Tag: Prawn

Bengali Chingri Cutlets: A Must-Try Dish

Chingri CutleT

Bengalis love their fish! There are some delicious fried fish preparations like Fish orli, or Fish kobiraji and of course the Kolkata fish fry, which are available in most Bengali restaurants. General rule for these fish fry dishes is to marinate the fish fillet and then fry it with a coat of egg and bread crumbs or dipped in a batter of spiced flour.

Chingri Maach or Shrimp/ Prawn cutlets are amazingly delicious, and very popular and easy to make.

For this you will need shrimp or chingri maach which are at least 3 or 4 inches long without the head. After cleaning out the black thread like thing on the back you need to wash it , and flatten it as much as possible. Then they have to be marinated with onion, garlic, lemon juice, salt and chili powder for at least 4 hours. Then the marinated chingri is dipped in egg then bread crumbs and again kept in the fridge for at least an hour for the coating to set. Next these are deep fried in vegetable oil to golden brown, and served hot with Kasundi ( Bengali mustard sauce).

I have made only 3 Shrimps for this recipe. They were about 4 inches on average. The head was removed but the tail was kept intact.

Ingredients for the marinade

onion grated 1/2 cup

green chili 1

chili powder 1/4 teaspoon

salt 1/2 teaspoon

lemon juice 4 tablespoons

garlic paste or grated 1 teaspoon

turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon

For the marinade

Grind or grate the onion, grind or grate garlic, grind the chili. Or you can also chop the onion, peel the garlic, and put it in a grinder together with the green chili and make a paste. Now mix the onion, garlic, and green chili with the salt and chili powder, turmeric powder,and lemon juice.

Slit a shrimp ( chingri maach) then with a mallet flatten it as much as possible without breaking the fish. If you do not have a mallet you could use a rolling pin. Do this with all the shrimps, if it is flattened well then the shrimp curls less. You can also try stretching the shrimps gently with your fingers. Now rub the shrimp with the marinade and cover the bowl and keep in the fridge to marinate.

Chingri Maach
Flattened chingr

After approximately 4 hours you have to take the shrimps out of the marinade and coat it with egg and breadcrumbs and put it back in the fridge for the coating to set for at least an hour. Chingri and other shell fish go bad very quickly so it is better not to keep it out on the kitchen table for too long, especially if you live in a warm place .

For the coating I had 3 things set up. First the plate with some cornflour, then a bowl with egg white beaten with a pinch of salt, then another plate with the breadcrumbs. It is better to use the egg whites only, if you use the whole egg then the oil gets very foamy when you are frying the fish.

For the Coating
After the shrimp is coated

Take the marinated shrimp out of the marinade,pat it dry a little, put it in the cornflour and coat it well ( if you don’t have cornflour you can use plain flour), next dip it in the egg, then roll it in the breadcrumb, place it on a plate. When you have coated all of them cover the plate with a plastic wrap or another plate and keep it in the fridge for 1 hour at least or till you are ready to fry.

TIP: After coating I take a tooth pick or a thin skewer and carefully stick it along the middle lengthwise. Then after frying I take out the toothpick. This helps to keep the shrimp from curling.

Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the shrimp on medium heat till it is golden brown. Take it out with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel for a few minutes before serving. Serve with Kasundi or Tomato ketchup.

RECIPE

  • Chingri Maach / Shrimp 3 pieces which are about 3 to 4 inches long.
  • Onion 1 medium size or 1/2 cup grated onion
  • Garlic 2 or 3 cloves
  • Lemon juice 4 tablespoon
  • Green chilies 1 or 2
  • Salt 1/2 teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • chili powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • Egg white 1
  • Bread crumbs 1 cup
  • Cornflour or plain flour/ Maida 1/2 cup
  • Oil for frying

Method

Grind onion, garlic , green chilies, together in a grinder, do not add water add the lemon juice if necessary.

Take out the black thread that runs along the back and wash the Chingri maach / Shrimp well.

Keep a shrimp on the cutting board, and make a deep slit along the back where the black vein was. Be careful not to cut it right through. Take a mallet or a rolling pin and beat it gently to flatten the shrimp as thin as possible without breaking the fish.

In the onion garlic green chili paste add the salt chili powder and turmeric powder. Mix well with with a spoon and transfer this mixture in to a shallow container and put the shrimp into it . Coat the shrimp well , and cover and let it marinate for at least 4 hours.

Take out the shrimp from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels

Now Hold the Shrimp by the tail and dip it into the cornflour/ flour

Then into the beaten egg white

Then Roll it well in the breadcrumbs pat it to ensure the breadcrumbs sticks.

Keep it on a plate and do the same with the other shrimps. Once they are done cover the plate and put it in the fridge for at least an hour or till you are ready to fry and serve.

Heat some oil in a frying pan or wok and. Deep fry on medium heat till golden brown

Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel covered plate to absorb the oil before serving

Serve hot with Kasundi ( Bengali mustard sauce ) or Tomato ketchup .

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Chingri Malai Curry ( Shrimp cooked in coconut milk)

Chingri Maacher Malai curry is something that is made on special occasions in most Bengali homes. I grew up eating this delicacy cooked by my grandmother, mother, and aunts. One of my aunt’s preparation was the one I liked the best, but unfortunately I did not think of asking her for the recipe. I have had to try it many many times before I made something that is close to the taste that I remember. The main ingredient is the coconut milk I realized. Fresh coconut milk gives it the lovely aroma and taste. You need quite a lot of thick coconut milk, because I cook it only in the coconut milk and do not add water. Now days you get coconut milk in cans and also the dried ones which makes it very convenient to make this recipe. In this recipe I have used the canned milk since it is easily accessible for most people. But it is best with fresh coconut milk.

Making the fresh coconut milk is easy but a little labor intensive.

How to make coconut milk

1 Grate a full coconut. Soak it in enough warm water to just cover the coconut. Stir well a couple of times and let it sit for for half hour to one hour. Then you take a fist full and squeeze the milk out into a strainer placed over a pan. Keep the milk and discard the squeezed out coconut.

2 Take out the flesh of the coconut or grate it. Put the coconut in a grinder or blender with some water.To One cup coconut add 1 cup water, it is better if you can use even less water . After grinding pour the contents of the grinder onto a cheese cloth placed over a pan. Now pick up all the sides of the cloth and make a bundle. Squeeze the coconut in the cheese cloth to extract the milk. It is better to put less water, because the thick milk can always be diluted. Discard the residue in the cloth after squeezing out as much coconut milk as possible.

When you use fresh coconut milk you will need more than 1 cup as the canned coconut milk tends to be thicker.

Ingredients

  • Shrimp/ Chingri 200g
  • Coconut milk 200ml
  • Vegetable oil 3 tablespoon
  • Salt 1/2 teaspoon
  • Sugar 1/4 teaspoon
  • Coriander/ Dhania powder 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cumin/ Jeera powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • Chili / Mirchi powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • Turmeric/Haldi powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • Ginger/ Adrak paste 1/2 teaspoon
  • Whole Cinnamon, Cloves, and Cardamom/ Garam masala
  • Bay leaves/Tej patta 2 small ones
  • Onion/ piaj paste 3 table spoon

Prepping

Clean and wash the shrimp. I have used big ones, you can use any size but definitely bigger is better. The black thread like thing which runs along the back of the shrimp has to be removed. in this recipe the shell has been taken out leaving only the tail and head. But the antennae portion of the head has been removed, and the head has been properly cleaned. You need not keep the head and tail if you so desire. After washing the fish and draining out the water, sprinkle a little salt and turmeric powder and rub it on the fish.

Get the coconut milk ready if you are using fresh coconut milk.

Make the onion paste. You can grate the onion or use a grinder.

gather all the spiced

grate some fresh ginger

How to make the Malai Curry

  1. Heat a Wok/kadai or a pan and add 1/2 of the coconut milk.
  2. Let it boil down till the oil is released, then add the 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
  3. Add the Bay leaf/ tej patta, whole cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves as tarka, to season the oil.
  4. Once you get the Aroma of the whole garam masala add the onion paste. Fry till the raw onion smell goes and the onion is a little brown.
  5. In a small bowl, put the Chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt , and sugar. Mix it all together with about 2 tablespoons of water. Pour this onto the fried onion in the wok/ pan.
  6. Stir fry for a couple of minutes then add the ginger paste. Stir fry till the oil separates on the sides of the masala.
  7. Add the Shrimp and mix it well with the masala and keep stirring and frying till the shell looks reddish and the flesh is opaque.
  8. keep about 2 tablespoons of the coconut milk for garnish and pour the rest of it into the pan. Reduce the heat to low . Cover and let the shrimp simmer in this gravy for about 5 minutes, then flip them over and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes. the gravy should not dry out. If the gravy is too thick you can add some water and simmer.
  9. Take it off the heat and transfer to a serving dish. Before serving pour the saved coconut milk on top of the curry as a garnish. Serve with hot steamed rice.

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