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.