Tangy Bengali Prawn Curry

As my dear friend subi said i am on a roll trying out new cuisines. After trying out Bengali coconut prawns curry recently, am too eager to taste more of Bengali cuisine. Here is yet another prawns curry, Bengali style. It's too very delicious and yum with rice. I should say mustard oil, indeed imparts special flavors and gives a unique flavor to bengali cuisine. Those you have not cooked with mustard oil, do try this curry and you will love it.

Ingredients

To marinate prawns

2 cups - Prawns / shrimp, cleaned
1 - Lemon
Salt to taste

For gravy

2 medium - Onion, chopped
1 tbsp - Fresh Garlic paste
2 tsp - Fresh ginger paste
1 tsp - Red chili powder
2 tsp - Coriander powder
4 medium - Tomato, pureed
2 tsp - Tamarind pulp
4 to 5 tbsp - Mustard oil
Salt to taste

Garnish

2 - Green chilies, split in center
1 tbsp - Coriander leaves

Method

1 ) Drain prawns well off any water, then marinate prawns in lime juice and salt to taste for 30 minutes.

2 ) Heat a kadai / wok, add mustard oil and heat the oil till it turns smoking hot. Take off from the fire and cool the oil slightly. Place the kadai back on stove add prawns and fry until half cooked. Remove prawns from kadai and transfer to another utensil.

3 ) In the same remaining oil ( if you have run out of oil, then again add mustard oil and bring to a smoking hot, then cool a bit and proceed with next step ) add onion and fry till the onion turns golden brown. Add ginger- garlic paste, chili powder, coriander powder and salt to taste. Stir and fry well for 5 minutes on medium heat.

4 ) Then add tomato puree and cook till oil rises to the surface on medium heat. Add little water if the mixture is sticking to the pan . Now add the fried prawns back to the kadai, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Sharpen the tangy taste with tamarind pulp and stir in well. Garnish with green chili and coriander leaves.


Serve hot with rice.

Bengali Coconut Prawns Curry

Traditional Bengali food is prepared using mustard oil. Cooking with mustard oil, always intrigued me. How will it be cooking with mustard oil. When you open a fresh bottle of mustard oil, you are taken in by the strong pungent smell and makes you think, will cooking with this oil be okay. I had once asked one of my bengali friend, how is it to cook with mustard oil ? And she said it's like you keralite's like your coconut oil, we like our mustard oil. Today i was bent on finding out how it tastes cooking with mustard oil and went on to make this prawns curry. I was pleasantly surprised. The strong smell of the oil was not found in the curry. Curry had smooth flavors and was soothing to taste.

Ingredients

2 cup - Cleaned prawns / Shrimps

2 tsp - Coriander powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

3/4 tsp - Garam masala powder

1/2 tsp - Sugar

1 cup thick & sour - Curds / yogurt

4 tbsp - Mustard oil

Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 shell of a small - Fresh Coconut, grated

2'' piece - Ginger

4 - Green chilies

4 to 6 - Dry whole red chili

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

Method

1 ) Add all ingredients listed to be ground into a grinder, except mustard seeds. Grind to a smooth paste with little water. Then add mustard seeds and grind again to get the mustard seeds just enough ground (not too much ).

2 ) Heat 4 tbsp of mustard oil in a heavy pan till it starts smoking. Reduce heat or remove the pan from fire to cool oil, a little bit. Then place back to fire and add the ground masala paste. Fry on a medium heat till brown. When oil separates, add coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and sugar. Fry lightly for a minute , then add curds, prawns and stir in. Now add about 1.5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer and cook covered, till the prawns is cooked and the gravy has thickened a bit.

Serve hot with plain boiled basmati rice.