RECIPE OF THE WEEK : CHINGRI MAACHER MALAI CURRY

as prepared at

SEASONAL TASTE                                                                                                                                       

The Westin Kolkata

By Chef Soham

INGREDIENTS

500 Gms Tiger Prawns

50 g vegetable oil

10 g ghee

100 g onion paste

10 g ginger paste

4 g turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder

50 g yoghurt

6 pcs green chilies

200 g coconut milk (first-press)

200 g coconut milk (second-press)

14 g salt

26 g sugar

METHOD:

1. Shell and devein the prawns, leaving the flavorful head intact. You may remove the stomach of the prawn, located near its head. We are leaving the shells on, but you may peel them off if you like.
2. Coat prawns with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder, and set aside.
3. In a grinder jar, add onions and blitz them to a fine paste. Also extract coconut milk, reserving the first-press (thick) and second-press (thinner) milk in separate jars, and keep it ready.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Once hot, lower the prawns one by one, and fry them in batches for about 45 seconds on each side. The longer you cook prawns the tougher they’ll become, so remove them from the heat immediately and set aside.
5. Now add ghee to the residual oil. Temper with dried red chilies, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.
6. Add onion paste along with sugar, and fry for about 8 minutes until the onions are brown.
7. Add ginger paste and fry for another 3–4 minutes, after which add turmeric and Kashmiri red chilli powder. Stir intermittently so that the spices don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. When they do, add a splash of the thin, second-press coconut milk to loosen the mixture up and help fry it. Also add three slit green chilies and salt now.
8. Once oil starts separating from the spices, beat the yoghurt until it is lump free and add it to the pan. Drop the heat and stir vigorously to prevent the yoghurt from splitting. Cook it for 3–4 minutes.
9. Add the second-press (thin) coconut milk and simmer for about 2 minutes before adding the first-press (thick) coconut milk. Once it comes to a boil, add the fried prawns.
10. Allow the prawns to bubble in the curry, covered, for no more than 5 minutes.
11. Finish off with Garam masalabefore serving.

Wishing you the goodness of Chingri Macher Malai Curry,

Chef Soham.

Seasonal Taste