Prawn Balchao

While looking out for a unique prawn recipe, I came across this Goan dish which was not only easy to cook but was also unique in its flavour quotient. My family simply loved it. Though the dish is little spicy, you can adjust its taste as per your requirement. So, here is the recipe for you:

Ingredients

Prawns - de-veined and cleaned. Marinade with salt and turmeric and keep them aside.
1 large finely chopped onion
1 medium chopped tomato

Coriander leaves for garnishing

For the Balchao Masala:

1/2 tsp turmeric powder
5 to 6 Kashmiri Red Chilies
1 inch Ginger
6 flakes of Garlic
1 and 1/2 a teaspoon of Cumin seeds
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Cloves
Cinnamon
Vinegar - 1 cup
Salt
Vegetable oil for cooking

Method

• Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and wait until they start popping. Now add the red chillies, coriander and cumin seeds, ginger and garlic. Stir for a minute or until the ginger has softened a bit.
• Now add rest of the ingredients of balchao masala (cloves, cinnamon). Stir well. Remove from heat and let it cool. Blend this mixture to a smooth paste using vinegar and keep aside.
• In a heavy bottomed pan, take 3 tbsp of vegetable oil (or as per your oil quotient) and let it heat. Fry the prawns to get a light pinkish colour. Remove the prawns and then add the chopped onions and cook on high flame till the onion becomes translucent.
• Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook well.
• Next comes the addition of Balchao Masala that we had already prepared. Cook all the ingredients till the oil starts separating on top. Add salt as required.
• Finally add the prawns and reduce the flame. Cover cook for 3 to 4 minutes. If the masala starts sticking to the pan, sprinkle little water and then cover cook.
• Remove the cover and cook on high flame for 1 minute.
• Prawn Balchao is now ready to be served with steaming hot rice or Naan.

Machher Kalia (Fish Kalia)

Fish Kalia is one of the most popular Bengali dishes and I bet that every bong house-hold is well acquainted with this dish. Rohu or Rui is the most commonly used fish for preparing this dish.

Ingredients

Cleaned Fish pieces

Mustard oil

1 Bay leaf

1 large onion

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1 medium tomato

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Red chili powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp Garam masala powder

Sprigs of fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 tbsp of ghee (optional)

Method

• Wash the fish thoroughly and pat dry. Sprinkle some Turmeric powder, salt, 1/3 cup of mustard oil and mix well to ensure that each of the fish pieces is coated well with the turmeric, salt and oil.

• Pan fry the fish pieces and drain the excess oil. Keep aside.

• Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, tomato and green chilies (optional) to a thick paste.
• Heat mustard oil in a Kadhai and add the bay leaf followed by the Onion paste.
• Stir well on high flame. Once the onion paste is cooked, start adding the spices (Turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, 1 ½ tsp each). Sprinkle some sugar as well.
• Cook on high flame till the oil starts separating from the ingredients.
• Now add Water and bring it to boil. Adjust the quantity as per the amount of gravy desired.
• Finally add the fried fish pieces to the gravy and simmer for 5 minutes.
• In the end, sprinkle a teaspoon of Garam masala powder and some ghee (optional).

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve with steaming hot rice.

Posto Chingri Paturi (Leaf Baked Prawns in Coconut and Poppy seed paste)

Posto or the Poppy seeds are widely used in Bengali cuisine due to the rich taste that it imparts to the dish and is used both as whole and as a paste in different recipes. Aloo Posto, Piyanj Posto, Jhinge posto, Potol Posto are some of the commonly cooked dishes where vegetables like Potatoes, Onions, Ridge Gourd and Pointed Gourd are cooked in a thick poppy seed paste. In addition, it is also used in different preparations of fish (Paturi, Bhapa) and chicken or mutton (Rezala, Chaanp etc.).

Today I would like to share this very simple recipe of cooking prawns in a Poppy seed paste.

Ingredients

Prawns, of course (I used 500 gms of medium sized prawns/Bagda Chingri)

1 small bowl of grated coconut

1 small bowl of poppy seed paste (You can also mix a small portion of white Sesame seeds while making this paste)

2-3 Green chilies slit

2-3 Pumpkin leaves (Kumro Pata)

A generous amount of mustard oil

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder (optional)

½ a teaspoon of sugar

Method

1. Clean the prawns (de-vein and remove the black thread from its head) and wash thoroughly. Keep them aside to drain out excess water.
2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together (Grated coconut, poppy seed paste, slit green chilies, Salt, sugar and a generous amount of mustard oil.
3. Now add the clean prawns and mix it well with all the ingredients inside the bowl.
4. Clean the Pumpkin leaves with water and pat dry.
5. Flatten a pumpkin leaf, smear it with mustard oil. Now, keep a portion of the Prawn and poppy paste mixture on it. Fold the leaf and tie it up with the help of a cotton thread. Repeat the procedure for the other leaves.
6. Spread some mustard oil on a large Non-stick tawa. Place each of the folded pumpkin leaves on it. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes. Repeat the process by changing the side of the leaves.

Your  baked prawns are ready to be served with steaming hot rice.

Dhonepata bata diye Maach (Fish cooked in fresh coriander paste)

Coriander leaves are used extensively for garnishing dishes due to their unique flavor. However, apart from garnishing, Coriander leaves can also be used in chutneys and for preparation of various sauces. For example, Coconut Chutney tastes great when the coconut is ground to a thick paste along with coriander leaves. One can add them while making Salsa, various curries and even use them as a spread for sandwiches.

I never knew that even Fish can be prepared with this wonder LEAF until my Mom-in-Law told me about this recipe. Everyone in the house just loved the freshness it brought to our meal and so I am here to share this recipe with you all.

Ingredients

Fish of course (Try getting a Fresh water fish like Rohu or Katla)

A bunch of fresh coriander leaves

2-3 green chilies (depending upon your spice quotient)

1 ½ inch Ginger

1 pinch of Black cumin (Kala Jeera)

Salt (As per taste)

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Sugar (1/2 a teaspoon)

1 teaspoon Cumin powder

Oil (Preferably Mustard however you can use any cooking oil of your choice)

Method

1. Wash the fish pieces thoroughly and smear them with a teaspoon of salt and turmeric powder.
2. For the Coriander Paste: Remove roots and long stems from the bunch of coriander leaves, and grind them along with ginger and green chilies to make a fine paste.
3. Heat oil in a Kadhai. Now fry the fish pieces one by one till they take a light golden colour. Remove them and keep aside.
4. To the hot oil, add a pinch of Kala Jeera (Black Cumin). Once they start spluttering, add the coriander paste. Add rest of the ingredients (Salt to taste, sugar, and cumin powder) and cook on a high flame till the oil starts separating out from the masala. Now add water (adjust the quantity according to the amount of gravy that you need).
5. Bring it to boil, and then simmer it on a medium flame for 5 minutes.
6. Now add the fish pieces and simmer them with the gravy for a couple of minutes. 

Remove from flame and serve hot with plain rice.

Pomfret Masala

Ingredients
2 Medium sized Pomfrets

1 medium sized onion

2 to 3 garlic cloves

A small piece of ginger

 2 or 3 green chilies

1 medium sized tomato, pureed

Coconut milk (1/2 a cup)

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Red chili powder

Garam masala powder

Salt

Sugar

Mustard oil

Method

• Wash the fishes well and keep aside. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of turmeric powder, mix well.
• Pour some oil in a heavy bottom pan. Once hot, fry the Pomfrets till golden brown.

 

• Remove from the pan.  Add a pinch of sugar to the hot oil followed by coarsely ground onion, ginger, garlic, chilies and tomatoes.
• Cook on high flame for a minute. Now add all the other spices (Salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder) and cook well till the oil starts separating out. Pour coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes. 

• Finally add the Pomfrets and mix well with the gravy.
• Remove from flame.

• Serve hot.

Crab Curry – Malvani Style

 

Crabs Crabs Crabs… I have always seen Crabs only in the fish market… My mom never made Crabs at home however, my elder sister has been very fond of Crabs.

Soon after my marriage we shifted to Mumbai, and Crabs became a common sight in the fish market. Ever since, my husband has been asking me to prepare this dish at home but I always found out a way of not bringing this home. Today, while buying fish, I don’t know what happened to me; I went ahead and bought few crabs.

So now, I had the crabs but didn’t know what to do with them. And then my search for the suitable recipe began. So finally I bumped into this Malvani Style chicken Recipe and used the same to prepare my crabs after making few changes here and there. Sharing the same here:

Ingredients

Crabs, of course…

1 large onion

5-6 cloves of garlic

1 medium piece of ginger

Green chilies (depending upon your spice quotient)

Coconut (7-8 medium sized pieces)

1 medium tomato (roughly chopped)

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Red chili powder

Sugar

Salt to taste

Garam masala powder

Ghee (optional)

Mustard oil for cooking

Method

For the Malvani masala: Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, green chilies and coconut together to a fine paste.

• Cut the crab into pieces of suitable size. Spread some salt and turmeric powder on it and rub well.

Marinated Crabs

• Pour some oil in a kadhai. Add crabs to the hot oil and fry them one by one till they turn into a bright red colour.

 

• Remove from kadhai and keep it aside.
• Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar to the hot oil followed by the Malvani masala. Stir well on a high flame for 2 minutes.
• Now add rest of the spices (Salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin and red chili powder), chopped tomatoes and cook on a high flame till the oil starts separating from it.
• Add the fried crabs and mix well with the masala. Pour some water (adjust the quantity as per your preference for gravy). Bring it to boil and then simmer for a couple of minutes more.
• Sprinkle a teaspoon of garam masala powder and spread a generous amount of ghee (optional) before removing from the flame.

  

 Serve with rotis or steaming hot rice.