Pnatha'r Bangla - Mutton with Onions and Coriander

 

Pnatha'r Bangla is a very simple mutton preparation, the recipe for which I found in the book Thakur Bari'r Ranna by Purnima Debi (from the Tagore family).  This little cookbook is a part of nearly every Bengali cooking enthusiast's collection and with good reason. It's a little treasure box of recipes ranging from snacks, pickles and chutneys, daals and of course dishes for the main courses. The recipes don't give quantities or proportions for the ingredients therefore this book is ideal for a more experienced cook, and not for beginners. 

Bengalis have a special fondness for mutton or pnatha (goat meat) and it is cooked on most weekends and festive occasions are incomplete without it. And it is this love that has resulted in numerous recipes, some elaborate and some really simple like this one. I have no idea what the name of this preparation signifies, why it is called pnatha'r bangla, but it is definitely one of the lightest and most delicious mutton curries I have ever made. Here's the recipe as I made it.

Pnatha'r Bangla 

500gms mutton, curry pieces with some bones

3 medium onions

Fresh coriander, 1 cup tightly packed

2-3 fresh green chillies (optional)

2 inch piece ginger, smashed into paste

1/2 cup curd

1 onion sliced

2-3 potatoes cut into chunks

1 tsp chilli powder

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp roasted jeera powder

salt

sugar

ghee

Wash the meat pieces lightly and drain. 

Make a paste of the three onions, and then make a paste of the fresh coriander leaves. Add green chillies if you like - this is not part of the original recipe. 

In a pressure cooker heat a couple of tablespoons of ghee and add the chilli powder and turmeric. Let it fry for half a minute and add the ginger paste. Fry for a couple of minutes stirring well so the ginger doesn't burn and then add the onion paste. Add the curd after whipping it to make it smooth. Mix well and fry for a few minutes and then add the coriander paste. Add salt and a little sugar, mix well and cook for a few minutes. 

Now add the meat pieces and stir well to coat with the pastes. Add the sliced onion into the pot. Cook for a while till the onions turn pink and the meat is seared nicely.  Add the potatoes and enough water, mix everything and then shut the pressure cooker. 

Lower the heat after the first whistle and cook on simmer for 20 minutes. Switch off and let the cooker cool on its own and the pressure release. 

Open the cooker and sprinkle the roasted jeera powder over the curry. Be sure to check the salt and adjust if required. 

Serve the Pnatha'r Bangla with plain hot rice. 

Moog Daal'er Khichuri

My oldest memory of moog'er daal is of Didin perched on her stool in her kitchen at her electric heater stirring moog'er daal or moong daal in a large shining iron kadai. The clinging sound of the 'khunti' and the swish of the daal as she leaned over the table stirring continuously was a common occurrence in the mornings as she prepped for the day's breakfast and lunch. Didin didn't cook a wide variety of dishes nor did she make special festive foods to mark the different 'parbon' that came by every month. She didn't observe fasts on the shastis and ekadashis either. The Hindu calendar was not a big part of our lives in Kolkata or in Mumbai as Moni didn't follow any of this either. But she cooked for us every day and we looked forward to our visits to her house for there would be a steady stream of everyday food tempered with special treats of mangsho'r jhol, machh'er chop, khichuri and other delights.

Though Didin had a frugal repertoire in the kitchen she fed us very well and we looked forward to our annual trips to Kolkata where we'd be pampered silly by Didin, and all the mamas and mashis - my mother's siblings and cousins. 

The smell of roasting moog daal is something most Bengalis will identify with - it is the smell of home, of Bengal, of grandmothers and mothers, of comfort and comfort food. The moog daal I saw at Didin's house was tiny in comparison with what I saw in Mumbai. Each grain was the size of a pin head, so different from the longish grains I had seen in the shops in Mumbai. This is Sona Moog'er Daal, a variety that is grown in Bengal and is naturally, the preferred variety in Bengali kitchens.

40 years ago it wasn't available in Mumbai and there was only that much Moni could carry back from Kolkata when we visited. So we ate moog'er daal only in Didin's house, Moni rarely cooked it at home in Mumbai. Nowadays it is far easier to find regional ingredients in Mumbai - not only do large supermarket chains carry good selections of regional ingredients, there are stand-alone shops that have a captive clientele for whom they source ingredients. That's not all - there are quite a few online stores that specialise in such products and deliver pan India.

In Kharghar I am very fortunate to have Jambon Stores in Sector 20 which has transformed from being just another cold storage shop selling chicken, fish, cold cuts, frozen peas, etc., to a Bengali ingredients emporium where fresh stocks arrive every week by train from Bengal. And among all the wonderful products are varieties of rice and daal from Bengal including the beautiful small grained sona moog daal.

One of the most popular dishes made with moog daal is khichuri. While khichuri is a must at the Durga Puja pandal bhogs, cooked without onions or garlic, and paired with a delicious mix vegetable preparation called labra, it also shows up on home menus depending on the season. The monsoon is deemed khichuri weather and in the first week when the rains have just arrived, while the rest of the world celebrates with chai and bhajias/pakoras, we Bengalis rub our hands in glee looking forward to a plate of steaming khichuri with a variety of bhajas on the side.

Winter is also khichuri season but with beautiful winter vegetables adding their flavour - cauliflower, red carrots, green peas, potatoes are the top favourites in a "sheet kaal'er khichuri" or winter khichuri. Here's how to make it.

Moog Daal'er Khichuri

Moog Daal - 1/2 cup
Gobindobhog rice - 1/2 cup
2 medium potatoes
1 tomato
1/2 cup green peas
3-4 large florets cauliflower
1-2 carrots (optional)
4 Indian bay leaves/tej pata
1 tsp jeera
4 cardamom
4 clove
2" cinnamon
2-3 green chillies
2" piece ginger
salt
turmeric
jeera powder
dhania powder
Bengali garam masala
sugar
mustard oil
ghee
water as required

Wash the rice and leave it in a fine mesh colander to drain.

Roast the daal gently in a dry wok for around 10 minutes till the colour changes and there's a lovely toasty aroma. The daal should change from its pale yellow to a nutty brown. Roast it to a level you like, just ensure you don't burn it. Once roasted, wash the daal once, drain and set aside. Don't wash the daal very vigorously or repeatedly as you will lose all the lovely toasty aroma and flavour.

Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Cut the cauliflower florets but not too small as they will then disintegrate into the khichuri. Peel the carrots an cut into thick barrels, if using. Shell the peas or thaw frozen peas. Peel the ginger and smash in your mortar and pestle till relatively smooth. This barely takes half a minute so use fresh. Wash and chop the tomato.

Now in a thick bottomed vessel heat mustard oil. Once properly hot fry the potatoes, then the cauliflower and reserve on a plate. Fry the veggies till they brown a little. This frying helps keep them intact while they cook in the khichuri.

In the same vessel add a little oil if required and then add the whole spices. Let them sizzle and then add the chopped tomato and the smashed ginger. Chuck in the green chillies, broken into 2-3 pieces depending on their size. Cook everything on a medium flame till the tomato has totally disintegrated and everything is mixed well.

In a small bowl mix all the dry spices in a little water to make a runny paste. Add this to the pot, stir well and cook till the spices have lost their rawness and oil is released.

Add the drained rice to the mix and saute for a few minutes. Then add the washed and drained bhaja moog'er daal or roasted moog daal. Mix everything well, add salt and enough water to cook the khichuri. Once the mix has come to a boil lower the heat and add potatoes. Cook covered on medium heat. Once the potatoes are half cooked add the cauliflower, peas, and carrots. Add a teaspoon or so of sugar at this stage. Cover the pot and let the khichuri cook.

If you're using frozen peas add them at the end, in the last couple of minutes. make sure they are thawed properly before you chuck them in.

Stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel. Add warm water only if required. Cook slowly till done. Once the khichuri is cooked add a good dollop of ghee and a sprinkling of Bengali garam masala to the pot and stir it in. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.  The khichuri should be thick and porridge-like, not dry.

If you're vegan, leave out the ghee.

You can serve this sheet kaal'er khichuri with begun bhaja, potol bhaja, or a simple omelette with onions and green chillies in it. A fried papor/papad will make it complete!

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.

I Eat Pulish'er Daal to Grow Up Fast!

I was around seven or eight years old, on yet another summer vacation trip to Kolkata. On a warm afternoon I was at Khukhun Didin's house discussing the menu for the special feast she would cook for us, my brother and I, her very honoured guests. The shiny kansa dinner ware had been approved (at Lokhi Didin's house we ate off banana leaves with terracotta bowls and water glasses) and now we had to fix the dishes we wanted to eat. We'd also go across to Ranu Didin's for another feast or she'd feel left out, wouldn't she?! This was the advantage of having three of my Didin's sisters living just a few houses away from her. 

Mutton would have to be on the menu of course, with mishti bhaat, machher kalia, and yes chingri maach would be good too, cooked in any way Khukun Didin fancied. Now that we'd finished discussing the main parts of the menu I condescended to approve the less attractive bits like daal, torkari, shukto (eewww we don't like it so it can't be on the menu, no way!) and the bhajas.  

Oh yes, bhajas were expected in large quantities, and only aloo please because though I was happy to eat begun bhaja the brother hated begun (brinjal) in any form. With bhaja was always daal - actually it's the other way around but our primary interest was the bhaja so that's how we looked at it. Once the bhajas were sorted we moved on to discuss daal. 

"Ki daal khabe?" Khukun Didin asked. What daal will you have? And I promptly answered "Pulish'er daal! Ami pulish'er daal khai, pulish'er daal khele taratari boro hoa jay!" Police Daal! I eat Police Daal because Police Daal makes you grow up quickly. She stared at me in fascination and then went into complete peals of laughter! After drying her tears of pure delight she asked me which daal was 'pulish'er daal' and I looked at her in amazement - such ignorance! She didn't know what pulish'er daal was! Of course I couldn't enlighten her and she eventually asked my Didin what pulish'er daal was.

Years later, when I was in my early teens and learning to cook, pulish'er daal was a faint memory when one day I suddenly remembered it and asked Moni which daal it was. She looked at me in amusement, tinged with her own memories of her efforts at making the two of us brats eat our food without fuss, and revealed - arhar daal or tuvar/toor daal. 

Even today when I cook arhar daal there's a part of me that still calls it Pulihs'er daal and smiles. 

Pulish'er Daal

1/2 cup arhar or toor daal

a couple of green chillies

1 onion sliced

1 tomato, chopped (optional)

fresh coriander, washed and chopped

1/2 tsp jeera

turmeric

salt

sugar

mustard oil

ghee

Wash the daal and let it soak for 10-15 minutes if you like. You can cook it without soaking too. Pressure cook the washed daal with enough water and around half a teaspoon of turmeric. The daal shouldn't become a mush, the grains should be cooked but remain whole. 

In a kadai heat mustard oil and once hot chuck in the jeera and the whole green chillies. Add the sliced onion and fry till the onion just starts going brown. Add half a teaspoon of sugar while frying the onions. 

Pour in the cooked daal and bring it all to a boil. Add salt at this stage. My mom would add chopped tomatoes with the daal, I don't. I prefer the daal without tomatoes. 

Once the daal has come to a good boil stir in a generous dollop of ghee and switch off the heat. If you're vegan don't add the ghee.

Remove to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with plain rice. 

Accompaniments with the daal are ideally a bhaja or two - this could be fried fish, fried potatoes, brinjals, pointed gourd, lady's fingers, bitter gourd, etc. 

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. 

Soupy Pork Stew

Soupy Pork Stew is perfect for nippy winter evenings in Kharghar where the temperatures don't freeze your bones but there's still a nice chill in the air and a hot soupy meal is very welcome. It's a basic no fuss recipe and something that I like make as often as possible, after all it tastes great and is easy to put together - what's not to like?!

1 kg Pork 

Ginger garlic paste 

4 Potatoes 

2 Carrots 

3 Onions 

2 Green chillies 

1 Star anise 

3 pods Cardamom 

5 Cloves 

2 Indian bay leaves 

1/4 cup Bacon fat 

Oil 

Salt 

Fresh pepper

Wash the pork and marinate with salt and ginger garlic paste. Use a little less salt because the bacon fat that's used later will be salty. 

Cut the potatoes and carrots into large chunks.

Chop the onions fine. 

Heat oil in your pressure cooker and fry the carrots and potatoes till the edges turn brown. Remove to a plate and set aside. 

In the same oil drop in the whole spices, fry for half a minute, and the throw in the chopped onions. When the onions turn translucent throw in the green chillies. Use more chillies if you want the stew to have a lot of heat. 

After a few minutes when the onions begin to pink add the pork pieces to the pot. Stir well and braise the meat for 10 minutes at least. Grind fresh pepper directly into the pot. Mix. 

Add the bacon fat and stir again. Let it cook for another five minutes. 

Now put in the potatoes and carrots. Add just enough water to cover the pork and shut the cooker. Let it come to pressure and then reduce the heat. Let it cook under pressure for 10 minutes. Then switch off the heat and let the cooker cool on its own. 

Check salt and adjust if required. 

Serve hot with plain rice, pav or sliced bread. 

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.

Murg Musallam - A Blast from the Past

Being on food groups on Facebook has one advantage - you never know when you might chance upon a recipe that you simply can't wait to try, or one that brings a flood of long forgotten memories with it. Yesterday I saw a post about Murg Musallam and the first thing I thought was 'this is something the brother loved when we were kids'. I don't have any specific memories of the dish itself but I remember hearing about it from him and I remember his excitement over a chicken cooked whole, his eyes big and round and filled with wonder. It wasn't something that was ever cooked in our house but since we had many Muslim neighbours we were not deprived :)

I waited patiently for the recipe to be shared once I had read it I knew I had to try it out. It sounded pretty straightforward and, with a couple of my own variations, I knew I would enjoy making it and eating it too. This is Imbesat's recipe for Murg Musallam that I used as my guide. I have made very minor changes to her recipe based on my personal taste and preference but on the whole the recipe is quite the same.

Murg Musallam

1 chicken, whole, without skin

Marinade
salt
garlic paste
curd

Stuffing
Raisins
cashews
fried onions
lemon juice
salt
sugar
ghee
3 boiled eggs

Paste
3 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup fried onions
2 handfuls garlic, peeled
2" piece fresh ginger
3-4 strands mace
2" cassia bark
5 cardamom pods
5 cloves
2 tbsp poppy seeds

For the gravy
ghee
Kashmiri chilli powder
freshly powdered pepper
3 Indian bay leaves
curd
water
salt

Rinse the chicken inside and out and then marinate with salt, curd and garlic paste for a couple of hours, or overnight if you have planned ahead.

In the mean time get the stuffing and the curry paste organised.

For the stuffing heat ghee in a small pan and fry the cashews and the raisins lightly. Boil two or three eggs, depending on how large the cavity in the chicken is. Peel and lightly fry the eggs. Slice a large onion finely and deep fry till it is a deep golden brown. Drain well. In a bowl mix the fried onions, cashews and raisins with a little salt, sugar and a generous slug of lemon juice.

To make the curry paste gather all the ingredients and grind them to a paste. I did it in two batches in the chutney grinder attachment of my food processor.

It takes around an hour to cook the chicken so depending on when you want to serve give yourself a little more than an hour before serving time. It's easier if you have someone to help you while stuffing and then trussing the chicken. The marinade makes it slippery and messy and therefore a little hard to handle!

I found that I couldn't stuff even two eggs into the chicken without them popping out at every chance making it impossible to truss. I was alone while cooking this. I took a chance and chopped one egg into large chunks and mixed it with the remaining stuffing. Then I pushed in as much of the stuffing, barring the other boiled eggs, into the cavity of the bird. Ideally I should have been able to plug the hole with a full egg but the hole was too big. I trussed the chicken as tightly as I could and pushed in a boiled egg later. Try to close the cavity as best as you can so the stuffing doesn't fall out while frying the chicken.

Heat a generous amount of ghee in a thick bottomed vessel. Place the trussed chicken in the hot ghee gently and let it brown on all sides. This should take around 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. In the same ghee that's in the pot put in the curry paste. Add some more ghee if required. Fry the paste well for a few minutes. At this stage add the chilli powder, bay leaves, pepper and salt. Stir around and cook the paste well. Add a cup or so of fresh curd and mix it in well. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Put the chicken back in the pot and pour in a cup of water. Blend the paste into the water. Add more water if you need to. Bring to a gentle boil, spoon some of the spice paste over the chicken, and then cover and let it cook on a low flame till done.

Succulent chicken blanketed in a thick luscious gravy, serve your Murg Musallam with hot parathas.

This is a relatively easy dish that would be a hit at parties and potlucks. Make extra stuffing and serve it on the side with extra boiled eggs too.

Marathon Bloggers 

Jamie Oliver's Roast Chicken in Milk with Orange Zest

You know how it is sometimes - you see that much recommended recipe, it's hailed by everyone who's ever tried it, it looks simple, the photos look smashing, the ingredients are easily procured, all seems perfect and there's no reason not to just plunge in and do it. And you do.

With me the problem is I don't. I prevaricate, I hesitate, I make excuses, I avoid it for reasons even I don't understand. All this is mainly because deep inside somewhere I just don't believe. Now I can't really decide if it's the recipe I lack confidence in or in me and my abilities in the kitchen. It's silly after all these years of turning out a pretty successful string of meals, some quite ordinary and everyday, some special, and some actually spectacular. And yet there is that kernel of doubt that stays stubbornly lodged right there and I give in, and procrastinate again.

This time it was Jamie Oliver's recipe for Chicken in Milk. A recipe so simple even someone not very experienced in the kitchen can execute it with success. But I hesitated. It has milk. The milk WILL curdle. There's only sage to flavour it. Oh and a stick of cinnamon. How can it possibly be good? As you can see, the excuses piled up as usual.

I think it is my love for roast chicken that finally made me take this particular plunge. Roasting chicken has to be one of the easiest ways to put together a fabulous meal with minimal effort. And this recipe was even easier than my usual minimalist recipes that involve seasoning the bird, stuffing butter under the skin, stuffing the cavity with garlic and fresh herbs, putting the bird on a bed of chopped veggies and potatoes, and letting the magic happen in the oven thereafter. There were no veggies to chop. No need to peel the garlic even. This was hard to resist!

So here's chicken in milk with some adjustments as usual.

Roast Chicken in Milk with Orange Zest

1 whole chicken with the skin
a handful of fresh sage leaves
a handful of garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup milk
1 stick cinnamon
salt
pepper
olive oil or butter

Season the chicken inside and out with salt and fresh ground pepper.
In a pan heat the olive oil or butter. Sear the chicken nicely till it's a lovely dark gold all over. Do this a little patiently.
Now transfer the chicken to a deep baking dish. Pour in the milk. Scatter the sage leaves, drop in the cinnamon stick, and then sprinkle the orange zest all over the chicken and around it.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a hot 180C oven for around 40 minutes.
Remove the foil carefully. There will be some steam inside so be really careful. Steam burns hurt like hell and are deep burns. Cut the foil open if you prefer to let the steam escape first.
Cook the chicken for another 30 minutes in the oven. Reduce the heat to 150C. Slide in a sharp knife near the thigh joint to see if the bird is cooked through. If the juices run clear it's done.

We had this with toasted sliced bread. We needed nothing else!

Jamie's original recipe asks for lemon zest. I realised I didn't have any lemons at home but we did have oranges so I used the zest of one full orange. I also used cinnamon and not cassia bark. I don't think they are interchangeable and I wouldn't substitute one for the other.

Judging from the hubby's response to this version of roast chicken I can safely say this one's going to feature on my dinner menu quite often!

Marathon Bloggers

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.

Kosha Mangsho, Onek Aloo Diye - Braised Goat with plenty of Potatoes

Kosha mangsho is an institution in Bengali cuisine, much relished and the star of many a party in Bengali households. I discovered the joys of kosha mangsho relatively late in life since at home my mom always made mangsho'r jhol - a stew that's also hugely popular with us Bengalis. Kosha basically means braised and mangsho of course is meat, mostly goat meat. A dry-ish preparation kosha mangsho doesn't have much of a gravy but has a thick and flavourful reduction of spices and onions and the stock released from the meat. Ideally kosha mangsho is enjoyed with porota or luchi - triangular white flour parathas or white flour puris, both typically Bengali.

The hubby is returning today after a nearly a month out in the field for his archaeological excavation project. Needless to say he called in advance to tell me what he wanted to eat once he got home. He didn't go as far as specifying the preparations but was kind enough to give me a broad idea of what he would enjoy - mutton (with potatoes), fish, prawns, plain 'mohri' daal (boiled tuvar daal with turmeric and salt, pureed till smooth, served hot with ghee), and rice. No vegetables and no chicken for sure!

I set out to automatically make mangsho'r jhol but as it often happens with me, I changed tracks midway. And Kosha Mangsho is what resulted. Here's what I did.

Kosha Mangsho

1/2 kilo goat meat on the bone, cut into chunks
3 large potatoes, cut into large pieces
2 or 3 onions, sliced fine

Marinade

3 tbsp fresh curd
salt
turmeric
jeera or cumin powder
dhania or coriander powder
Kashmiri chilli powder
a scant tsp garam masala powder
a good slug of mustard oil
1 tbsp garlic paste
3/4 tbsp ginger paste

2 Indian bay leaves/ tej patta
3 inch piece cassia bark
4 or 5 cardamom pods, cracked open
1 star anise
1/2 tsp sugar
Mustard oil
water

Lightly wash the meat pieces (if you must wash) and marinate in the marinade ingredients. Refrigerate covered at least overnight or for a full day.

In a thick bottomed vessel heat mustard oil till it smokes. I used my cast iron pot. Reduce heat and fry the potatoes till they turn red. Don't burn them, just brown them really well. Remove to a plate.

In the same hot oil pop in the whole garam masalas and fry for a minute. Then add the sliced onions and let them brown slowly. You can add a good pinch of sugar to help them brown nicely and develop a good flavour. Once the onions have developed a nice colour add the marinated meat reserving the marinade.

Ramp up the heat and fry the mutton well for five minutes stirring often. Reduce the heat a little and let the meat cook further, stirring regularly. Braise for a good 15 to 20 minutes on medium heat.

Pour in the reserved marinade and stir to mix well. Let it cook for another few minutes. Add enough water to cook the meat but not enough to submerge it. Bring to a boil and the reduce the heat completely to a simmer. Add the fried potatoes. Cover with a heavy lid and let it cook. Check every five minutes and add a little water only if required.

Once the mutton is cooked and the potatoes are done the kosha mangsho is ready. Serve it with hot rotis, parathas or luchis. Not with rice.

The potatoes are not mandatory to kosha mangsho but are mandatory in every mutton preparation in my house. Hubby's orders.

Marathon Bloggers

Alu, Phulkopi Diye Machhe'r Jhol - Bengali Fish Stew with Potatoes and Cauliflower

Once in a way the Hubby asks me to cook a Bengali dish. This morning as we were in our local fish shop he bought a baby Bhetki and asked for a light and comforting alu, phulkopi'r jhol with a mountain of hot rice to be made for lunch. I used to call this 'jeere'r jhol' and one version or another of this simple preparation was made in my grandmother's kitchen and in those of all her sisters.

The fish was usually rui, a kind of river carp, and the vegetables in the stew would vary - there could be brinjals, pointed gourd or potol, plantain, and of course, cauliflower. The potato was omnipresent in all the versions. In winter when good cauliflower was available, the alu phulkopi diye jhol would appear quite frequently on the table.

As with most Bengali dishes, I had to do a little reading just to reassure myself of the basic recipe. Some recipes are so simple, and have such few ingredients they make you feel sure you've left something out! This was exactly the case today and though I was quite sure how this lovely, light jhol is made, I just had  to check anyway.

Alu, Phulkopi Diye Machhe'r Jhol

I don't claim this to be an authentic or traditional Bengali recipe. This is my version based mostly on my memories of eating it at my Didin's (maternal grandmom) house, and occasionally at our own house in Mumbai.

1/2 kilo bhekti (or any other suitable fish), sliced
1 small cauliflower, broken into florets
2 medium potatoes, cut into long wedges
2 fresh green chillies
1/2 inch piece ginger
1/2 tsp nigella seeds or kalonji
1/4 tsp randhuni (optional)
1 tsp cumin or jeera powder
mustard oil
salt
turmeric

Wash the fish slices, drain and then marinate with salt and turmeric. Leave it aside while you prep the vegetables.

Heat some mustard oil in a largeish wok and fry the fish lightly till the fish just turns opaque. I prefer this lightly fried version over the darker more firmly fried version. You can fry the fish more if you prefer. Remove the fried fish to a plate or vessel and then lightly fry the cauliflower and the potatoes in the same oil, one after the other. You might need to add a little oil along the way. Remove the fried vegetables too.

Now add some oil and wait till it is heated up really well. Chuck in the green chillies, nigella, and randhuni seeds. Stir for a minute and return the fried vegetables to the wok. Add the jeera powder and stir well to mix. Grate in the ginger. Add a little turmeric powder and salt too. Add a generous glass full of water, enough to submerge the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then cover and cook on simmer till the vegetables are nearly cooked.

Slide in the fried fish pieces and let the whole thing simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes. Adjust salt if necessary and remove the jhol carefully into a wide mouthed large serving bowl. Serve hot with rice.

As you can see it's a simple, frugal recipe with no elaborate procedures or fancy ingredients. Yet, it is a delicious and flavourful dish that's made in households across Bengal. I'm happy to say the hubby enjoyed it thoroughly. As for me, I was back in our flat in Bandra, sitting at the dining table squabbling with my brother, being scolded by my parents - back to being a 10 year old demanding the 'lyaja' or the tail piece :)

Marathon Bloggers

Lau Bori - Another Example of the Simplicity of Bengali Vegatarian Food

I have a cook who comes over twice a week to ensure my fridge has a good amount of Bengali dishes in it. I make sure she cooks something typically Bengali, that you would find served in any random Bengali household - those ubiquitous preparations that are mundane and simple everyday fare that would make most Bengali housewives laugh at my interest in them. For me these are not mundane as I didn't grow up eating them. For me most of these are absolute revelations.

Take this Lau Bori for example. Once she had finished cooking I asked the cook to give me two minutes of her time so I could write down how she made the lau bori. She rattled off the recipe in four sentences and I looked at her, amazed. That's it? Didn't you add any more spices to it? Or anything else? No, she said. That's it. Now taste it and tell me if you like it.

Lau Bori

1 small Lau or bottle gourd, peeled and cut into thickish matchsticks
1 potato, peeled and cut like the lau
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tej patta or Indian bay leaf
1/4 tsp kalonji or nigella seeds
1 minced green chilli
mustard oil
salt
turmeric
1 tbsp posto bori, or any other bori


Heat mustard oil in a wok or kadai and fry the bori. Drain excess oil and keep aside. In the same oil throw in the kalonji, green chillies, tej patta and grated ginger and fry for a minute. Add the cut lau and potatoes and fry well on high heat stirring nicely. After a minute or two reduce the heat and cover the kadai. Let the vegetables cook. Once they're around half done add turmeric and salt and mix well. Once again cover it and let it cook further. Don't add any water. Keep the flame low and let the vegetables cook in their own steam for another few minutes. Then add the fried boris and cook covered for a further few minutes till the lau and the potatoes are cooked though.
Garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander.

I enjoyed this with fresh hot rotis.

Bengalis have a rich tradition of making boris and there is quite a variety of these daal based dumplings that are fried and crumbled or scattered whole over many vegetarian dishes. I found posto bori in one little shop in Lake Market in Kolkata on my last visit. They're much smaller than other boris and in fact, look like white chocolate chips.  I hadn't a clue what I would do with them but fortunately the cook does!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages

There are some days when nothing seems appealing from what's on the dinner menu and cooking seems tedious. Today was one such day that was spent largely catching up with sundry chores and dealing with a few things from the larger picture that is life. I was tired. I needed comfort. I wanted it easy for a little while. And I wanted to eat something nice. I press ganged the hubby and the mother into helping and cooked a simple casserole that was warm and comforting, just what I needed.

I had rooted through the freezer and removed the remaining fat and juicy pork sausages that a friend brought for us all the way from Bangalore. (Another friend has since brought us more, and that is waiting to be collected) These sausages are great in a stew or casserole and that's what I planned to make. However there were just 5 sausages left and on their own they wouldn't be enough. The hubby went out and bought chicken, and some lovely fresh ladi pav from the local bakery.

I also rooted around in my pantry cupboard and fished out a packet of casserole seasoning that my friend had sent from London. The hubby and the mother peeled and chopped potatoes, sliced onions, peeled garlic, and chopped celery. Once the prep was done it was super easy.

Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages 

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
5 or 6 fat spiced pork sausages, like English breakfast sausages
2 large onions, thickly sliced
2 -3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
8-10 cloves of garlic
2 tablesoons chopped fresh celery, stem and leaves
1 sachet Colman's Season and Shake Pork Casserole spice mix
olive oil
salt

Heat a stove top casserole dish and pour in a slug of olive oil. Place the sausages and cook for a few minutes till they turn brown. Don't worry if the sausages split. Remove to a dish leaving the oil and juices in the pan. Now in the same pan put in the chicken pieces. Drop in the leg pieces and the bony bits first. Braise for a bit till the chicken starts to brown.

Add in the onions, celery and the garlic. Stir for a few minutes and then add the remaining chicken pieces (mainly the meaty breast pieces). Braise further till the chicken turns opaque. Open the seasoning sachet and sprinkle it all over the chicken and onions. Stir and mix well. Now add the potatoes and cook for a further few minutes.

Pour in enough water to cover the chicken pieces completely. Add the sausages and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook covered till the potatoes are cooked through. The spice mix will also thicken the resulting gravy. Add a little salt only if required.

The casserole is ready once the chicken and the potatoes are cooked. Serve hot with fresh bread.

If you don't have the spice sachet you can still make a very good casserole. Use a tablespoon or so of mixed dried herbs instead, along with a stock cube. Add pepper too. Thicken the gravy with some flour.

Use more veggies if you like. Root vegetables will work very well here, as will mushrooms. Make a pot full and enjoy it with fresh dinner rolls, ladi pav, or even regular sliced white bread.

We sat at the table, all three of us, and ate a family dinner - a rarity in my house! 

Pandi Curry for a Piggy Potluck

Some of us on The Porkaholics group got together for a piggy potluck and I decided to cook the classic Coorgi Pandi Curry. The main motivation for me was the fact that I had kachampuli, the specific sour vinegar that the Kodavas use. I had eaten pandi curry made by Megha and had always hoped to make it myself, and the potluck was the perfect opportunity. 

I asked Megha for her recipe and I followed it to the T. Pandi curry was surprisingly easy to make and it turned out to be quite a hit at the potluck. 

Here is the recipe once again, adjusted for the 3 kilos of pork I cooked for 10 adults. Many people got to take some home :) 

Megha Deokule's Pandi Curry 

3 kilos fatty pork meat, cubed into small pieces

50 cloves of garlic roughly pounded 

4 sprigs curry leaves

2 medium onions, sliced

6 green chillies, slit

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chilly powder

5 tbsp coriander or dhania powder dry roasted on a tava till brown

2 tbsp kachampuli vinegar

Salt as required

Dry Masala 

3 tbsp jeera or cumin seeds

3 tbsp whole black pepper

8 cloves

8 inch cassia bark or dalchini

In a large thick bottomed vessel mix the pork cubes with the pounded garlic, curry leaves, slit green chillies, onions, turmeric and chilli powders. Mix well, add some water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and cook this on slow heat till the meat is about three/fourths cooked. This should take an hour or so. Make sure to stir it about once in a way as it cooks. 

Now add the dry ground garam masala, the kachampuli, the roasted coriander powder and salt and cook it further till the meat is fully done. Give it an occasional stir. I reduced the gravy as much as I could and ended up with a fatty spicy thick gravy that was really, really delicious.  

Traditionally Pandi curry is served with Akki Roti (rice rotis) or Kadambuttu (round idli like dumplings made with rava or semolina). We had it with regular sliced bread and rice. 

Cook the pandi curry a day in advance if you can. The flavours develop really nicely. Megha also advises that you heat it only on a flame and never in the microwave. 

I was very surprised to see how simple this preparation actually is. The magic, according to me, is in cooking it slowly. I love pork and this was one of the best I have ever cooked! 

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Ham, Cheese and Leek Quiche

The hubby spied leeks in the veg box in the fridge and asked me to make a ham and leek quiche. I had, of course, scant memory of what lay in that veg box and was quite surprised to find out that we had leeks. Well, there was no excuse and I set out to make the quiche.

I have never made quiche before and had absolutely no idea where to begin. Vague ideas of sautéed leeks and chunky ham baked in an eggy custard floated around in my head and I had no clue how the crust should be. Puff pastry seemed requisite but it turned out that shortcrust would do as well.

I trawled the Net for some basic recipes and then looked through my cookbooks for more ideas. I cobbled together a workable recipe for the pastry case and the filling and this is what I made.

Ham, Cheese and Leek Quiche

1 cup grated cheddar or Grano Padano cheese
250gms ham, diced or in chunky cubes
1 cup sliced leeks
2 tbsp Olive oil

3 eggs
200ml Amul cream
salt
pepper

1 1/2 cup maida or white flour
100gms butter, very cold, cut into small cubes
2 tbs chilled water
1 egg


Start with the tart shell. In a clean bowl put in the flour and the cubed butter. Combine with a fork or a pastry mixer till crumbly. You can also do this in a food processor. Add the egg and a tbsp of the cold water and mix gently to form a loose dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly to bring together into a ball of dough. Work it minimally and quickly with just your fingertips. It just needs to stay together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 to 30 mins.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour and roll out the chilled dough into a large disc at least 15 inches in diameter. Lift gently and place over your loose bottomed pie ring. Gently press the dough into the sides and the base of the ring. Trim the edges with a sharp knife or simply pinch off with your fingers. Press into the sides so the dough sticks to the fluted edges of the tin. Cover the pie shell with parchment and fill it with dried beans, rice or baking beads - whatever you have. I used black eyed peas.

Bake the tart shell blind at 200C for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. Remove and take out the beans and the parchment paper carefully.   Put the tart shell back in the oven and bake for another 7 to 10 minutes till it is a pale golden colour.

In the mean while  heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the leeks and then the ham lightly. Remove to a plate and set aside. Grate your cheese and keep it ready. In a clean jug whip the cream with the eggs. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the pie shell is baked to a pale gold it is time to assemble the quiche and put it to bake. First scatter the cooked leeks and the ham. The sprinkle the grated cheese to cover. Finally pour the eggs and cream all over. You can add some fresh or dried herbs if you like.

Now bake the quiche at 180C for 20 to 25 mins. It will be puffed up considerably but will settle as it cools.

Let it cool for 5 minutes and then remove to a pretty plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot.

You can use a slightly smaller pie ring so the filling is deeper. You will also have some pastry left over. Just pop it into the freezer and use it later to make a mini quiche or a fruit tart or something. Be careful while handling the baked pie shell. The constant putting it in and out of the oven is a delicate operation - I cracked my pie a bit and so some of the egg custard dribbled out leaving me with a flatter filling than I would have liked. But this was my very first time and it's a lesson learned :)

Use a jug to pour the egg custard. This is something the hubby saw Jamie Oliver suggest on one of his programmes and it's a genuinely handy hint that ensures less mess.

The egg cream custard is a must in a quiche. You can fool around with different combinations for the rest of the fillings - use chopped and cooked salami, chunky sausages, vegetables, shredded chicken, whatever you like.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Not Quite Traditional Sorse Narkol Chingri - Prawns in Mustard and Coconut

My sister in law, K's sister, is quite fond of the few Bengali dishes she has eaten at my house and it was quite natural that I would cook something Bengali when she's coming for lunch. She and her kids love prawns and so I decided to make Sorse Narkol diye Chingri or Prawns cooked with Mustard and Coconut.

The mustard and coconut combination is a classic Bengali combination and it is magical with prawns. My recipe is not traditional at all but is my own tweaked version. It's easy, it's delicious, and I usually have all the ingredients at hand.

This is a simple preparation with a few ingredients and that is why it can be tricky, especially with the mustard paste. Be sure to soak the mustard powder before you add it into the prawns. I use the Sunrise mustard powder that's popular in Bengal. I have also had success using the Atlas brand mustard powder which is great for making table mustard and is easily available in Mumbai. Even bottled kashundi works quite well. However, English or French style mustards are not options.

The same sauce can be used to cook fish and paneer too.

Sorse ar Narkol diye Chingri

Prawns, shelled and de-veined
salt
turmeric
chilli powder
jeera or cumin powder
green chillies
2 onions, finely minced
sugar
garlic paste
mustard paste
coconut milk
mustard oil

Marinate the prawns in salt and turmeric powder.

If you're using mustard powder to make your paste soak in water and make a thin batter like paste 15 to 20 minutes in advance.

Heat oil in your wok or kadai and let it get really hot. Reduce the heat and add the green chillies. Slit them if you're okay with the pungency or leave them whole if you just want the milder flavour. Add the chopped onions and fry slowly. The onions must not brown. Add a sprinkle of sugar and let this cook on a relatively low heat for a good five minutes. Add garlic paste and cook for another minute.

Now add the marinated prawns, a dash of chilli powder and some jeera powder. Stir well and let it cook for a minute or so.

Pour in the mustard paste and and stir. And then pour in 200 ml of thick coconut milk. Add a little water if you want a thinner gravy.

Bring it all to a boil and let it bubble till the prawns are done. This should take 3 to 4 minutes at the very most.

Serve hot with plain rice.