Saturday, January 19, 2013

Chingri Kaliakari or Malaikalia, Its the Mother of Prawns Anyway!

So my Mum’s hybrid version of this chingri dish created some kind of buzz with my readers.

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What was made by my Mum as an inventive, something-in-between a Kalia and a Malaikari turned out to be this head-turning stunner. We had it during our trip to India last month, and I was completely stumped by the way it teased me with its rich and silken taste, both at the same. I asked Mum, “What do you call this dish?” She said, “Its a no-name chingri. Just eat it.”

That was enough titillation for the food writer in me.

So here I am, writing down the recipe for you. Of course the creator of this recipe, my Mum has been adequately consulted about the ingredients and measurements.

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Ingredients for Chingri Kaliakari or Malaikalia are:

*Thank you Sharmita Saha for the name suggestion.

IMG_188012 large tiger shrimps/prawns (Use golda chingri if available)
1 medium size red onion, grated
1 large red, ripe tomato grated
Quarter cup grated fresh coconut (I use the frozen kind)
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon green chilli paste or use 2-3 whole (don't add if kids are eating!)
2 + 1 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground garam masala powder (cinnamon, cloves, green and black cardamoms)
1 or 2 bay
4-5 tablespoons mustard oil
1 heaped tablespoon ghee
Sugar
Salt

IMG_1884Start by deveining and cleaning the heads of the prawns. I kept the tail on to make the shrimps looks pretty! Rub a couple of spoons of turmeric and salt.

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Heat mustard oil in a wok. Add the prawns in batches and cook them on each side for a couple of minutes. Once the prawns turn pink, take them off the heat.

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In the leftover oil, add half a teaspoon of sugar and let it caramelize. Take care not to burn it.

IMG_1890Add the bay, grated onions, garam masala powder and green chillies and mix. Cover and cook these ingredients on low heat for 7-8 minutes till the onions start turning light brown.

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Now add the ginger-garlic paste and continue to cook covered for about five more minutes.

IMG_1899Next add the tomato and coconut, and mix. Add the turmeric and red chilli powder and continue cooking on low heat and covered all the time. It takes about 10-15 minutes of slow cooking for the raw taste to go away from the ingredients.

IMG_1901IMG_1903You will see little oil bubbles around the masala, season with salt and sugar and mix. Add the ghee at this point in time and cook for a couple more minutes.

Its safe to add water to your onion-tomato-coconut masala now. Add about one and a half cups of water and cover. Let this cook for another 7-8 minutes. Make sure you use gentle heat while cooking your masala sauce. We don’t want the onions and coconut to burn and give the dish a bitter taste.

IMG_1905One the gravy comes to a bubbling boil, slide in the prawns one at a time, making sure you don’t separate the heads from the tails.

Cook the prawns on medium heat in the gravy for about 6-7 minutes. Do a taste test and add sugar and salt if needed.

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Serve your Prawn Kaliakari or Malaikalia with plain rice. And like most Indian dishes, it tastes even better the next day. In case you have leftover gravy, preserve it in the freezer. On another day, just sauté some shrimps and add to your leftover sauce and cook for 7-8 minutes. Voila! That saves you from all the grating and grinding.

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13 comments:

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Malaikari dekhe simply jibe jol asche. fatafati preparation.
Deepa

PreeOccupied said...

@Hamaree Rasoi, correction - Malaikalia, not Malaikari. :-)

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a beautiful dish, eyecatchy and droolworthy;

Sweet'n'Savoury said...

Awesome pics of the yummy Malaikalia (Right??!!):D:D

Unknown said...

Ami kintu malaikari jantam...malaikalia o je hoe eta janlam..thanks for sharing....:)...darun recipe...

PreeOccupied said...

@Silence Sings, if you had read the post, you'd have known why I called it Malaikalia. :-)

PreeOccupied said...

Btw, here is the Malaikari recipe from my Blog: http://preeoccupied.blogspot.ca/2010/04/maha-lobster-malaikari.html

Its already linked to this post, but still...

ananya said...

Juz a beautifully blended dish which i tried n came out nicely with all aromas lingering together tantalising my taste buds, a must try receipe.

Loved it thanks

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Pree
How are you ?
Simply awesome ! cant wait to try it out. Now that I am home, let me see what all the dishes i had planned to cook from your blog . If I get good prawns will start with this one.
I take note of using black cardamom along with the other 3.
Bhalo theko
Kaku

Unknown said...

Deelishh! Must, must, must do it over the weekend.

Chondryma said...

Lovely dish..... Thanks Pree for sharing... Aaj hi try korbo

Sharmila said...

Am struck after seeing the first snap. Ki likhbo kichu mathaye ashche na. :-)

Jhimly Kar Hazra said...

Tried this for lunch today. Was AWESOME...so say the least. Thank You so much!!