Chingri Jeerer Jhaal -- the way Ma-in-Law makes it

This is my Ma-in-law's recipe.

I think it is. At least this is how I remember she made it last time.

And my Ma never makes anything with this particular stress on Cumin. So it must be the Ma-in-law's. I admit I didn't bother to verify and check again. But I always make this particular dish this way and attribute it to her. I have done it so many times that now even the husband agrees. "Yes, this is how Ma makes it", he says with every morsel of this jhaal mixed with rice.

Given that we live thousands of miles apart there is no way she can do anything about it except getting branded with a Chingri'r Jeere'r Jhaal -- Shrimp in a Cumin spiced gravy. And that is not really a bad thing I must say. At least not with a dish that sends your heart a flutter singing "Dil dhak dhak karne laga".

There is also a sneaky reason why I have stuck to this dish of Ma-in-law's with due diligence.It does not have onions. Has Shrimp and No Onion is a Double Plus Plus in my culinary dictionary. I love shrimp as much as I hate chopping onions. I love onions as much as I hate chopping them. If there was a religion that advocated eating onion but prohibited chopping them, I would have embraced it with tearing eyes.

This dish also needs hardly anything much and the gravy is totally based on tomatoes, cumin powder and shuddh nirmal pani aka water. Good quality water is a must. As is tomatoes that are not tough like coconut. And shrimp that do not taste like cardboard. So you see it all depends on the ingredients leaving very little to your culinary skills. That suits me fine. And plus the no Onion.

I think it will suit you too. If you love shrimp and love simple meals.


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Chingri'r Jeerer Jhaal -- Shrimp cooked in Cumin Spiced gravy

Prep-Prep

Peel, clean and de-vein shrimp. I had about 1/2 lb of heads on medium shrimp.Bought them fresh. Better than the frozen but I have also used frozen when in time crunch and it is fine. This amounted to around 10-12 shrimp
Toss shrimp with salt and turmeric powder and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Chop a large potato in long thick slices

Fire up the stove. Start Cooking

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil. Saute the shrimp lightly till they are no longer raw and color has changed to pale yellow. Remove and keep aside.

Add 1 more tbsp oil to same pot.

Temper oil with
1 loosely packed tsp of whole cumin seeds
2-3 bay leaves
4-5 slit hot green chili

Once the cumin seeds have browned(not burned) add
1/2 cup of pureed tomato (fresh tomato in the blender and pureed)
1 tbsp of grated ginger
Saute the tomatoes for next 4-5 minutes till the raw smell is gone and it looks cooked. Add a pinch of sugar to the tomatoes. Cook until you see oil seeping out from the edges.

Now add the sliced potatoes with a pinch of turmeric and fry the potatoes for a couple of minutes with sprinkle of water

Add
1 heaped tsp Cumin Powder (lightly roasted on tawa and ground at home)
1 tsp of Kashmiri Mirch
Salt to taste
Fry the masala along with the potatoes.

Now add about 1 cup of warm water. Add few more  slit green chili. Mix everything and cover. Let potatoes cook.

Once the potatoes are done, add the fried shrimp. Add around 1/2 cup more of water if needed. Lightly break couple of the potato slices into the gravy to give the gravy some thickness.

Add 1/4th tsp of Garam Masala powder.

Let the gravy simmer and come to a boil. Check all seasonings and add salt/red chili powder as necessary. In a minute switch off.

This gravy is usually thin and reddish in color. Serve hot with long-grained white rice.

Version II of this Recipe

Th version II is a thicker gravy and involves onions and onion paste. I usually chop and fry one large onion until it is soft and translucent and then make a paste. I refrigerate this paste and use it in more than one dish.

For this particular recipe, after tempering the oil with the cumin seeds, bay leaves and green chillies, add 2-3 tbsp of onion paste.

Saute for couple of minutes. Now add the pureed tomato, grated ginger, pinch of sugar and a tbsp of tomato paste. Tomato paste gives color to the gravy.

Now continue with rest of the recipe as above

Spice and Curry has also a version of Chingri Jhaal a little different from this.

Chingri Macher Polao -- Prawn Pulao

The inspiration of this Prawn Pulao came from Mishmash's CheMmeen Biryani. I call it "CheenMeen" which sounds so lyrical that it is hard to get it out of my head. It is like raindrops but better.
However I will stick to Prawn Pulao or better Chingri Maacher Polao because the recipe is quiet different from her Biryani and you would better check out her page for the Biryani.

Also if I said "CheenMeen Pulao" I would keep it in a memory box and never eat it ever.

But this is such a delicious thing that you have to eat. Simply have to. Even if you are on a diet or something.

Instead of a Biryani I make it a One Pot Pulao.Okay actually two because I used a separate Fry pan to fry the rice. But that is all right. You can eat straight from the pan if you wish to and that way skip two plates. You decide on the logistics while I get on with the recipe because this post has way too many pictures that speaks thousand words.

The Biryani spice powder is what weaves a magic in this Pulao. I have made the Biryani Powder like Mishmash's this time. However you can use the biryani powder one I have here and also add a bit of star anise to intensify the flavor. The spice Powder I added in two steps, once to the gravy and then to the rice. I have also used ghee(and oil) moderately. If you are feeling luxurious add one more tablespoon of ghee but no need to go overboard with it.

Last but not the least is the quality of rice used. Remember I used to crib about my rice grains breaking in a Pulao. Well those days are gone with the current brand of Rice I have. No one is paying me for this but Lal Qila Basmati truly works very very well in a Pulao or Biryani. Has got to do something with being aged and good quality or something. So if you have the problem of your rice turning to mush or breaking do get a good brand Basmati.

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Prawn Pulao -- Chingri Maacher Polao

The Prep

Make a  dry spice powder
1/2 tsp Fennel
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp ShaJeera
4 cloves
4 green cardamom
2" thin stick cinnamom
1 tbsp Javetri/Mace
a little Nutmeg
We will add this spice powder in two steps to the Pulao. We will also sprinkle a pinch of it on the fried shrimp

25 medium sized prawn -- marinate with salt and turmeric and a 1/4 tsp of that spice powder

Wash and soak 1&1/4 cups of rice in water

Step 1

Heat 1 tbsp Oil. Saute the shrimp till they turn pink-yellow. Remove and keep aside.

That oil now has a beautiful flavor, add 1 more tbsp ghee to same pot. Wait for it to heat up. temper the ghee/oil with
2 Bay Leaf
1 Big Brown Cardamom

In 30-60 sec add
2 cups of thinly sliced onions.
Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of sugar and fry the onions till soft and golden. About 4-5 minutes

Next add
2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic Paste. Ideally you should make paste of ginger-garlic--green chili. I skipped the chili. Please add 3-4 green chili ground to paste if you wish.
Fry for a minute

Add 1 tomato chopped. Sprinkle some salt and cover and let the tomato cook. This will take 4-5 minutes at end of which the tomato will be totally disintegrated.

Next goes in
half of the dry spice powder
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Mirch
1 tsp of dried mint/ 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp chopped corriander
Saute for couple of minutes

Add 1 cup of coconut milk thinned with water. Let the gravy come to a boil. At this point add salt to taste and the fried shrimp. Let the gravy thicken.

Once the gravy is thick, remove the shrimp and keep aside. Shrimp becomes rubbery when cooked too much so we will add it back to Pulao at the last step.

Step 2

Mean while in a separate fry pan heat 1 tbsp Ghee. Temper the ghee with few cloves(4) and green cardamom. Drain the rice and add it to the fry pan. Fry the rice at low heat till all the grains of rice are nicely coated with ghee.This will take about 3 minutes.

Step 3

Add the fried raw rice to the gravy in Step 1. Add the remaining spice powder. Mix gently. Now add water (1.5:1 ratio of water to rice), cover and let the rice cook. When adding water, be careful because the gravy already has some water so adjust and extra water accordingly.
Once the rice is almost done, add the shrimp(that you had removed and kept aside) along with any gravy it has. Add 1/2 tbsp of ghee. Let the rice finish cooking. Taste a little. If needed add more salt. Also add 1/4 tsp sugar. Once done fluff with a fork.

Begun Chingri - Eggplant cooked in Shrimp Paste

Begun Chingri | Begun Bahar

This is not  a traditional recipe, more of a delicious innovation, where eggplant is cooked with shrimp paste. It has the goodness of fried eggplant or Begun Bhaja elevated to soaring heights with some fresh shrimp paste. If anyone happens to copy this and pass it off as their Grandmother's recipe, less power to you!

This is my Sister-in-law's recipe.

Actually her innovation. She invented this thing. Including the nomenclature. Called it "Begun Bahar" (or was it "Begum Bahar").

Then she sent me an e-mail. This is what her mail read. Ditto.

"Bengan Bahaar (amaar deo naam )


Fry shrimp with salt and haldi keep it aside.Fry the begun as we do begun bhaja and keep aside.


Grind cut onion ginger garlic and tomato fry them with haldi mirchi and little dhania and jeera powder.
then grind the shrimp and the fried masala with sarso /methi seeds . Sprinle salt and saute the whole thing with the begun bhaja for sometime till the colour changes to deep red /orange and nice smell comes out. Garnish with coriander and squeeze lemon juice on top before removing.
I am sure you guys will love this . I feel really nice to "invent" a new dish hehehehee "

Why she is laughing I do not know. She really did "invent".

Can you see the e-mail now ?

I have full faith in her and so I got two eggplants from the Farmers Market. One of them was destined to be turned into exotic "Begun Bahar" with sequined zari ghungat and kohl lined eyes. Reminds me of Meena Kumari but really this was just eggplant, whatever you might call it.

The dish turned out to be truly, really lovely. The freshly ground shrimp paste does wonderful things if you do not know. The silky, fleshy eggplant is beautifully complemented with the shrimp paste. I am eating the leftovers for lunch right now and OMG I think you should totally make it.

Shoo now....get moving. Get that darn eggplant, man. And oh yeah, I called it Begun Chingri, stick with Baingan Bahar if you must though.


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Begun Chingri -- Eggplant cooked in shrimp paste

What You Need

Eggplant/Begun -- 1 medium sized or 2 slender Japanese Eggplant

Onion -- 1 Cups of chopped onion
Garlic paste -- 1 tsp (or 6 Cloves of Garlic)
Ginger Paste -- 1 tsp (or 1" of  Ginger chopped)

Tomato -- 1 medium chopped small
Green Chili(hot Indian ones) -- 4-6

Cumin Powder -- 1 tsp
Coriander Powder -- 1 tsp
Kashmiri Mirch -- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Methi Seeds -- 1/2 tsp

Shrimp -- 12-15 medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined

Corriander -- fresh chopped about a fistful
Lime Juice -- 1 tsp

How I Did It

Chop eggplant in 3"x1" thin slices. Soak in salt water for 20-30 minutes. Drain water and sprinkle the eggplants with salt and a tsp of Turmeric powder.
Fry the eggplants. How you fry the eggplant is kind of up to you. Ideally it should be fried in enough oil. If you are a health freak like me, you will pan fry them. If you are a more serious freak, you might brush them with oil and bake/broil them. Whatever you want to do, do it. Then remove and keep the fried eggplants aside.

Lightly saute the shrimps with salt and turmeric powder. Remove and keep aside.

Fry the onions till golden brown. Add to it
Garlic
Ginger
1tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp of Red Chili Powder
Saute for a minute

Next add
1 medium tomato finely chopped
+ 4 green chili
Fry till tomato is all mushed up. Cool and make a paste of this masala (onion+tomato+ everything else).

Make a coarse paste of the sauteed shrimp. Remove and keep aside.

Heat some more oil in the fry pan. Temper the oil with
1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds
+ 1/4 tsp of Methi seeds

When the spices start sputtering and getting fragrant add the onion+tomato masala paste. Saute the masala till you see the oil leaving from the edges. Next add the shrimp paste and saute for about 4-5 minutes. Add the fried eggplants slices and mix with the masala. Add salt to taste. Add a little water, say about about 1/3rd Cup. At low medium heat cook for about 5-6 minutes. At the end of this you will see oil surfacing.

Garnish with chopped coriander and 1 tsp of lime juice. Serve with roti or rice.

**************
Check this for Cutlery and Cutlery Sets

Goan Shrimp Curry -- Bong Mom's version

Nightime Photography -- Bad. The Curry -- Too Good

** Note to Myself: Update with better pics taken in daylight

I have never admitted this before but I think on some days, I expect a lot from BigSis. With the little one throwing her signature tantrums, the Dad having fun with erratic schedules and my PMS stretching to a month, I forget that BigSis is only a 7 year old. And a very mature, good hearted 7 year old at that.

If I think of my 7 year old self, I remember nothing. On trying hard I see a shy girl who thought "Ekkuze Me" translated to "going to pee". Yes, I was that dumb.

Fast forward to BigSis who in spite of having her moments is such a huge help when she sees Mommy has too much to do. She packs her lunch bag with her snack the night before, fills up her water bottle for school, dresses herself in the morning without much help, does all her homework without being asked to and acts pretty responsible most of the time.

She is also extremely generous with her stuff and doesn't complain much if LS scribbles a horrific A on the pages of her brand new diary. She eagerly shares everything with her little sis(who btw finished her didi's box of tic-tacs hiding behind a couch) and if I give her a chocolate for snack at school, she brings that back to split with the sis.

She even wrote a limerick about her sister

My sister was very very small
All she could do was craw and crawl
Now she can walk
Now she can talk
And she does not remember that at all

The biggest help in the last few days has been letting LS sleep in the crook of her arms at night. For that I can tuck them in and come away to finish off my work. Else I would be lying there for all of 30 to 60 minutes and praying to the Universe while LS tossed and turned.

And yet when she gets buttons of her sweater wrong, skips her piano practice and climbs on her Dad's shoulders, we tell her "Tumi ar boro hole na(you haven't grown up at all)", always forgetting that she is only 7 after all.

I made this Goan Shrimp Curry on a recent weeknight. Don't ask me why I would do such things but things happen. I based this on the Goan Chicken Curry from Anjum Anand, but since that was pretty mild I hiked the Red Chili in this one. If you are a wimp when it comes to Red Chili, go with the alert and stay safe.

Also inspired by a recipe of Shrimp Curry my sis-in-law had sent, I used Coconut Milk to make the gravy and added few Curry leaves for flavor. That totally took the taste to a whole new level. It was creamy, rich with a lightly sweet coconut taste and bursting with flavor. Everyone who had it loved it. It tasted very close to the Bong Prawn Malaikari and you realized how Coconut smudges borders.

I called it Bong Mom's version simply because there are so many variations out there and I am no Mario Miranda to vouch for its authenticity. I insist that you make it this Saturday, that is tomorrow, come on now.


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Goan Shrimp Curry

Make Goan Red Spice Paste

5-6 Dry Red Chilli(Heat Alert: Go with 2 if you have a weak palate)
1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 & 1/ 2 tsp Roasted Coriander Powder
3 cloves
6 black peppercorns
1& 1/2" piece of cinnamon
9 large cloves of garlic peeled
1 tsp tamarind paste(skipped)
1/4 tsp- 3/4tsp sugar (according to your taste, you can skip too)
3/4tsp salt
a splash(1-2 tbsp) of white vinegar
Put all of the above in a blender jar and make a paste with minimum or no water added.

Note: Instead of the Roasted Cumin and Corriander Powder you can use same amount of Cumin & Corriander seeds.

Prep Shrimp

Peel and devein shrimp Or buy a pack of raw de-veined shrimp

Toss 20-25 shrimp in salt and little turmeric powder and keep aside for 10-15 mins.

Go make the Shrimp Curry

Heat White Oil in a large saucepan

If you are frying the shrimp, saute them now till they turn a light shade of yellow. Remove and keep aside.Note: You can also add the raw shrimp to the gravy and cook it later

To the same oil, add 1 large onion sliced or chopped fine and two hot Indian green chili sliced, cook until browned.

Add the Goan Red Spice paste and cook for 5 minutes. Your nose might tingle with the sharpness of the chili.

Add 1/2 of a large tomato chopped, salt to taste and cover and cook until the tomatoes have softened and reduced. Uncover the pan and cook the tomatoes further in their juice for 6-8 minutes, stirring in between till you see oil separating from the masala.

Add about 1 cup of unsweetened thick Coconut Milk + 2/3 cup of warm water. Throw in a few curry leaves. Add salt to taste and adjust for sweetness, hotness etc.. Let the gravy come to a boil.

Add the shrimp. If the shrimp is already fried cook for a couple of minutes at low heat till the gravy thickens. If the shrimp is raw, cook till shrimp looses its raw color and looks pinkish-white and cooked. Note: Too much cooking will make the shrimp chewy and rubbery so there be careful

Remove from heat, cover and let it sit for 40-45 minutes. Warm and serve with White Rice. It is superbly delicious.

Fried Shrimp with Plum Sauce and Sesame Seeds

I had a different post for this week. But then Wednesday happened.And tomorrow is happening, so I could not possibly post a recipe which was blah. And I am not even a cricket fanatic. I am the kinds who watch the last two overs if India has chance to win or lose as the case may be. It is the "chance" thing that gets my adrenaline rushing rather than the actual nittie-gritties of the match. It is like seeing God in action.

Other than the "blah" recipe, there was this shrimp sitting in my draft which was succulent and delicious with just the right balance of sweet and spicy and perfect for a finger licking celebratory snack. The shrimp however did not have a pretty picture to give it company. Actually it had no picture. But a picture or two or even the lack of it cannot really undermine the way a shrimp will taste. It is bound to taste beautiful. That is how it is meant to be.

So I thought this is the dish it is going to be, if you want a quick pick-me-upper during tomorrow's nerve wracking moment. I have decided to sleep and catch the last two overs wonly. Thank You.

This dish started out with a different objective in mind. Two or Three months ago, I found this recipe which was awesome and asked for sesame seeds and plum sauce and of course shrimp.

I did not have sesame seeds or plum sauce. Never do. currently I have none at all.

I bought them.

I proceeded to make the dish which comprised of a gravy of sesame seed paste, tomatoes, plum sauce and what not.It was for a party I was having the next day.

The gravy looked or tasted nothing like it was intended to be. At least what I had thought of as "intended to be". I am sure I had messed up somewhere and so I had this big bowl of reddish tomatoey gravy tasting nothing like it should.

The husband said it tasted like "Tomato Thokku" and he doesn't even know what a thokku tastes like.

I had two options:

1. Redo the same dish with fresh new ingredients -- Boring and hazy future
2. Create a new dish with shrimp, sesame seeds and plum sauce and let the current gravy sit in the refrigerator. -- Fried shrimp bound to be a crowd pleaser. So, yes.

The fried shrimp with sesame seeds and plum sauce turned out to be divine unlimited. It was served with a dip of the remaining shrimp joos and more plum sauce. The shrimps were gone as soon as they were served. No wonder, I eat my share of shrimp while cooking it.

Eat your shrimp and root for your team or if you say "What is Cricket?" just eat the shrimp.


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Fried Shrmp with Plum Sauce and Sesame Seeds

All measurements eyeballed, go with your instinct.

Make a paste of
1 small onion
2" peeled and chopped ginger

Marinade 1 lb of cleaned & deveined shrimp in
onion + ginger paste
1 tbsp of Plum Sauce
salt to taste
1 tsp of lime juice
1/2 tsp of Kasmiri Mirch/Paprika
1/2 tsp of Pepper powder

for 30 minutes

Heat white Oil

Add 1 tsp of sesame seeds and 2-3 broken, crumbled red chili/chili pepper flakes

When the spices sizzle, add the chopped white bulbs of green onions

Follow with the shrimp. Add as many shrimp as can fit in a single layer.Saute the shrimp till they turn pinkish white. Add 1-2 tsp of Plum sauce and some more of the chopped green onion. Toss together. Remove to a serving plate. Do this for all of the shrimp

Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and serve. Use the liquid in the fry pan, some more plum sauce and some hot sauce to make a dipping sauce.

Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

BS lost her very first tooth last week, last Wednesday to be precise. Major excitement ensued.More than the tooth, it was about the Tooth Fairy and the cash she would bring.

I had no clue that Tooth Fairies brought wads of dollar bills.

A shiny quarter was all I knew. Apparently I am wrong, as suggested by little neighbor girl.

The little neighbor girl has raised the bar pretty high saying Tooth Fairy got her thirty dollars. T-HIRT-Y DOLLARS for a baby tooth !!! What was TTF(The Tooth Fairy) thinking. I am guessing there is a scam going on and it might involve Goldman but really T-HIRT-Y Dollars ?

Since this was BS's very first tooth, I did not want her psychologically snubbed by TTF's bias and so she got Fifteen dollars from TTF next morning, crisp 5 dollar bills under her pillow.

Later I learned that little neighbor girl might have duped me. Tooth Fairy still gives out single dollar bills so there I am the stupid adult.

To quickly retract my sin of giving too much cash to a 6 year old I made BS buy ten dollar worth of craft supplies with that money and now BS is left with 5 dollars which she has promised to give to her Mom when the need arises. In fact BS thinks her Mom can become rich herself if she loses her own tooth too.

Before that happens her Mom decided to celebrate the occasion by making Chingri Pakora or Shrimp Pakoda. It did not matter that BS did not even want to take a bite, everyone else enjoyed it to the bits.

Update for Indo: The toothless girl did not fancy pakodas on that particular day. She has her very own independent food ideas that change each day !!!

Fry some up, they are perfect on a rainy day with a steaming cuppa. Ok, they are good on any day and we will also serve it as a bhaja (something fried) to go with rice and dal. If you don't eat shrimp, don't lose heart, you can use sliced paneer or mushroom and they will taste as good.


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Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

This recipe makes about 15-16 pakodis with 15-16 shrimp

Clean and de-vein shrimp. If using frozen defrost them. Remove shell and the tail. Toss the shrimp with 1/4 tsp of lime juice, 1/4 tsp of Roasted Cumin powder and salt. You can also add a little garlic paste and Red Chili powder, I usually don't. Keep the shrimp marinated for 10-15 minutes. If shrimp is large in size, chop in bite size pieces and then marinate.

In a mixing bowl add

1 cup of Besan/Chickpea flour
a pinch of Baking Powder
1/4 tsp of Red Chili Powder
salt to taste
Add 3/4 cup--1 cup of water gradually to above, mixing with a fork to make a smooth batter.

Note 1: You can add a tsp of rice flour to the batter to make it more crispy
Note 2: Sometimes I will add an egg to the batter. If you do that add less water.

To the batter add about 1/4 cup of finely chopped onions and 2 green chili finely chopped(optional) and mix well
This time I added 2 tbsp of crispy fried onions(the kind you can put in biryani etc.) to the batter and it tasted heavenly

Heat enough Oil for deep frying in a kadhai. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a little batter into it.

Dip a shrimp in the batter so that it is well coated. With a tablespoon scoop the shrimp along with some batter and gently drop it in hot oil. At this point heat should be high-medium. After a minute reduce the heat to medium. When the pakoda starts turning golden at edges flip and fry the other side. Approx. it will take 2-3 mins on each side. This is enough for the shrimp to get cooked.
Note: When you are doing several at a time, carefully separate each pakodis in the hot oil so that they do not lump together.

Once the pakoda looks brown and crunchy, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel

Sprinkle Amchoor or Chaat masala on the pakodis and serve with a Hot & Sweet Ketchup

Celery Chingri -- Celery with Shrimp

When I was a kid, I thought becoming an adult was the answer to all my woes. You could sleep in late, spend money to buy as many Archie comics as you could read not and you did not have to eat vegetables.

Little did I know what I was in for.

I mean being an adult is ok and everything but you never get to do the things you had imagined and you DO EAT vegetables. The worst part is you eat them even when no one is forcing you to and you even shop for them.

Take Celery. I never had tasted a celery until I started going to BS's pre-school kiddie birthday parties a couple of years ago. These would be at one jumping place or the other and kids would have pizza while all the parents were offered was carrot sticks and celery ribs with a veggie dip. I loved the dip, I thought the celery was an instrument to scoop up that delicious dip. To eat them was blah.

I would still get celery to put in a soup or something or to rot in the refrigerator until LS's Nanny last year said "Didi apnara celery'r tarkari khan na"(Didi don't you eat celery sabzi). She must have recognized me as the ideal candidate to go on a celery diet.

I got the celery and she made a dish, Celery Chingri, a sabzi with celery and shrimp. It really was good, way better than anything with celery could have tasted. Like it wasn't something to die for but it was decent and would make for a nice side dish and it had shrimps, so why complain.

At this point though, let me tell you, if celery is not a vegetable local to where you are, like if you are in Cambodia and you have never seen your Mom cook celery DO NOT go out and buy if it is overpriced. It is not worth it. In that case just eat the shrimp.

And what is the Paprika doing in the picture you might ask ? It is NOT in the dish, the dish has red chili Powder, no mild paprika. The Paprika is what a harassed BongMom gives to the toddler to distract, so that she can take a pic on an overloaded work night. The outcome is not good, the pic lighted with no fancy Lowell ego but plain-jane side table lamps does not exactly glamorize the celery and the paprika has been dumped on the beige carpet. If I never ever blog again you know why.

Entries for Of Chalks and ChopSticks is welcome until Friday June 10th, midnight simply because I have not posted my entry yet. Tee hee !! I am the Super Power at least this one time.


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Celery Chingri -- Celery with Shrimp

The Shrimp

If using frozen shrimp defrost else clean and de-vein. Sprinkle with little salt and turmeric powder and keep aside for 10 minutes. I had about 10-12 shrimps

The Celery

Chop the celery in really small pieces. Smaller than what you see in the pic.

The Celery Shrimp Sabzi

Heat Olive Oil in a saute pan

Fry the shrimp and remove and keep aside. When the shrimps are cool to touch, chop them in small pieces and eat a few

Add little more oil to the same pan if needed. Temper with 1 tsp of Paanch Phoron or Kalonji. If you have none of these use Cumin Seeds

When the spices sputter and pop, add 1/2 up of chopped red onion and little more. Fry the onion with a sprinkle of sugar till onion is pinkish brown

Add 1 heaped tsp of garlic paste and fry for say 1/2 a minute

Add 1 potato chopped in small cubes. Add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and fry the potatoes till light yellow

Add 1 tsp of roasted corriander powder and 1/2 tsp of red chili Powder.With a sprinkle of water fry the masala along with the potatoes.

Add about 2 cups of celery very finely chopped and mix everything well. The celery should be chopped thinner than shown in pic. Add salt to taste and cover the saute pan, letting the celery cook. Every couple of minutes remove the cover and stir the vegetables until done.

Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. If needed add a tsp of Garam Masala.

Add the shrimp pieces, give a good mix and serve with dal and other dishes.

Vegetarian Option: Instead of shrimp add fried pieces of paneer.

Prawn Patia -- straight from Persia

Today was not a day in my dysfunctional "to do list" to write a post. No, today was a day for me to wallow in self pity for the simple reason that my child has grown up and is no longer a Kindergartner and is going to Grade 1 tomorrow.

Not my fault, solely nature's, I mean the "growing up" part. But as a Mom it is my birth right to put my hormones to full use and make a big senti deal of the whole growing up thing. The way Moms pine about the baby growing up you would think they are happiest cleaning poop and staying awake through the night. But all that sentimental mush would have done nicely for a post and with a balanced dose of nostalgia, melodrama and some pre-school rhymes it could have soared my blog hits.

I had even thought up choice phrases to write a teary post about how the little baby who looked into my eyes 5 year 8 months 3hours and 45 minutes back is no longer little and entering the big bad world (actually a school only fifteen mins away from home) .But all that will have to wait, for there is a fishy situation.

A Bong Mom or (maybe a true Bong Dad but not the resident one) will abandon fisrt born's milestones for the love of fish and that is exactly what happened here. Indrani sent me a reminder about the Fish event at her blog and luck had it that there was a brand new, still smelling fresh ,fish recipe sitting in my draft which was only waiting to be posted for a fishy event.

It is called Prawn Patia or Prawn Paatia or something similar. I had no clue that this dish existed, I am pretty clueless you might think but that is the truth. So I was clueless until I saw this name in Kalyan's blog. He is a clever Bong guy whose best half is a Parsi, a very intelligent thing to do, i.e. to marry into another culture, that way you get to sample lots of variety in food at home itself. Now though I have hardly ever had Parsi food, I have this fascination for Parsi food. So when I saw that Prawn Patia was a Parsi dish, I simply had to make it.

Kalyan had no recipe in his blog or maybe I wasn't able to find one, so the recipe I thought would be most fitting for such a dish is from RecipeZaar. I adapted the recipe and the result was delicious. All those whole coriander, cumin and fennel used for tempering added a lovely new flavor to the dish. I also dry roasted and ground a part of the above spices to make a powder which was not called for but I used in the recipe. I gave the tamarind a miss, the vinegar provided the tartness that suited our taste.The only thing I wasn't too sure of was the consistency of the gravy, any verdict ?

Going to the event @ Appayan with Prawn Patia is Doi Maach, a bengali preparation of fish in yogurt sauce and Bhapa Ilish, steamed Hilsa in mustard sauce.


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Prawn Patia

My adaptation of this recipe


Prep

Dry Roast 1 tsp Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp Corriander Seeds and 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds. Cool and grind to a powder in a spice mill

Squeeze some lime juice and salt on the shrimp and set it aside. I had about 15-20 frozen shrimp which I defrosted.

Make a wet paste of 2 cups of chopped red onion + 4 green chili + 2" ginger + 2-4 cloves of garlic + 3 tbsp yogurt + very little water

Start Cooking

Heat a Frying Pan/Kadhai

Toast 1/2 tsp of Cumin seed, 1/2 tsp of Coriander seed and 1/4 tsp of Fennel seeds

Add Oil

Add 1/2 tsp of Mustard seed, 1/4 tsp of Paprika, 1/4 tsp of Red Chili Powder

When the spices start popping lower the heat and add the wet onion paste. Fry this for 20-25 minutes at medium heat till you see it turning golden and there is no raw smell. This will need some time, don't try to hasten the process.

Add the dry roasted spice powder,1 tbsp of tomato puree, 1 tsp of white vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Fry for 5 more minutes

Add about 1/2 cup of water and let the gravy come to a simmer. Add the shrimp but do not over cook it.

To finish off I added about 1/4 cup of fat free half and half but this is not in the original recipes

When the shrimp is done garnish with some finely chopped coriander and serve with hot rice

Besan Ka Cheela and Pepper Shrimp

We are done with 7 days of Challenge, woo hoo. Am I glad or what.

Saturday with all that fasting-shasting I was pretty crappy and so was the husband. We were spiteful and had huge rows. Low carb/sugar was showing its effects.

"But I feel lighter", I said to myself, "Maybe I have lost inches(or feet) if not pounds. If I lose my marriage so what, at least I will be thin"

And then came along dear N and made me re-read the rules again. As always I had just skimmed through the rules. I have been doing this since time immemorial. The only times I read and re-read the rules was during TOEFL and that because I thought I wouldn't understand Amriki accent over my headphone

Ok so as it goes I have broken errrr worked around several rules of the challenge. I had potatoes, honey with my yogurt and did no exercise

No wonder the husband was gladly gliding along until the fasting started.

Let me quickly sum up the pros of this process before I crib

* You feel much better about yourself
* All that eating right makes you feel a whole lot better. You do feel light believe me and may even lose pounds if you are strictly adhering to the rules. Actually the husband did lose noticeable inches as claimed by him.
* Remember the guilt after wolfing down a pizza. Well now you don't have any, neither pizza nor guilt
* You learn a whole new lesson on self-restraint and "giving up". If you continue you might achieve moksha soon

Things that did not quiet work for me

* We spent a whole lot of time cooking and packing lunches during the weekday. I was packing 3 dabbas each !!! This was definitely not good for me as I prefer spending weekday evening with my kids rather than in the kitchen. Maybe we also went overboard with the idea, but next time I plan to keep it even simpler

* Don't know why but since so much after-work time was spent in the kitchen that I didn't feel like going to gym at all. That would have cut into my time with the girls but Exercise would have helped

* No eating out on Weekends were tough, I am not going to do weekends next time. Such nice weather and yet we couldn't grab anything and had to be back home for dinner

* This challenge saw both of us(D & me) together in the kitchen a lot and by that I mean A LOT. Now this might be a total incentive for honey-baby-lovey-dovey kind of couples(with no disrespect meant to anyone). But for me this is a hindrance. I have known the husband for a loooong time now and don't feel the need to bond over how to grill salmon just right.
The hubby is a good cook and definitely a help in the kitchen but when he is in there I would rather spend my time with the baby who needs me more. Once the kids are older and can be in the kitchen too maybe we all can have coochie-coo Kitchen time.

On the whole the Challenge was worth it and I am going to do it maybe every alternate week or so. Take it up and feel good.

On Saturday after the fast I didn't want to settle down for anything less but cheela -- a savory gram flour pancake and some hot spicy pepper shrimp. The very thought of it pepped me up until I broke the fast an hour early. Lovely light besan ka cheela with the hot shrimp did heal bruised egos and rumbling appetites to some extent. The Pepper Shrimp is frameworked on Cham's Pepper Mushroom recipe which I altered around a bit to suit my convenience and loved a whole lot


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Besan Ka Cheela or Gram Flour Pancakes

Makes enough for 2(5-6 cheelas)

In a wide mouthed deep bowl add 1 cup of besan(chickpea flour) and fluff with a fork to break lumps if any and aerate

Make a batter with the above Besan + about 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onions + 3 finely chopped green chilli + 1/2 tsp of Carrom Seeds/Ajwain + 1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds + little Asafoetida/Hing + salt. Add a little more than 1 cup of water slowly to make the batter.

Heat a flat tawa or frying pan.

Grease it with little oil

Pour a ladleful of batter and spread it out to make a circle. This step is same as you would do for dosa or pancake. Add less than 1/2 tsp of oil in droplets along the edges

When your spatula slids under the edges easily, flip the cheela and cook the other side

Pepper Shrimp

Defrost about 10-12 frozen shrimp. I used frozen raw shrimp, substitute with whatever kind you like. Sprinkle some sea salt on them and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.

Heat oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan. A little more oil boosts the flavors in this dish

Add 5-6 Kari Patta(Curry Leaves) to the hot oil

Add 1/3 cup of chopped red onions and fry

Once the onion turns pink and translucent add 1 tsp of garlic paste

Add 1 tsp of Pepper Powder and saute for half a minute

Add the shrimp

Add 1/4 tsp of Red Chilli powder and 1/4 tsp of Fennel Powder

Add salt and fry the shrimp. You need to sprinkle a little water to bring the spices together and fry

Once the shrimp is cooked you are done. Don't cook shrimp for too long, it might get rubbery.

* If you are not a shrimp eater replace shrimp with mushroom and do not add any water while cooking. Also cook till all the water released by mushroom dries up

Piyajkolir Tarkari

Little S knows all about Mothers Day. By "about" I don’t mean the history or the Hall Mark-ing of it but she knows there is a day like this when you are supposed to give your Mom cards etc. before you throw the usual tantrum. When she was 16 months, it was my first Mother's Day as a Mom and D took her to get me a card and Mom’s Day gift. I got a funny card with a mirror and a dangly sparkly kind of bracelet in some abstract color which is not something I take to wearing. When I asked D why he got that thing, he said because S pointed it out!!! So last year I took it upon myself to get me something sensible crediting the money spent and joy of gift giving to D of course. The most precious thing though was the card little S made in school for Mother’s day.

Since S is a 3 year old now with much more sense and I am a lover of good gifts, I was dreaming that maybe she will point out to the dazzling ruby and diamond bracelet or the Coach handbag at Macy’s when D takes her to buy the Mom’s Day gift instead of pointing to some arbitrary stuff .

So yesterday I told S with a lot of enthu – “You know Mothers Day is this month”
She said – “Oh when is it?” (In Bengali she said “Kobe re?” with the right inflection)
So I showed her the calendar and the day and asked her – “What do you want to do on the day?”
She flung her small soft arms around me and said “I want to hug you” !!!
Holding her tightly the commercialized Mom in me said “ What else ?”
She said “ It will be your holiday so you won’t have work and I want to sit in your lap all day”

I was ashamed, yeah downright ashamed. While I was thinking of gifts all this tiny creature wanted was to love me and be with me. Amidst all the days work its true that I don't always get time to be just with her. So even when I am physically around and it may seem I am spending time with her, I am multitasking and feeding her while chopping veggies or sneaking a peek at the blogs while talking to her. I don't really just sit with her for long. Even if I do for a little while I am prone to say " Chal chal anek kaj ache" (Let's get going I have lots to do). Soon she will grow up and this is not what she will want from me. So as long as she asks for it maybe I should set aside my chores and just sit and enjoy and smell the freshness of her innocence. (Ok it may not work out as beautiful as it sounds because this 3 year old is an active imp and before long you may see me panting and gasping for air, a far cry from "smelling innocence" but at least I should make an effort)

I was never a fan of Valentines Day, but I liked Mothers Day since even being far I would send my Mother small gifts which I thought showed my love for her and it also meant “one more occasion” to get some loot for myself. But maybe even all my Mom wanted was just to be with me (or maybe she preferred the gifts which were more useful than the adult me , I never asked)

So between my Mother and my little daughter was I the one caught in the Hall Mark warp, totally discounting the actual essence of the day and concentrating on the screaming Mothers Day Sale banners instead.

To change my attitude this year I asked D to not get me a gift for Mother's Day, instead if the weather is good we will pack a lunch and have a "picnic" somewhere and enjoy the day as it comes
(D if you are reading this, you can give me gift on all other occasions, do not take this to your benefit. I am thinking of the child here remember !!!)

Happy Mother's Day to my Ma who has always been a good friend, has helped me through all my growing years including my studies, stood by me when I wanted to take up job in another city, stood by me in most of my life's decisions and done for me a lot more that I can ever imagine doing for her. I really feel bad that being far I am not really able to do for her as I should have as a grown up daughter in their day to day life. But she doesn't complain and neither expects anything from me. Hope to be a similar mother for S to be happy in her happiness and not expect much....

Happy Mothers Day to myself and to all Moms out there
(This post shared with Desi Momz Club)

Piyajkoli Or Scallion/Green Onion/Spring Onion is used to make this very simple typically Bengali dish. Tempered with Kalo Jeera/kalonji, a very common spice used for tempering in Bengali cooking, and Green Chillies this is one of the quick dry dishes you would make on a week day to go with chapati at dinner or packed with roti for next days lunch.Me the Rice lover, loves it with White Rice too. The shrimps add a festive touch to this and since I love shrimps I almost always add shrimps to this dish.
This goes to Nupur for "A - Z of Indian Vegetables" for this week's P -- Piyajkoli'r Tarkari a dry dish made with Scallion, Potatoes and Shrimp


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Piyajkolir Tarkari

What You Need

Scallion or Green Onion (known as piyajkoli in Bengali) ~ 4 bunches chopped small (as shown in pic)
Potatoes ~ 3 medium sized peeled and cubed as shown in pic
Green Chillies ~ 4-5 slit

Shrimp ~ ½ cup. I used frozen medium shrimp. You can use fresh smaller shrimps or even salad shrimps
Kalo Jeera/Kalonji/ Nigella Seeds ~ 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder ~ ½ tsp
Red Chilli Powder ~ 1/2 tsp or according to tatse. I do not add this usually

Oil
Salt

How I Did It
Defrost shrimp if frozen else wash and clean. Sprinkle little turmeric powder and salt on the shrimp and leave it aside for 15-20 minutes
Wash and chop the scallions and potatoes
Heat Oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan
Lightly fry the shrimp till they are golden. Remove them and keep aside
In the same oil sauté the potato cubes till they acquire a hint of golden. Remove and keep aside
In the same oil (liitle more oil needs to be added by this point) add kalo jeera/kalonji and green chillies for tempering
Add the chopped scallion and sauté
Lightly fry till the scallion wilts.
Add the lightly sauted potatoes and mix well
Add ¼ tsp of turmeric powder, salt and sprinkle a little water if necessary. Add Red Chilli Powder if you wish
Cover and cook till done. Don't cover and let it burn, since there is very little water you need to stir this often.Don't worry doesn't take long
Add the fried shrimps and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes and you are done

This will be a dry dish and enjoy with Chapati or White Rice as a part of your everyday meal

Note: As one of my readers mentioned, instead of frying the potatoes as a separete step you can add the potatoes after tempering the oil with Kalonji and Green Chillies. Saute the potatoes and add the chopped scallions and cover and cook as the next steps indicate.

Remember to wash your bunch of scallions well when you bring them in fresh and for storing and chopping information check here






Trivia:The words scallion and shallot are related and can be traced back to the Greek askolonion as described by the Greek writer Theophrastus

Chingri Macher Malaikari

Chingri Malaikari | Prawn Malaikari

Chingri Malaikari or Prawn Malaikari , is a very famous and popular Bengali dish, made with prawns simmered in a spicy coconut gravy, served with white Rice or Pulao for lunch or dinner on special occasions. It used to be one of those dishes reserved only for grand affairs like birthdays or weddings. Prawns, specially the big Golda Chingri(ideal for this dish) was an expensive affair. Now however we make Malaikari with even the jumbo prawns, much smaller in size than the Golda.

Jump To Recipe

Note: This post is updated in 2022, almost 16 years after I first posted in 2006. Can you imagine what a dinosaur this blog is ? I probably learned to make this Malaikari sometime around that time(early 2000) and hence posted. In those days,  blogging was in its nascent and peak stage; iPhone was still in Jobs' brain and no one was thinking of Android; YouTube had just been founded and cooking videos were a far off dream; there were food shows on the telly but the ones from India weren't keen on measures or regional cuisine; and malalikaari was still a dish reserved for grand occasions in Bengal !! This post is one of the most popular ones in my blog and has views > 500K. Now Chingri Malaikari has become more of a common item, cooked often, dressed up better and with hundreds of videos on YouTube. This post though still remains close to my heart  and has the best results <3
I am updating this post with better photos. The recipe still remains the same. I just added a trick to make the prawns look straighter instead of curled as that seems to be the new fad.

Chingri Malaikari or Prawn Malaikari (no relation to our dear Malaika at all), is a very famous and popular Bengali entrée served with white Rice or Pulao for lunch or dinner on special occasions. I saw it described somewhere as an “Elegant Bengali Classic” – that definitely sums up this dish. It is so delicious that I want to run down and have my dinner right now instead of writing this up.

I made it this Sunday as a pre-B’day treat for my husband and this write up is for Chandrika of Akshyapatra who said she would like to have the recipe of a certain prawn recipe she had at her Bong friend’s place and which I guessed to be the infamous Chingri Malaikari.

So most people think that coconut or coconut milk is not a popular ingredient in Bengali cooking, but it is in many of the special Bengali cuisines. This particular dish is cooked in a spiced up gravy of coconut milk and involved a lot of hard work for my Ma back in India. Since life & it’s commodities in India was not universally canned or processed back then, she had to press the grated coconut to extract the sweet white coconut milk.

Here in the US, life is much easy and you just pick a can of coconut milk off the shelf of your grocery store. I guess this and the abundance of prawns, is also a reason why you would find Prawn Malaikari a part of the menu in most Bong parties in the US.

To get the best tasting Malaikari, get a mix of  large prawns with heads on and rest heads removed. The reason for this being the prawns head being very very tasty adds a fourth dimension to this already delicious preparation. However if you are not very familiar around prawns, I would suggest you get only the ones with no head , as the prawn head has to be delicately cleaned.

If you want to though, go through the following steps to clean fresh prawn :-
Remove the hard shell, do not remove the tail, leave it on
De-vein the prawn, slit the back a little and take out the black thread thingy
For shrimps with heads, carefully remove only the front portion of the head the eyes etc., do not remove the entire head, you want to keep the liquidy thing inside the head.