pour over your grilled prawns and serve.

Enchor Chingrir Dalna ( Raw Jackfruit Curry with Shrimp)

When I used to work and live in North Bengal our project manager invited me on his son’s naming ceremony. We headed off to their home which was in a interior part of North Bengal. It is one of the most beautiful parts of India at the foot hills of Himalaya. I vividly remember the spectacular beauty of Gorumara National Park and the thousands of streams and rivers flowing through it. After we reached the village we sat down for one of the best meals of my life. All made from the local farms and the plentiful fish and shrimps from the local rivers. One of the food I had stuck with me. I have made it on and off over the years. It’s an interesting combo of shrimp and raw jackfruit (kanthal).

The other day when my husband had some friends over I decided to make this, especially because our guests were also Bong which is a rarity for us. They loved it and wanted the recipe, so here it goes.

Ingredients

1. 1 can raw jackfruit drained and soaked overnight in water
2. 2 medium sized potatoes cut into quarters
3. 1lb. large tiger prawns deveined and cleaned ( Reserve the shells for prawn stock )
4. 1 medium tomato coarsely chopped
5. 1 small onion minced
6. 1tbsp. ginger paste
7. 1tsp. garlic paste
8. 1+1 tbsp. turmeric powder
9. 1tsp. chili powder
10. 1tsp. coriander powder
11. 1/2tsp. cumin powder
12. 1/2tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
13. 1tsp. sugar
14. Salt
15. Mustard oil
16. For Tempering
    1. 2,3 Bay leaves
    2. Whole garam masala ( 2 green cardamom, 2 cloves, 1” cinnamon stick )
    3. 1tsp. whole cumin seeds

Procedure

Start with making the prawn stock. In a saucepan take the shells of the prawns and cover them with enough water. Allow them to simmer on low heat till you need them for your gravy. This way you can extract the flavors of prawns to their maximum. Strain the stock before you add to your curry.

In a pressure cooker take jackfruit pieces and add a cup of water to it. Add a pinch of salt and cook it on high heat till the first whistle. Let the steam settle down on its own before you open the cooker. Drain the water and reserve the jackfruit pieces.

Now we get to the main part of our cooking. Rub the prawns with 1tsp. turmeric powder and salt. Heat enough mustard oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they change their color to a vibrant orange. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

In the same oil shallow fry the jackfruit pieces and potatoes till their edges turn brown. Remove and keep aside.

If needed add more oil to your pan and temper it with bay leaves, whole garam masala and cumin seed. Sauté on medium heat for a minute. If you want to get a vibrant red color to your gravy add little sugar to this oil and wait for it to caramelize. Add minced onion to it and patiently fry them on low heat till they turn light brown.

Now add all your wet spices to the oil and cook them on low heat for a while. Throw the coarsely chopped tomatoes in, followed by the dry spice powder. Cook till the tomato is mushy and the spices take a darker hue.

Add fried vegetables to it and fry them along with the spices. Soon you will see a fine line of oil oozing out of the spices. This is the time when you add the strained prawn stock to it. Add salt and sugar to season and stir the gravy well with the spices. Cook them covered for about 10 minutes on medium heat. You can add water if the stock is not enough.

When the vegetables are 3/4th done add fried prawns to it and cook everything together for another 2-3 minutes.

Garnish with a pinch of garam masala and ghee.

Prawn Pulao

Since today the world was supposed to end, I didn’t cook anything. But then it was lunch time, the world was still hanging around and we were hungry. So I dug into the refrigerator (which wasn’t stocked that well either because of the world ending and all). I had some frozen prawns and decided to make one pot meal.

Ingredients

1. 1lb. tiger prawns
2. 1/2 cup onion juice
3. 1 cup gobindobhog or jeera rice
4. 4,5 green chilies slit length wise
5. 1tbsp. grated ginger
6. 2,3 bay leaves or tejpatta
7. Whole garam masala (1” cinnamon stick, 2-3 cloves and 2 green cardamoms)
8. 4-5 tsp. ghee (clarified butter)
9. 2tbsp. sugar
10. Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash rice with several changes of water and spread them flat on a paper towel. Allow it to air dry for some time.

Marinate prawns for 15 minutes with onion juice and salt. Heat 2 tsp. ghee in a pan and fry marinated prawns on medium heat till they turn pink. Remove fried prawns with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Add rest of the ghee to the pan and allow it to melt. Temper with bay leaf and slightly bruised garam masala. Wait till you get the fragrances of them. Now add green chilies to it and sauté for a minute. Remove green chilies and reserve them for later use.

Now add rice to it and fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Fry till you see all grains of rice glisten and are well coated with ghee. This step ensures that all the rice grains stay separate and will not become sticky when your pulao is done.

Add grated ginger, salt and sugar to the rice. Mix everything well. Pour one and half cup of war water to it. Cook it covered on medium heat till rice is almost done.

Remove the cover and add fried prawns and green chilies to it. Continue cooking till rice is completely done. Leave it uncovered and fluff gently with a fork.

This is a one pot meal and doesn’t require anything else to be served with it. 

Pasta Salad with Shrimp and Vegetables

This super easy one pot meal is perfect for days when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen. This particular recipe involves very little cooking and is my default take away lunch for a day picnic and potlucks when I can’t think of anything extraordinary creative.

Ingredients

1. 8oz. penne pasta
2. 2 medium red onion thinly sliced
3. 2medium carrot diced
4. 1/2 cup button mushroom thickly sliced
5. 1 medium broccoli cut into small florets
6. 1/2lb. shrimp meat
7. 2tbsp. finely chopped garlic
8. 1tsp. roughly chopped parsley (You can use basil or oregano instead)
9. Black pepper powder to taste
10. Salt
11. 1tbsp. butter
12. 2tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

Cook the pasta as per package directions. Don’t overcook because you want your pasta to hold their shape. Once cooked drain water and rinse in cold water to immediately stop the cooking process. Transfer the pasta into a big mixing bowl.

Melt butter in a pan and add chopped garlic to it. Allow it to become light brown before you add all chopped vegetables and shrimp to it. Sauté the vegetables on high heat for about 2 minutes.Remove and bring them to the room temperature.

Add sautéed vegetables and shrimp to the mixing bowl. Add all the seasoning ( Salt, pepper powder ) and olive oil. Toss well with a spatula to coat evenly.

Your one pot meal is ready to be served.