Juicy, chunky prawns seared in mustard oil, then simmered in classic Bengali coconut and poppyseed gravy, a dish that you can make all year round. You can serve this on the table in 20 minutes on the bed of steamed rice.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Servings: 4
Author: Shyamali Sinha
Ingredients
300gmPrawns ~ cleaned and deveined (25 pieces medium sized prawn )
3tbspPoppy seeds( 25 gm)
4-5Green Chillies1 tsp green chilli paste
¼cupMustard Oil
1Dry red chilli for tempering
1Onion~ Chopped (150gm approximately)
1big clovegarlic ~ chopped (1 tsp)
⅓cupCoconut ~ grated (25 gm)
½tspKashmiri red chilli powder
½tspTurmeric powder
¼tspSugaroptional
Salt to taste
Instructions
Transfer poppy seeds to a coffee grinder, add salt and grind it, transfer it to a bowl, add water to make a paste.
Or soak the poppy seeds, green chillies, and salt into warm water in a small bowl for 30 minutes. Then grind them in an Indian grinding jar to make a thick, coarse paste.
In a preheated Dutch Oven or Kadai, heat oil over high heat. When the oil is smoky hot, reduce the heat to low.
Add prawns to the hot oil, sprinkle salt, and cook each side for a minute over medium heat. Remove from oil and keep on a plate.
Add dry red chilli to the hot oil, cook for seconds, add chopped onion, cook for a few seconds.
Next, add chopped garlic, sprinkle salt and turmeric powder, continue cooking over medium-low heat until onion is softened and developed a golden colour. It will take at least 7-8 minutes.
Add coconut, remaining Turmeric powder, Red chilli powder to the cooked onion. Give a stir. And over medium heat, cook the mixture until coconut is cooked.
Add fried prawns, over high heat cook for a few seconds.
Add poppy seeds paste and cook for a minute. When you feel the raw aroma of poppy seeds has gone, add one cup of hot water.
Add ¼ tsp of sugar; this is optional, and stir.
When everything comes to a boil, cover with a lid. Over high heat, cook just for two minutes, not more than that. If you wish, you can add 1 slit green chilli for flavour.
Give a final stir, remove from heat and cover with a lid. Give 10-15 minutes standing time before serve.