Bengali Easy Recipe To Cook Flavourful Chingri Malai Curry At Home
Enjoy the rich and aromatic flavours of Bengali cuisine with Chingri Malai Curry, succulent prawns simmered in a creamy coconut milk gravy, infused with fragrant spices.
(By: Biswajit Khamaru, Chef, Jhore Jole Jongole)
Chingri Malai Curry is a mouth-watering Bengali delicacy with its rich coconut milk gravy infused with aromatic spices. This stunning dish is made with juicy prawns, simmered in a potpourri of bay leaf, cardamom, clove, and cinnamon, combining all flavours and textures. A festive favourite, it lends itself well to special occasions and gets great applause from seafood lovers with its creamy consistency and gentle sweetness.
The dish’s signature smooth gravy made with coconut milk and the natural sweetness of prawns makes it an irresistible choice. It is one of those dishes that are easy to prepare at home with just a handful of essential ingredients and uncomplicated cooking techniques. From tempering whole spices to gently simmering prawns in coconut milk, every stage in the preparation adds to the depth of flavour of this culinary gem. A great companion for aromatic basmati rice or soft Bengali luchi, it never fails to steal the show with its taste and comfort.
Here is the recipe to prepare this aromatic dish easily at home.
Ingredients
- 6 Piece Bagda Chingri (giant tiger or freshwater prawns)
- 50 Gram Vegetable oil
- 10 Gram Ghee
- 200 Gram Onion paste
- 20 Gram Ginger paste
- 4 Gram Turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 75 Gram Yoghurt
- 6 Piece Green chilies
- 300 Gram Coconut milk (first-press)
- 200 Gram Coconut milk (second-press)
- 24 Gram Salt
- 36 Gram Sugar
- 0.5 Teaspoon Bengali garam masala
Cooking Instructions
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.
Coat prawns with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder and set aside.
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.
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.
Now add ghee to the residual oil. Temper with dried red chilies, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.
Add onion paste along with sugar, and fry for about 8 minutes until the onions are brown.
Add ginger paste and fry for another 3–4 minutes, after which add turmeric and Kashmiri red chili 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.
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.
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.
Allow the prawns to bubble in the curry, covered, for no more than 5 minutes. Finish off with garam masala before serving.
Summary
Easy Recipe To Cook Flavourful Chingri Malai Curry At Home
Enjoy the rich and aromatic flavours of Bengali cuisine with Chingri Malai Curry, succulent prawns simmered in a creamy coconut milk gravy, infused with fragrant spices.
Ingredients
- 6 Piece Bagda Chingri (giant tiger or freshwater prawns)
- 50 Gram Vegetable oil
- 10 Gram Ghee
- 200 Gram Onion paste
- 20 Gram Ginger paste
- 4 Gram Turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 75 Gram Yoghurt
- 6 Piece Green chilies
- 300 Gram Coconut milk (first-press)
- 200 Gram Coconut milk (second-press)
- 24 Gram Salt
- 36 Gram Sugar
- 0.5 Teaspoon Bengali garam masala
Main Procedure
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.
Coat prawns with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder and set aside.
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.
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.
Now add ghee to the residual oil. Temper with dried red chilies, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.
Add onion paste along with sugar, and fry for about 8 minutes until the onions are brown.
Add ginger paste and fry for another 3–4 minutes, after which add turmeric and Kashmiri red chili 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.
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.
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.
Allow the prawns to bubble in the curry, covered, for no more than 5 minutes. Finish off with garam masala before serving.
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