Shrimply Hot and Spicy Chingri Maacher Bora

I love my chingri. And I love my camera. But there are days that even my iPhone can take award-winning pictures! Especially the nights no one wants to wait for a food photo set up and all that drama of an elaborate spread at the dinner table.

And Instagram? That makes phone photos look even better. I am an avid Instagrammer. In my mind, all my photographs are prize-winning. Including the lame artichoke picture I took one day while buying groceries at Bloor Street Market. But artichokes don’t make chingri’r bora. Pink, juicy, shrimps do!

Now these chingri boras are very deceptive in nature. You might get tempted to gobble them all up when they come out golden and crispy from the wok while you are frying in more. Or you may just behave and exercise that wavering self-control and serve these beautifully, hand-crafted shrimp fritters to the ones you love. I promise they will love you back.

Ingredients for Shrimply Hot and Spicy Chingri Maacher Bora are:

500 grams largish shrimps, deveined, de-shelled and cleaned (I used tiger shrimps)
1 medium size red onion very finely chopped
Handful of green chilies very finely chopped
Two inch piece of fresh ginger very finely chopped
7-8 fat cloves of garlic very finely chopped/minced
Handful of fresh coriander very finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons besan
4-5 tablespoons rice flour
1 egg
Salt
Mustard /canola oil for deep frying

Start by cutting very small pieces (something in between mincing and chopping) of the cleaned shrimps. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients (except the oil!) and pound together. I did not add any water, since my shrimps were frozen and thawed, which meant they had a lot of moisture in them.

Growing up, I saw Mum pulverize her kucho chingri in the food processor or have the help grind it coarsely on the sheel nora for her chingrir bora. But you can work with my method as well if you don’t mind getting a little messy on the chopping board.

Make tiny balls of the shrimp mixture and deep fry in hot oil.

Make sure you have the oil really hot and then reduce the heat to medium while the boras are frying. This way they will cook through and you won’t end up with raw insides smelling of raw shrimps!

Fry the shrimp fritters in small batches till they are lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on paper towels.

Serve with rice, mushurir dal, kurkure alu bhaja and salad or pass a try full of these chingrir boras with your favorite cocktails. You will definitely have people asking you for the recipe.

P.S. The pictures in the post are all from my iPhone. It was convenient because we were so hungry. Not because I have single digit IQ and can’t handle a camera.

Shrimply Delicious, Chili-Garlic Prawn

Some days are such, I want dinner made under 10 minutes. This does not necessarily mean I pop in the microwave a TV dinner. By now, you know my habit of cooking fresh and homemade and from-the-scratch. Well, its not really a myth to do all that in 10 minutes. Or 20 maybe.

Here is something that will give Rachael Ray a run for her money – my Chili-Garlic Prawn, with an approximate cook time of 10.

Ingredients for Chili-Garlic Prawn are:

10 large shrimps, remove shell, keep tail and devein. I used the black colossal tiger shrimps from St. Lawrence Market.

For the marinade: 
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon cornstarch
Pinch of black pepper powder
Pinch of sugar
White of 1 egg

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and dunk the shrimps in it. Keep for 20-30 minutes.

For the sauce:
1 medium size onion, yellow or red, cut into quarters and petals separated
5-6 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
3-4 green chilies, sliced
3 tablespoons Sambal Oelek
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Pinch of sugar
3+3 tablespoons canola oil

Heat half the oil in a Chinese wok. Remove the prawns from the marinade and shallow fry them in the hot oil, turning them mid way. Give each side of the shrimp about 2-3 minutes in the heat, so that its tail curl up and it turns pink. Do this in batches if your wok is small. Keep them aside.

Start with a clean wok to make the sauce and finish the dish. Heat the remaining oil and add the garlic and green chilies. Sauté for a couple of minutes without turning the garlic brown. Toss in the onions. Sweat them on high for 3-4 minutes.
In a bowl, mix together the tomato ketchup, sambal oelek, soy sauce, and sugar. Pour it on the onions, etc. Give it a good stir and let it cook for 3-4 minutes on high heat. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. Add the vinegar. I did not add any salt to my dish as all the sauces have ample salt in them.

Now add the prawns to the sauce. Coat them well, cook for 2-3 minutes in the sauce and turn the heat off. Serve immediately with steamed rice or a fried rice you like.


Now who was keeping the time?

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

Soccer and BBC are two of his favorite things. I chose to make for him Chingri Maacher Malaikari and Ras Malai, his second set of favorites. Funny, how both dishes have the word “malai” in common.

And I served them in the bowls I made at Pottery School.

P has a bit of a sweet tooth, but he doesn’t admit it. But each time he digs into a bowl of Ras Malai, he reveals himself completely.

When he is in India, my husband can be seen frequently at Haldiram’s, completely surrendering himself to the charms of their Ras Malai. The creamy cheese dumplings floating in a sea of thick, creamy sauce of milk, saffron and pistachios. What man can resist such temptations. P does not even complain about calories then.

Another thing his knees go jelly about is Chingri Maacher Malaikari. Not only can he eat this Bengali classic anytime of the day, he can also cook it with equal aplomb.

The silky-satin texture of the coconut-based Shrimp Curry is worth missing a thousand meals in the restaurant on the eve of his birthday, he says. And I was only too obliging to my birthday boy!

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

This boy is my man, and that girl is his wife who did not get him a cake or a greeting card, just made him his homemade favorites for his birthday.

Seared Shrimps and Parsley Couscous Salad

This meal is for one of those days when you can just sit back and relax and do the prep work and the meal right when you are about to eat. It is also good for bachelor nights.

First the Parsley Couscous Salad, which is of course Mediterranean-inspired.

Ingredients for Parsley Couscous Salad are:

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
1 firm tomato, very finely chopped
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
1 cup cooked couscous ( I use the Israeli variety)
Lemon juice
Fresh cracked black pepper
Salt
EVOO

Mix everything together except the salt and couscous and keep in the fridge. Just before you are about to eat, mix the couscous and salt and serve. Well, I haven’t written a shorter recipe than this. So…

As a last minute thought, I added some pomegranate leftover from the Fresh Fruit and Cream Cake. And the salad looked very Middle Eastern!

That being taken care of I just about had time to get my shrimps seared on my flat tava.

Ingredients for Seared Shrimps are:

400 grams shrimps, shelled, deveined and tail on
4-5 fat cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 teaspoons dry herb of your choice, I used oregano
Lemon juice
Freshly cracked pepper
Olive oil
Salt

Poke the shrimps on wooden skewers and keep them lined up. Remember to throw the bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes so that they don’t char or break in the heat.

Heat a tava or a flat skillet. Add little drizzles of oil, and the minced garlic. Sauté for a minute making sure not to brown the garlic. Add the dried herb. Mix.

Place the shrimps-on-skewers over the spices and let them sear on high heat. Turn the skewers midway. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Remove the skewers from heat when you see the shrimps turning pink in color and curling up. It takes about 5-6 minutes to do the shrimps.

Finish the Seared Shrimps with a squirt of lemon juice.

All this under 30 minutes! I could give Rachel Ray a run for her money. Is anybody listening?

Thai-style Shrimps in Coconut Milk

A little pot of Basil can go a long way. Its rain-drenched leaves are there all ready for you to pluck when you need a little sprig for a Thai-inspired Shrimp curry.

Ingredients for Thai-style Shrimps in Coconut Milk are:

400 grams shrimps, cleaned, deveined
1 can of coconut milk
Handful each of vegetables which cook easy like green peas, snap peas, green bell pepper
2-3 green onions (just the green portions)
1 knob of ginger, very finely chopped
2-3 fat cloves of garlic, minced
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Few leaves of basil, torn
5-6 dry red chilies
Fish sauce (I use a Thai brand)
Sesame oil
Sugar
Salt

Heat sesame oil in a wok and toss in the snap peas and sliced bell peppers. Sauté for a couple of minutes and keep aside.

 

In the same oil, add the ginger, garlic and dry red chilies. Stir for a couple of minutes, reduce the heat to the lowest gas mark and add the coconut milk. Drizzle fish oil into the coconut milk, I added about two tablespoons.

Cook the coconut milk adding little water for about five minutes. Add the shrimps then.

When the shrimps start turning pink, add the already sautéed vegetables, handful of green peas, and season with sugar and salt. Cook for not more than 2-3 minutes.

Check on the seasoning. This curry should have a sweet balance to it because of the coconut milk. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and some torn basil leaves. Just before you serve, finish it with some chopped green onions.

Its best to serve it straight out of the wok and onto the dinner table. With a hot bowl of rice, some more torn basil leaves and lemon wedges. I had some Gondho Lebu (you could try Kaffir Lime) which I used to squirt over my rice and curry and honestly it just took my Shrimp Curry to another level.