Chingri diye Kolmi Shaak - Water Spinach with Prawns

Leafy greens are a big part of Bengali cuisine and you will a wide variety of recipes for an equally wide variety of greens or 'shaak' as we call them. Pui, palong, notey, kolmi, methi, sorse, ...the list is long! My visits to Kolkata always include a few trips to Gariahat market to pick up seasonal veggies. And in addition, there is a sobji-wala who comes to the house every morning laden with produce. This means there is no lack of good veggies whatever the season. Luckily for me, I also have an excellent veggie shop near my house in Kharghar where I get almost everything that is available in Kolkata, enabling me to cook quite a lot of typical Bengali dishes even though I'm not in Bengal.

Most of us tend to pick up regular spinach but not so much the other leafy greens. I certainly spent many years cooking only spinach, not being confident with the other greens. But now, after having read innumerable excellent Bengali food blogs and having really chewed the two volume Amish o Niramish Ahar by Pragyasundari Devi (my Bible for Bengali recipes) I have broadened my repertoire considerably. I learned many recipes for the various shaaks in combination with root vegetables, peas, brinjals, and of course, prawns.

I also look at recipe videos on YouTube and among my favourites are the ones showing recipes from Bangladesh. The ingredients are mostly the same as those from West Bengal but the recipes can differ quite a bit! Like this recipe I saw for kolmi shaak or water spinach cooked with prawns from Rosonar Shad  that includes onions. The Ghoti (West Bengali) recipes from my family don't include onion when cooking leafy greens even when they have non vegetarian elements like prawns. I liked the newness of this recipe and how different it is from the pui chingri I cook very often. The instructions are detailed and the recipe is quite simple. 

Chingri diye Kolmi Shaak 

kolmi shaak - 1 bunch
shelled and deveined prawns - 1/2 cup
mustard oil
1 onion
2-3 green chillies
salt
turmeric
dhaniya/coriander powder

Apply salt and turmeric to the prawns and leave to marinate while you prep the kolmi shaak.
Cut the kolmi shaak finely including the tender stalks. Wash thoroughly and leave aside in a colander to drain.
Slice the onion.
In a wok heat mustard oil and fry the prawns till they turn opaque. If you have large prawns cut into halves or smaller pieces and then fry.
Add the sliced onions and the green chillies to the prawns. You can slit the chillies for more heat or break them into pieces for less heat.
One the onions lose their rawness, add the chopped and drained kolmi shaak. Add salt keeping in mind that the prawns have already been salted. Stir well and let it cook covered for around 5 minutes. The shaak will release water and everything will get cooked in the steam.
Sprinkle a little coriander powder and mix well. Cook open, letting the excess water evaporate.
Serve with plain rice and daal.

Chingri Bhaape - Bengali Style Prawns Steamed in Mustard, Poppy Seed, and Coconut

As my journey of exploration into Bengali cuisine continues I'm impressed again and again at the sheer simplicity of most of the recipes be they simple everyday dishes or quite often, dishes one would serve as a treat on a special day. The list of ingredients is frugal and the method quite simple. In fact it's often made me wonder if the recipe would actually work. But of course my doubts have evaporated every time I'm put my faith in the recipe and simply given it a try.

Yesterday I was meeting friends for a potluck lunch. I volunteered to make some Bengali dishes among which was Chingri Bhaape, which, translated literally, means steamed prawns. As I read through the recipe in the numerous Bengali recipe books I'm cooking my way through I was hooked. All you had to do was mix all the ingredients with the prawns and steam the whole thing. That's it. I'm a great fan of quick, no fuss recipes and I couldn't wait to try it out. The results, I must say, were excellent and Chingri Bhaape is going to feature on my menus quite often, that's for sure!

Chingri Bhaape 

500 gms large prawns, shelled and deveined
salt
turmeric

4 tbsp poppy seed paste
3 tbsp mustard paste
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup mustard oil
6-8 fresh green chillies
1 tsp sugar


Soak poppy seeds for around 30 minutes, drain and then grind to a smooth paste. I added a couple of green chillies (not the very pungent ones) just for added flavour while making this paste.

Soak mustard seeds for 30 minutes, drain and make a paste. You can grind the mustard along with the poppy seeds. I like to keep it separate in case the mustard paste turns bitter. In a pinch I use Sunrise mustard powder which I get easily (touch wood!) from my local fish shop. This powder also needs to be soaked before use.

You can keep the tails on the prawns if you like. I remove everything as the husband has a shell allergy. Marinate the prawns in salt and turmeric while the poppy seeds and mustard is soaking.

Once the prep is done you're ready to go. Take a steel box or dabba with a close fitting lid that's large enough to hold all the prawns leaving enough room. In the box put in the prawns and all the ingredients barring the green chillies and mustard oil. Give it all a good mix.

Pour the mustard oil over the prawns and place the green chillies on top. Shut the box.

In a cooker or large vessel (one in which the box will fit) with a lid put water to heat. Place the box in this water. The box should sit in the water but shouldn't get submerged and water shouldn't get into the box. If you're using a pressure cooker put the lid on without the whistle. If you're using a regular vessel put on the lid. Once the water starts boiling lower the heat and let the box of prawns steam for a good 15- 20 minutes undisturbed. Put a weight on the lid to keep the steam in.

Alternatively, you can also cook the prawns directly on a VERY LOW flame directly in a kadai or wok. Just remember to leave it alone so that the steam generated stays in and the prawns and the pastes cook properly. Keep an eye on the gas flame - since it's kept very low it might go off and you don't want any accidents thanks to leaking gas.

Serve the Chingri Bhaape with plain hot rice.

Kerala Spiced Prawn Fry

A couple of weeks ago I made a spicy, coconut-y Kerala Pork Fry for a pop up. It was delicious and I was lucky to have found a good recipe and friends to approve and confirm that it would give me good results and authentic flavours. For that pork fry I'd made a batch of fresh Kerala Garam Masala and there was plenty left over.

I also had some of the toasted coconut that I'd made for the same fry.

Since I didn't have any pork in the freezer but wanted to enjoy those flavours again I thought of trying the same recipe adapted for prawns.

Oh my, did that work out well or what?!

Kerala Spiced Prawn Fry

500 gms prawns, cleaned
salt
turmeric
chilli powder
pepper powder

2 large onions, chopped
5-6 sprigs curry leaves
2-3 green chillies, more if you're okay with a lot of heat
1 pod garlic, peeled and chopped
3 inch piece ginger, peeled and pounded roughly
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp Kerala Garam masala*
1 cup toasted grated fresh coconut
oil

Wash the prawns and marinate in salt, turmeric, chilli powder and some freshly ground, slightly coarse black pepper. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok, be generous, and once the oil is hot chuck in the curry leaves along with the green chillies. You can roughly break up the chillies, or chop them into small pieces. Add the garlic and fry for a minute and then throw in the pounded fresh ginger. Mix and fry for another minute or two. Now add the onions.

Fry the mix till the onions start to brown. Now add the dry spices and a little salt and mix well so it all cooks evenly. Add oil if required or the spices will burn and stick to the bottom of your cooking pot. Stir in the toasted coconut and mix properly. Cook on a low flame till the whole mix is fragrant and cooked. Adjust salt keeping in mind that the prawns have salt in the marinade.

In a separate pan heat some oil and fry the prawns in batches for around 30 seconds, just till they turn opaque. Add them to the cooked masala, stir well and cook covered for just a few minutes till the prawns are done. Remove the lid, ramp up the heat and dry off any moisture in the pot. You can add some more fried curry leaves for added flavour at the end.

Serve hot as an accompaniment with evening drinks, or make a meal of it paired with pav, rice, or rotis.


* Kerala Garam Masala

2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
2 star anise
4 inches cassia bark (desi cinnamon)
10 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cloves

Broil all the spices till fragrant, cool a bit and then whizz in a spice grinder.
There are variations of this with the fennel, pepper, cardamom, cloves being common and mace, nutmeg, star anise  or cinnamon adding to the flavours. You can add the combination that you like.
Store in an air-tight bottle. 

Prawn Coconut Curry with Green Garlic and Lemon Zest

It was one of those days when breakfast outside has been a sore disappointment and I was feeling irritable and in dire need of comfort. The hubby had a rare day off from work and wanted a nice lunch to wipe away the memories of a truly bad breakfast experience. As much as I wanted the comfort of a home cooked meal, confident that whatever I cooked would be a balm on our abraded minds, I wasn't up to cooking a complicated time consuming dish. Yet I didn't want the 'same old thing'.

My first thought was prawns - delicious, easy to cook, and most importantly - done with minimum hassle. The fact that my local fish shop stocks excellent produce and a kilo of cleaned, shelled, and deveined prawns was just a phone call away only made the prospect of prawns more attractive. I decided to make a simple prawn curry to be paired with plain white rice.

I follow a basic easy recipe and make this light curry quite often but as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't in the mood for the same old thing. A trip to the veggie shop earlier that day meant that I'd come home with a bunch of fresh green garlic and a couple of green limes among the other vegetables I'd bought. We've been enjoying the green garlic in plenty of breakfast omelettes and scrambles and I thought it's high time I used them in something else. And that's how they landed up in the curry.

I replaced the coconut cream with coconut milk and ended up with a thin broth like curry which I liked so much I had a bowlful as soup while the rice cooked.

Coincidentally the theme for the week for a food photography challenge I'm doing with a small bunch of friends was soup, and since I suddenly had a lovely soup at hand I proceeded to dig out some pretty props and put together a photograph for the week. Instead of going the predictable soup bowl and spoon route I pulled out fancy tea ware and made an effort to style the photo instead of simply plonking a bowl of soup on my windowsill and taking a quick pic. I'm quite pleased with the result of my efforts :)

Well anyway, here's the recipe for the soup/curry-

Prawn Coconut Curry with Green Garlic and Lemon Zest

I cup prawns, shelled and deveined
salt
turmeric
oil
2 inch stick, cassia bark
a sprig or two, curry leaves
a small bundle of green garlic, washed and chopped fine
1 tbsp, chopped fresh coriander
1 small onion, chopped fine
1-2 green chillies
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup coconut milk
1 green lime

Marinate the prawns in salt and turmeric and set aside while you prep the curry ingredients.

Heat oil in a wok and lightly fry the prawns till they turn just opaque. This should take a couple of minutes at the most. Do it in batches so all the prawns are cooked evenly. Remove from the wok and set aside.

In the same wok add a little more oil and heat it well. Chuck in the green chillies, roughly snapped into two or three pieces along with the curry leaves and the cassia bark. Fry for 30 seconds and then add the chopped onion. Fry till translucent (don't allow the onions to brown) and then add the chopped green garlic (shoots, garlic bulbs, and roots) and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the chilli powder, a little turmeric, and salt, stir well and fry for another few minutes.

Now pour in the coconut milk and bring the curry to a boil. Add a little water so you have a proportionate amount of curry for the amount of prawns going in. Once the curry comes to a boil chuck in the prawns and cook for just a few minutes till they are nearly cooked, just a minute or so shy of being completely cooked. Put off the flame and grate in the zest from the green lime. Give it a stir, add the fresh coriander leaves, cover the wok and let it infuse for a minute.

Serve hot with plain rice and wedges of lime. Or enjoy it as a soup before main course.

Alu Phulkopi diye Chingri - Prawns with Cauliflower and Potatoes

A few mornings ago as I rooted around in the freezer I found prawns. Later that morning as I was explaining to the hubby that I didn't need to make a trip to the fish shop immediately because I'd found the prawns his eyes lit up and he said "make phulkopi alu chingri". I stared at him in surprise. I'd never made it before. Where had he learned of this dish?! Somewhere on social media, I guess because we see so much food online every day. Well, I had everything required for the dish so there was no reason not to make it. I Googled, and looked up a couple of Bengali cookbooks from my own library and set out to make this very typical Bengali dish.

1 cup Prawns 

1 Medium cauliflower 

1 Large potato 

2 Small onions 

1 Tomato 

1 tsp Ginger paste 

1 tsp Garlic paste 

3-4 Green chillies 

4 Cloves 

2 inches Cassia bark 

3 pods Cardamom 

Mustard oil 

Salt 

Turmeric 

Chilli powder

Shell, devein, and wash the prawns. Drain well and marinate with salt and turmeric. 

Cut cauliflower into small florets, peel and cube potatoes, finely chop onions, and puree or finely chop the tomato. 

Heat mustard oil in a wok and fry the prawns for a minute or so just till they turn opaque. Remove from the oil and reserve in a bowl. 

Fry the cauliflower and potato cubes in the same hot oil till they start browning on the edges. Remove from the wok and keep aside. 

Add a little oil to the wok if it has reduced considerably, let it heat up well and then put in the whole spices. Stir for 30 seconds and then add the finely chopped onions. You can also add the green chillies at this stage. Slit them if you want more heat from the chillies. Fry till the onions start to pink. 

Now add the fresh ginger and garlic pastes. Stir and mix and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomato, followed by the chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Stir and cook on a low flame till the oil is released from this mix. 

Put the fried potatoes and cauliflower back in the pan and mix. Cook for a minute or so and then add half a cup of water. Add salt. Bring to a boil, simmer and cook covered till the potatoes are cooked through. 

Now add the prawns and cook for another couple of minutes till the prawns are done. 

Serve with plain rice, parathas or rotis. Depending on what you're serving with make more or less gravy, as required. 

Pui Chingri

The vegetable market in Nerul is one of my favourite markets - first of all, it's not a concrete building but a neatly laid out grid of old fashioned stalls covered with tarpaulin. The paths between the stalls are uneven and the whole affair is rough and rustic. One jostles other shoppers, avoids the odd rotting veggie on the floor, and tries to catch the attention of the vendor as he attends to other customers, weighs produce, takes payments, and generally goes about his business. There are no aseptic aisles with neatly packaged produce on shiny, well lit shelves. Not that I don't enjoy a trip to the supermarket, but supermarkets don't have that energetic vibe of a proper street market, do they?

I had slid into the habit of buying groceries and even vegetables and fruit online - there's no match for the convenience that affords - but after a few months I was itching to be out there in the market, in the middle of that magical atmosphere surrounded by people, noise, and piles of fresh produce.

I waited for the hubby's day off from work and dragged him off to the market. The monsoons have just hit Maharashtra and fresh greens and seasonal vegetables are now flowing back into the markets. As I wandered among the stalls I came to the one that sells fresh leafy greens of every variety along with an excellent selection of 'videshi' or foreign produce - broccoli, basil, asparagus, parsley, etc., which are now as mundane as carrots and potatoes. As I looked at the leafy greens I saw many I had never cooked/eaten/seen before. So I thought to myself, why not try something new, and picked up a bunch of basella or Malabar spinach, what we Bengalis call Pui.

Leafy greens are commonly used in Bengali recipes and you will find both vegetarian (in fact, vegan) and non vegetarian preparations. Fish and prawns are often stir fried with seasonal greens, lightly tempered with paanch phoron, or just mustard or nigella seeds, or combinations of the same with green chillies, etc., accompanied with vegetables like red pumpkin, potatoes, green peas, brinjals, etc. I decided to make Pui Chingri, a dish I had heard about but never eaten.

Pui Chingri 

15 Prawns 

1 bunch Pui or malabar spinach 

1 Large potato 

1/2 tsp Paanch phoron 

3 Green chillies 

Turmeric 

Salt 

Mustard oil

Shell and devein the prawns, and wash.

Marinate the drained prawns in salt and turmeric

Clean the pui - pick out wilted leaves and discard the very thick, woody bits of stem. Chop and wash the pui greens in plenty of water. Drain in a colander.

Cut the potato into medium sized cubes.

Heat mustard oil in a wok and fry the prawns for a minute till they turn opaque. Remove to a dish.

In the same oil fry the cubed potatoes till they get slightly browned. Remove to the same plate with the prawns.

Add a little more mustard oil to the wok if required and let it heat up. Drop in the green chillies and follow with the paanch phoron.

Once the spices sizzle add the washed and drained pui leaves and tender stalks. Stir it all well till most of the leaves have begun to wilt. Add salt and a little turmeric, cover and cook on a low flame for a few minutes.

Add the fried potatoes and cook further. Don't add any water - the pui will release enough to cook the potatoes. Stir well and cook till the potatoes are nearly done.

Add the prawns to the wok and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for a minute. If there's too much water in the wok leave off the cover and dry it off till it's minimal.

Serve the Pui Chingri with a simple daal and hot rice.

The pui greeens didn't seem to have much of an inherrent flavour but I still liked the dish and so did the hubby. Smaller prawns would be ideal for this as they pack tons of flavour and would certainly enhance the dish. Teamed with a simple masoor daal and plain white rice, this made for a lovely mid week dinner and the husband has packed the leftovers in his office dabba. Now if that isn't a stamp of approval I don't know what is!

Daab'er Shaansh ar Gondhoraaj Lebu diye Chingri - Prawns in Tender Coconut and Gondhoraj Zest

It was one more of the little dinner parties I have - just a few friends, and a completely home-cooked meal. Since one of my guests was a friend from Australia who misses Bengali food a lot, I was cooking a Bengali meal in her honour. I planned to make the entire elaborate traditional meal right from the bhaja, teto (bitter element) daal, through fish, chatney, and a finale of mangsho'r jhol. However we're having sickeningly hot weather and the hubby cautioned me to pare down the menu as no one would actually enjoy the full spread in this awful weather. That did make sense and I edited my menu severely by removing the little fiddly elements like the bhatey (mashed vegetable) and bhaja (fried accompaniment with daal), and even the vegetable course I had planned.  The final menu had a simple daal, plain white rice, a prawn course, mangsho'r jhol (goat curry) and kaancha aam'er chatney, followed by gur'er paayesh for dessert.

I started out with a plan to make Daab Chingri, a well known Bengali classic, with the prawns. I happened to have loads of daab (tender coconuts) at home and it had been a while since I'd made daab chingri. As it happens with me a lot, though I planned a tried and tested and guaranteed to be great dish, something kept me hesitating, not a 100% convinced. I checked countless recipes online and dithered away, or simply cooked the other things on my menu.

And then it was evening and my guests would be arriving in a little more than an hour! I hadn't made any progress with my daab chingri. And then I had an idea. The daab chingri was abandoned but not entirely. I was in the mood to fool around and I had, what I thought would be a brilliant dish in my mind. But I did have guests to feed - so taking no chances I had a quick confer with the hubby and I was back in the kitchen ready to make Daab'er Shaansh ar Gondhoraaj Lebu diye Chingri.

500 gms, fresh medium sized prawns
flesh from two tender coconuts
1 cup tender coconut water
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/2 tsp zest of Gondhoraaj Lemon
1 large onion finely chopped
2 or 3 green chillies minced
1 inch fresh ginger
salt
turmeric
Mustard oil

Shell and devein the prawns. You can leave the heads on if you like, I don't because the hubby is allergic to the shell. Marinate the washed and drained prawns in salt and turmeric.
In a wok heat the mustard oil. Once it's hot reduce the flame and chuck in the finely chopped onions and the minced green chillies. Fry slowly taking care not to brown the onions at all.
Smash the ginger into a rough paste in your mortar and pestle. Use fresh ginger instead of store bought paste - the flavour is significantly better. Add it to the frying onions.
After a minute or so add the prawns. Stir well and cook over a medium flame till the prawns turn just opaque.
Now add the coconut flesh and the coconut water. Bring it to a boil and add the coconut cream. You can use half a cup of thickly made coconut milk using a commercial coconut powder if you don't have coconut cream. Mix well.
Let it all simmer till the prawns are cooked. Don't over cook your prawns!
Switch off the flame and then sprinkle the Gondhoraaj zest over the curry. Cover the pot and let it infuse for 5 minutes.
Serve with plain hot rice.

The CKP Food Festival, Thane

Stall owners dancing to the catchy music while serving customers

Food festivals are becoming increasingly common in Mumbai and the ones I look forward to the most are those that showcase the cuisine of a particular community. I've been to numerous Koli food fests and even a couple organised by the Pathare Prabhus (in fact I missed their last event because I was away, holidaying in north India). I heard of the CKP festival from my friend Manisha and made a mental note to attend this one for sure.

The Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus are supposedly the descendants of a King Chandrasen of Kashmir. Commonly known as CKPs, the community is now concentrated mainly in Maharashtra and in parts of Gujarat and Central India. I have always known them to be a well entrenched Maharashtrian community and I was delighted to see their love for robust non vegetarian food at the CKP festival! 

The fest was at the CKP Hall in Thane and what I really loved was the welcome visitors received - a man in full costume blew a blast of his tutari as a ceremonial welcome. It just set the mood for the good time ahead!

Photo credit - Kurush Dalal

We had a quick browse through the business (non food) stalls where I chanced upon one selling the prettiest clutches, purses, and handbags covered in traditional Paithani saree fabric. Yes, I made the hubby buy me one.

We moved on to where the real action was - the two food courts spread across the entire first floor of the building. The blast of aromas that hit the nose as soon as we stepped out of the lift gave us an indication of the deliciousness that was to follow. We decided to move systematically from stall to stall instead of randomly roaming around and that was a great decision as we got to taste a whole lot of preparations without repeating stuff or missing out on anything. It also helped that we were four of us - we could taste that much more without feeling stuffed too soon! 

There was a mind boggling variety of food, most of which I had never eaten or even heard of before. Like the Kheemyache Modak - modaks stuffed with goat mince. And the Kaleji Dabeli - liver stuffed in pav - which I suspect was a smart innovation and not a traditional dish. It was delicious so it doesn't really matter! 

These are the mince stuffed modaks. The only modak I knew about was the traditional sweet filled one that's offered to Ganpati - not on my list of things I like to eat. But these! Oh yeah, bring them on!

The kaleji dabelis. These are prepped and ready to be toasted in a ton of butter on a hot griddle before serving. Lots of liver, crunchy onions and plenty of fresh coriander made these one of the best things we ate at the fest. As we waited for our dabelis to be toasted the music came on and the atmosphere in the hall changed completely - everyone around started to shake a leg and that included stall owners too. Our dabelis did taste so much better because the chefs had such a blast while making them :)

We moved on to the next stall where we had kolambi pattice and kolambi fry - Potato covered prawn patties, and masala fried prawns with a rawa coating. Both were simply superb. We resisted having seconds only because there was so much more food to explore as we went on.

See those tiny shrimp in there? Packed with flavour, perfectly cooked, these patties were great. The only fly in the ointment was a near absence of salt in the potato casing and in the filling. I could only imagine how awesome these would have been if they had been seasoned properly.

Prawns are tricky and if not properly fried they can turn into awful rubbery bullets. These were done to perfection and we wolfed them down in seconds. Finger licking good they were.

At the next stall we had some paya soup. It was a nice change from all the fried goodies and went down a treat.

Next up was some fried fish. We'd had a slice of Jitada fry earlier so now we opted for a slice of surmai, and another lot of prawns which looked quite different from the ones we'd had earlier. The surmai was lovely, soft, moist, and flaky - but once again there was a serious lack of salt and that did ruin the pleasure considerably. The prawns were seasoned better and were delicious.

Somewhere along the way we picked up a cup of dessert - Ninav Cheesecake. Ninav is a dessert made mainly with wheat and gram flour, jaggery, ghee, coconut milk, and some other ingredients. The ninav was made into a base topped with a cheesecake mix. Quite innovative, I thought, and the hubby liked it.

There was so much more to eat but we were already quite stuffed.

Assorted fried fish.

As we walked around the stalls I saw a sign advertising something called Shevala Kheema. It reminded me of a post Kurush had written about Raanachi Bhaji or forest greens that are popular in Maharashtra where he mentions shevaal, a seasonal plant that is relished in season. I tasted a tiny bit and immediately knew we had to pack some to enjoy later at home. Here was another dish I had never eaten before.

One of the last things we tried was this clam curry. It was the only thing we didn't like among all that we ate. It seemed bland and boring and appealed to none of us.

As we proceeded further among the stalls we packed a few things to take home and eat later. Unfortunately we had to also skip a lot of dishes - there was just so much! Here are a few photos of the other food on display.

Crab curry

Chicken. I just fell in love with this copper vessel! 

Bhakris and chapatis

Prawn Curry

 Mutton Sukke

Mutton Liver Masala

One of the few vegetarian dishes on offer - Vaalachi Khichadi

Prawn Bhajiyas

And that's us at the end of our eatathon at the CKP food fest! 

Kolmi na Kari Chawal - Parsi Prawn Curry with Rice

The brightly coloured, coconut based curries are common to almost all the cuisines along the western coast of India. There are subtle and not so subtle differences in each version but the foundation of most is a paste of dried red chillies and coconut, along with other spices.

Many of us label any Indian preparation that has a gravy as a curry but after I got married I discovered that curry is a very specific preparation among the Parsis, and also in the coastal cuisines - this bright orange or red gravy full of spice and punch which ideally had sea food in it but was also great with chicken, mutton or even boiled eggs in it. The sauce is so good that even a vegetable curry is delicious!

The Parsis don't have multiple courses at their meals like us Bengalis - there will be one dish that's the centre of attraction, and at the most there will be a side dish to go along with. This is served with either rice, bread, or rotlis. A simple salad may or may not be there. So once every few days curry would be on the menu. A huge pot of curry made with pomfrets, surmai, prawns, or chicken - accompanied by fluffy white rice, a pile of deep fried papads, and a kachuber made of sliced onions, tomatoes, fresh coriander, and plenty of lime wedges, would grace the table.The Parsi curry is undoubtedly one of my favourite dishes today.

I always felt intimidated at the thought of making a Parsi curry myself, especially at the thought of having to grind a masala. Bengali cuisine rarely involves elaborate masala pastes - mustard, posto, etc., are simple one or two ingredient pastes - and to me a curry paste with its myriad ingredients in specific proportions seemed scary, to say the least. In fact my mother never owned a 'mixie', something that is so basic in many kitchens. We never had use for one.

There's always a first time for everything and eventually I took the curry plunge myself. We have an excellent fishmonger here in Kharghar and I often get plump fresh prawns from him. There's nothing like a hot and spicy prawn curry to perk up a cold and wet day and so today I had prawn curry on the menu. Since the hubby is allergic to shellfish I remove the heads and tails of the prawns completely. Feel free to leave them on if you prefer - most of the flavour is in there.

This is my mother in law Katy Dalal's recipe for curry with a couple of minor adjustments. Use the same recipe for any sea food.

Parsi Prawn Curry

2 cups large prawns, deveined
1 coconut, milk extracted.
2 tbsp dried kokum
6 fresh green chillies, slit

Curry masala paste -
1 coconut, grated
15 Kashmiri chillies
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp sesame or til seeds
1 piece turmeric root (use 1 heaped tsp of powder if not available)
2 large onions, chopped
4 large tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chana
1/2 cup cashew
1 large pod garlic

Broil the dry spices on a tawa and then grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste, adding water as required.

2 -3 sprigs curry leaves
oil
salt
potatoes (optional)
5 or 6 drumsticks (optional)

Marinate the prawns with salt and a dash of turmeric.

In a large vessel heat a generous bit of oil. Add the curry leaves to the hot oil, stir for a minute and then add the masala paste and the fresh green chillies carefully. Stir well and cook the masala paste till it is cooked through and has turned red. Rinse out the grinder jar and add the water to the pot along with the coconut milk. Use store bought coconut milk if you like, but fresh coconut milk does taste far, far better. Bring it all to a boil, adding as much water as needed to make the required quantity of curry. Add washed kokum and salt and let it cook.

While this is boiling prepare the drumsticks. Peel off the hard outer bark and then chop each drumstick into longish pieces. Cook them in salted water separately till just tender. Drain and add them to the curry.

If you're adding potatoes, cut them into medium sized pieces, fry lightly, and then add to the curry as early as you can.

Prawns can get overcooked quite fast so put them in last, judging cooking time according to the size. The curry is ready as soon as the prawns are cooked. If the curry looks watery fish out the prawns on to a clean plate or bowl and let the curry reduce to the consistency you like. Pop the prawns back in for a minute at the end.

Serve the curry with lots of rice, papads and kachuber.

Moqueca - A Brazilian Fish Stew with Coconut Milk and Peppers

The challenge for May at Chefs Across Boundaries is Brazilian food and it had me quite excited. I have never cooked anything Brazilian and I doubt I've ever eaten any Brazilian dish (at least nothing comes to mind as I write this). I don't have any books on Brazilian cuisine and so I turned to the Internet.

After Googling around and not finding anything that I liked or felt was suitable I turned to Pinterest. And that's where I found this lovely fish stew - Moqueca. A light coconut gravy, no spices - just salt and pepper, fish and a few flavourful ingredients; it seemed perfect for the awfully hot weather we're having these days. I read quite a few recipes and what I liked is how flexible you can be with the sea food. Prawns, assorted white fish, squid- I could use whatever was at hand. Another thing that made me pick this dish is that it had no hard to acquire exotic ingredients and what I didn't have I could easily substitute without going too far from the original.

Moqueca is an old traditional Brazilian preparation that is ideally cooked in a clay vessel. This recipe, which uses coconut milk, is from the Bahia region of Brazil and is also known as Moqueca Baiana. You will need to to cook it in palm oil for complete authenticity.

The stew is really easy to make. Essentially you just layer up the ingredients step by step as you go, pour in the liquids, and then just cover and let it simmer till it's done. With hardly any stirring or supervising the moqueca practically cooks itself! This one is a keeper, trust me.

Here's my tweaked desi version of the beautiful Brazilian fish stew - Moqueca.

6 - 8 boneless pieces Bhetki
8 -10 fresh prawns, cleaned and deveined
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, chopped
4 -6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 fresh green chillies, roughly chopped. Use jalapeno if you have it
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder. Use Paprika if you have it, and a some cayenne if you have that too.
1 cup coconut milk. I used Maggi coconut powder
1 cup water or stock
1 lime, zested
1 spring onion, chopped fine
salt
pepper
olive oil

Marinate the fish and prawns in salt and set aside.

In a wok heat the olive oil, a couple of tablespoons at least. Once the oil is hot chuck in the peppers, chillies, onions, tomato, and the garlic and let it all fry for a couple of minutes. Reduce the heat so the garlic doesn't burn. Once the onions have softened and turned translucent add the chillli powder and stir.

Place the fish pieces and the prawns on top. Cook covered for a couple of minutes. Then pour the stock/water and the coconut milk into the wok. Add the lime zest and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook till the fish and prawns are done.

Remove to a serving bowl. Garnish with chopped fresh spring onion greens and serve on a bed of hot rice with a couple of lemon wedges.

Prawns in Butter, with Garlic and Fresh Parsley

I was planning my menu for a girly lunch at home. Summer is here in full force and I wanted to make something relatively light on spices but full of flavour. I also wanted to cook a lot as this lunch was a special one. One of my closest buddies is moving away to another city and this was a sort of farewell do too.

The thing is, I'm not good with planning menus. I start with a sort of clear idea of what I want to try but I get easily distracted and it is quite rare that I actually cook what I planned to. My menu had a salad, a starter that would involve prawns, a roast chicken, and dessert. I also thought I'd make bread.

Typically, I got distracted while looking at recipes and cooking videos, discussing ideas with online friends, working, and dealing with mundane daily things and I suddenly realised it was the eve of the proposed lunch and I hadn't even done the shopping. It was already quite late in the evening, in fact, it was night.

Funnily, just around the time I realised this a friend posted his planned menu for a meal he was cooking the next day - the menu, the shopping, the techniques involved in the cooking, all neatly written down, and that too in perfectly legible handwriting... I stared in shock. As the admiration flowed in from other members in the group I had a few moments of absolute horror and then a feeling of complete inadequacy. How did I ever get this disorganised?!

Ha ha, after the initial shock I acknowledged that I am disorganised and have always been so. Who am I kidding here? I don't like rules, I don't like rigidity, and revolting is a knee jerk response - even to a menu. I know. I need to grow up. But anyhoo, lunch was a super hit and of all the things I cooked today what won my heart is this simple prawn starter.

Prawns Poached in Butter, with Garlic and Fresh Parsley

20 large prawns, shelled and deveined.
15 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
30 gms butter
a hefty slosh of olive oil
1 tsp parsley, chopped fine
salt
pepper

Marinate the cleaned and washed prawns in a little salt. Let it sit for around 10 minutes.

In a wok or small pan heat the butter and olive oil. Once the butter has completely melted add the garlic. Keep the heat at medium so the garlic sort of boils in the fats.

Add the prawns after a minute or so. Stir well to mix. Lower the heat and then cover the prawns and let them cook in their steam for around 3 minutes.

Stir again and ramp up the heat. Crack fresh pepper over the prawns and let all the moisture evaporate.

Sprinkle the chopped parsley and mix it in. Remove to a bowl and serve immediately. Don't forget to add the butter and scrapings from the pan.

This is a very simple recipe and there lies the rub. Prawns are easy to over cook and thereby destroy. Keep an eye on the prawns as you cook them. You might need to adjust cooking time depending on their size. Don't leave them unattended, even when they are cooking under cover. Peek in once and check.

We had the prawns along with a simple focaccia topped with sun dried tomatoes and rosemary. Mopping up the juices and the butter with chunks of garlic...ah, that was just divine!

Marathon Bloggers

Fried Prawns in Koli Masala

Today is one of those days that is slow and everything's running a little late. Not that I'm complaining! We have been incredibly busy with Christmas orders and getting ready for them for the last few days and finally, with Christmas and its accompanying madness over, we're at home taking things easy.

I'm in the mood to cook but it was late by the time the marketing got done and we were both hungry. The hubby had brought some fresh prawns and we decided to fry them up as a pre lunch snack. Now I usually marinate them in salt, turmeric and chilli powder and then fry them up. Today I was in the mood for something more than this basic, though delicious, version. I rooted around in the pantry cupboard and chanced upon my jar of Koli masala bought from Anjali Koli who writes a lovely blog called Annaparabrahma, and also retails a variety of Koli spice blends, dried fish and other products. You can check out her online store here.

To make the prawns all you need to do is clean them, wash, and pat dry. Add salt and as much Koli masala as you can handle. This is a pungent spice mix with plenty of chilli so if you're not used to a lot of heat, use less like I did. 

Mix the spice in and let it sit for 15 minutes. Heat up oil in a pan and fry the prawns till done. Throw in some fresh curry leaves and stir for a minute. The fried prawns are ready to serve.

I used a flat griddle made of copper and tinned in the traditional way that we'd bought from a copper smith in rural Maharashtra. The pan is perfectly seasoned and can rival any top of the line non stick cookware. So if you have any of these old gems in your kitchen dig them out and use them!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Chingri Mocha'r Chop - Prawn and Banana Flower Croquettes

There are many ingredients common in a Bengali kitchen that have never entered mine. Mocha or banana flower is one of them. My cook is now changing things drastically because with her help I am exploring and learning a whole lot of Bengali food that's new to me. Today we made chingri mocha'r chop, a very popular snack that is often served at a high tea, or as a starter at a fancy dinner. Another simple recipe and a really tasty dish that was a super hit with the hubby and me.

Chingri Mocha'r Chop

8 -10 largeish prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped into small pieces
1 Mocha/Banana flower, cleaned and chopped
1 large potato
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
turmeric
salt
dhania/coriander powder
jeera/cumin powder
chilli powder or chopped fresh green chilli

breadcrumbs
oil
1 egg
1 tbsp maida or plain flour

Pressure cook the cleaned mocha along with the peeled potato, with a little turmeric in the water. Drain out the excess water and keep the potato aside. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the mocha. Mash the potato.

In a wok heat a little oil and saute the chopped prawns. After a couple of minutes add the mocha and the mashed potato. Add the spice powders, ginger garlic paste, and stir to mix really well. Add salt. Saute the mixture for a few minutes stirring and mixing constantly so it is evenly blended with the spices and there are no clumps of potato.

Cool the mixture and form flat round patties or chops.

Heat enough oil in a kadai to deep fry the chops.

In a wide bowl crack the egg, add the plain flour and beat lightly to mix. Spread some breadcrumbs in a plate. Now dip the chops one by one into the egg and then roll in the crumbs to coat completely. Deep fry till golden brown and serve hot with kashundi or ketchup.

If you're vegetarian you can leave out the prawns. And use a flour+water solution instead of the egg. In fact, this recipe then is suitable for vegans too!

If, like me, you're clueless about cleaning the banana flower just look it up on YouTube. There are plenty of videos explaining just what to do. I am lucky - the cook knows exactly what to do!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Of Khadkhadle, Bhujne, Bombil and Kolambi - The Pathare Prabhu Table

A few weeks ago Manisha, who writes The Chronicles of the Sassy Fork invited K and me to lunch. She said it would be at a Pathare Prabhu residence and the meal was going to be cooked by Soumitra Velkar and his family. A chance to go feast at a Pathare Prabhu table?! I was going whether or not K could make it! The date was fixed and I had to wait. We'd had a grand dinner at Bimba Nayak's house some months earlier so I had a pretty good idea what I could look forward to.

Finally it was time to drive across the city to the Velkars' residence and luckily K had the day off too. I think I drooled all the way there...

The PPs (as they are called) are among the oldest settlers of Mumbai and have contributed greatly to making Mumbai the city it is, much like the Parsis. They laid the foundations on which this city grew into the Megapolis it is today. Common landmarks like the Bhau cha Dhakka and the Mahalakshmi Temple were built by them.

I had heard catering stories from the hubby about PP clients and how, for one party held at Shree Pant Bhavan at Chowpatty (a huge building owned and occupied by the community) they set up the kitchen in the lift of the building! Now this building housed a car showroom in the old days and the lift was massive enough to carry the cars up to the terrace where they could be parked - probably the only building in Mumbai in those days with a lift of that size! As it turned out, the son of that client was present at lunch with us today :)

Getting back to the lunch - we started with a rose sharbat with sabja seeds, and then a string of starters, one more delicious than the next. There was Bhanole, Kolambi Pie, Bombil Bhajji, and absolutely delectable Khimyachya Shingdya.

Rose and sabja sharbat.

Bhanole is an interesting dish that comprises cabbage and prawns, and is baked. Baking is a commonly used cooking technique in PP cuisine and this is a superb example of how well they have adopted and adapted a western technique to suit their palate and cuisine.

Kolambi Pie - another example of how baking is a favoured cooking technique. This is a sort of shepherd's pie but with prawns and a nice robustly spiced version.

Bombil Bhajji or bhajiyas - I love bombil or bombay ducks and my favourite way to have them is in the classic rawa or besan coated fry. This bhajji was a revelation! I could have curled up with a hot mug of coffee, a good book and a steady stream of these babies hot off the kadai and been very content indeed!

Khimyachya Shingdya - mince stuffed pastry crescents. Many communities in western India make crescent shaped stuffed pastry snacks and they're usually filled with either a sweet coconut filling or a savoury green pea or tender tuvar or pigeon pea fillings. Called karanji, ghungroo, ghugra, newri, these are quite ubiquitous in the region. When I discovered that the ones on the table today were stuffed with minced mutton my day was made :)

Eventually we moved on to the main courses. Phew! I was already stuffed but I wan't going to miss out on anything today.

We started with Mutton Gode served with pav, and a fantastic koshimbir (finely cut salad) of red onions, white radish, green chillies, fresh coriander and lime juice topped with crisply fried dried bombay ducks. I haven't eaten much dried fish and this koshimbir was a superb place to start.

The Mutton Gode - I love mutton and if it has been cooked with big chunks of potatoes my Bengali heart simply sings. This mutton preparation reminded me a lot of the sublime flavours of the Sunday mutton cooked in numerous Bengali households where the gravy is light and subtly flavoured. Though more robust than a Bengali mangshor jhol, I could easily have made a meal of the Mutton Gode with a mound of rice and a raw onion on the side. Like most of the coastal Maharashtrian communities the PPs also have their signature spice blends and the Mutton Gode had Parbhi Sambhaar masala in it. This masala has spices like naag kesar and hing in it. It also contains ground wheat and chana daal which work as thickening agents.

A rather unusual dish on the menu was the Ananas Sambhare. Made with coconut milk, cashew nuts and pineapple, this sambhar is quite unique with the sweetness of the fruit paired with the spice of their sambhar masala. I am not at all into fruits but I did taste it before gamely passing it on to the hubby who quite liked it.

Bombil Methkutache, Bombay ducks in a light but spicy gravy, this preparation has Parbhi Methkut, another spice blend that's typical to the PPs.

Only a true fish loving community would come up with a recipe that uses the bones of a fish as the star ingredient and just like the Bengalis use the head and the bones of some fish to make specific delicacies, the PPs have the incredibly delicious Katyache Bhujne. This dish had the spinal bone of the huge Ghol stewed in onions, chillies, coriander and garlic. The flavours of this preparation were very close to a version of the Bengali machher jhol that my mother and grand mother used to make. The only additional ingredient in their version was chopped tomato. I took two helpings of the bhujne and relished it with rice.

The PPs are very fond of prawns, and you will have noticed there were many prawn preparations on the menu today. This is the Kolambi Khadkhadle and it was finger licking good. By the time I got to it I was stuffed beyond belief, but I wasn't going to miss it.. so I soldiered on after a five minute break ;) Once again there was a good dose of garlic with red chilli, turmeric, some hing and the Parbhi Sambhaar masala creating a well spiced and delicious dish.

Cheek or kharvas - This is a dessert that is a favourite among Maharashtrians and is one of the hubby's top favourites too. Made from the 'first' milk of the cow, or the colustrum, and lightly flavoured with cardamom and nutmeg. Paired with it was a rose flavoured mawa (reduced milk). The hubby had two, or was it three helpings of dessert before I stood at his side and ensured he didn't have any more!

That we were stuffed goes without saying. That we were sated is an understatement. That I am in love with PP food is a fundamental truth. Quite in contrast to the spice and coconut heavy cuisines of coastal Maharashtra, the Pathare Prabhus have a lighter hand in the kitchen and I think that is what allows them to eat such a lavish spread without batting an eyelid!

There is a growing awareness of local cuisines in Mumbai and Soumitra Velkar along with his wife and mother, is doing a splendid job of showcasing his community's food to an eager audience. I cannot thank the Sassy Manisha enough for this fabulous treat :)