Passport & Plate - Daab Chingri
India | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Daab Chingri
Prawns flavoured with mustard and cooked in tender coconut shell
Fresh juicy tiger prawns dart towards one another, bathed in pristine velvety coconut cream and mustard gravy, as tender coconut shavings play peek-a-boo with bits of green chillies. A prawn curry generously flavoured with mustard, poppy and other exotic spices, cooked in a tender coconut shell, Daab Chingri is the epitome of authentic Bengali food. What makes this dish that tad bit more special is the scent of the sea that lingers on fresh sea food, and the tropical flavor lent by the green coconut.
Served on a bed of steaming Basmati, you get a jaw-droppingly, eye-poppingly scrumptious bowl of goodness. The aroma of smoked coconut and prawns wafting into the air, paired with the exceptionally rich flavor and taste would make you want to fall head over heels in love with Bengali food! No matter how much I rave about it, nothing I say can possibly articulate its ambrosial taste – you need to try it for yourself.
Without further ado, here is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 Green/unripe/tender coconut (‘Daab’, as we call it in Bengali),
5/6 Fresh tiger prawns, peeled, de-veined and de-shelled (Do not use frozen, it won’t taste the same.),
Salt, a generous pinch,
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder,
1 tablespoon Mustard paste,
1 tablespoon Poppy seed paste,
1 teaspoon Green chilli paste(About 4-5 green chillies),
2 tablespoons Mustard oil,
4 tablespoons Coconut milk,
The tender juicy flesh of the green coconut, chopped (‘Malai’ or ‘Shaansh’ of the Daab, as we say)
Whole wheat flour dough, just enough to seal the mouth of the coconut.
Serves: 2
How to prepare this recipePreparing the coconut
Cut out an opening on the top of the green coconut, about an inch, carefully. Drain the water (I would usually drink it.) and scoop out the soft, juicy flesh. Do not throw away the top; we’ll use it later as a lid.
Spicing up
Marinate the prawns with salt and turmeric powder. Add the mustard paste, poppy seed paste, green chilli paste, mustard oil, coconut milk and chopped coconut flesh to the mixture and mix well. Set aside and let it stand for 10 minutes. Let the flavours seep into the prawns.
Sealed with love
Transfer the mixture into the prepared green coconut shell. Cover with the lid (the part that we have cut out) and seal with dough.
Into the oven
I have made it in a clay oven that I built in my backyard to maintain the originality of the recipe, but you can also make it in a microwave, electric oven or pressure cooker.
Fire up the clay oven. Let it be on blaze for a little while to reach about 200°C. Place the sealed coconut in the preheated oven and cook for about 40-50 minutes, or till the outsides are nicely charred. Do not take it out immediately. Let it sit on the heat for another 10 -15 minutes and then take it out.
Smoky, spicy perfection
Cut the seal with a knife, open the lid and scoop out the cooked prawns with the melted coconut white. Transfer it in another half open green coconut, and serve hot, alongside steaming fragrant Basmati rice.
It’s smoky, it’s spicy, it’s perfection. In short, it’s divinity served on a plate.
Alternatively,
If you are using an electric oven, bake in a preheated oven at 220°C for 30-40 minutes.
If you are using a microwave oven,cook for about 15-20 minutes.
If you are using a pressure cooker, cook in a water bath, with the water level halfway up the coconut on medium flame till you hear three/four whistles.
The story behind this recipeMy love affair with Daab Chingri goes back a long way.Growing up amidst a culture where a quintessential meal was incomplete without fish or seafood,I would often accompany my grandfather to the local fish market to buy our daily stock.So much so that I grew accustomed to the pungent odor in no time,and that’s how my soft spot for prawns grew.
I clearly remember being introduced to an incredibly sumptuous Daab Chingri by my grandmother at a lavish family dinner on the Bengali New Year’s Day(‘Poila Boishakh’).The recipe was simple, but the aroma arising from it was priceless.It was love at first sight,or rather bite.The exceptional burst of flavour and taste of spicy chillies and mustard,gentled by the sweetness of coconut milk,the prawns generously slathered with spices and slow cooked inside a tender green coconut,the aroma of smoked food wafting into the air from my grandmother's kitchen still linger in my memory.What makes the recipe all the more special to me is one of my earliest memories – the entire family perched on the kitchen floor on handcrafted floor mats and my grandmother dishing out Daab Chingri,a classic family favourite she was known for making at the traditional family gatherings on Poila Boishakh.And before I know it,the food is in front of me,I peer over the steaming bowl of goodness,spying the plump prawns playing games with the cloudy mustard gravy.As the steam arising from the curry mists my face,I close my eyes and inhale the fragrance of exotic spices,fiery chillies,and the sea.That very moment makes me fall in love with home food all over again.
I have cooked it so many times, especially during Bengali festivals, that I know it by heart now.But even today,as I roll up my sleeves to whip up this delectable platter,the melange of fresh seafood and savoury notes of spices never fail to make me want to rush home to Kolkata.They smell of home.They smell of my childhood, they smell of Bengal.
