A fresh bout of rain ,over flowing rivers and the joy of living in a city having close access to river banks. Yes, You guessed it right, I am talking about my city, Bhubaneswar. I grew up here surrounded by fresh air, sunshine, chirping sounds of birds , huge array of trees and varieties of river fish to choose from.Still today, we love fresh water fishes and prawns. It has its own sweetness that I really love about.
I have a love hate relationship with Prawn/ Shrimp/ known as Chingudi in Odia since my childhood. As a kid I would always get excited when Maa would ask my father to bring Prawn to cook . I would run to lift the lid of the kadhai to smell the aroma of the prawn curry. This Odia style Chingudi Besara (prawn in mustard gravy) taste best when cooked with its shell. The shell gives a different textures and flavours to the curry and you can sit leisurely and remove them with your hands while eating. A messy hand is always a sign of a good and tasty meal. How do you like your prawn 🍤 with shell or without?
I am sharing an recipe from the coastal state of Odisha where the use of stone ground masala called Bata Masala in curries makes this Chingudi Besara irrsestible. You can to do it with the mixer-grinder-magic bullet or whatever you use to grind your spice, just grind it to a very smooth consistency. Shila Pua is a flat, heavy rectangular block of grinding stone where masalas are grind in small quantiles for everyday use. The concept of making your masala in advance donot gel with odia style of cooking.
Ingredients:
- 10 to 15 Large Shrimps , cleaned
- 2 tbsp black mustard seeds, soaked for 30 minutes
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, soaked for 30 minutes
- 3 to 4 dry red chili, soaked
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Mustard oil
- 1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
- 4-5 nos. Green chili , slit
- one sprig curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp pancha phutana
- Salt to taste
Lets learn to make chingudi Besara:
- De vein and de shell the shrimps. Take the eye part out and remove the legs and the tentacles (the long thread like things). Wash them well but not so well that the goodness inside their head gets washed away. Apply turmeric and salt to it. Mix well and keep aside for 15 minutes.
- Make a smooth paste of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilies and garlic. Keep aside.
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the prawn on medium flame. Remove and keep aside.
- In the same oil, add pancha phutana, curry leaves and once they splutter, add onion and fry until brown. Add ginger, garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomato, and saute till done.
- Add mustard paste to one cup water and add this water to the pan. Cook until it reaches a boiling point, add fried prawns and cook for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy with steamed rice.
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