Prawn Bhuna / Prawn Bhuna Masala

Today I woke up before 7:00 A.M....too early for me!! Then I fed the kittens and went back to the bed to lie down. As I lie there, with my eyes little itching and burning from the lack of sleep, I felt a heavy urge to eat something lush. There can never be a better start of the day other than this.

In Kolkata, lush breakfast means, Kochuri and Ghughni, Dal Puri with spicy Potato Curry, Dosa and Sambar, luchi alurdom, jilipi or jalebi, malpua dripping lush sticky syrups...and much more. And if there is leftover Biriyani from last night...breakfast can turn into a heavy feast. Biriyanis taste so much good after one day. However apart from the leftover Biriyani, every other lush breakfast were bought from the parar dokan / local shop. I wish we had such a shop at the rastar mor / turn of the street to quench my thirst for all these.

Then I could have had Fuluri in the breakfast, with a bowl of muri /murmura or partly fermented rice and some water i.e panta bhat. Ma could make a delicious panta bhat, trust me. In summer Panta bhat / partly fermented rice were our favourite holiday breakfast. First the rice had to be fermented properly. We did not like our rice too much fermented, but a little...so that it will become soft but not too much and will have this little tanginess in it. To make this she used to add a good amount of water to the leftover rice, so that they are fully covered and then kept that covered in a warm place. In the next morning, panta bhat was all ready to go. She would mix the rice with some mashed up fuluri and alur chop / potato fritters, chanachur / aloo bhujia, chopped onion and a generous amount of mustard oil. Sometimes she also added some pyaji / onion fritters with them...and the zing that mustard oil gave into the dish cannot be substituted with any other ingredients.

I can eat fuluri everyday, breakfast after breakfast without being tired. Their crunchy and crispy layer outside and the soft spongy pillowy texture inside has too much yum factor in it. In our para / locality the famous fritters were made in Potlar Dokan / Shop of Potla. Their aloor chop, beguni, fuluri, bread chop were killers. Every morning and evening there is a huge crowd in front of the shop. So much so that, pedestrians have to avoid the route just because now its breakfast or snack time, and there will be a huge crowd in front of the shop along with the footpath which was inevitable. Their Kochuri / Kachoris are very famous too. They make the kachoris real thick and large and serves them in shal pata or a leaf plate with spicy potato curry. There was also a man near our house, a little away from the 240 bus stand, who sells peas kachori / karaisutir kochuri with ghughni. He sells only in the morning, and has  his own customers too.

In Kolkata there are other famous shops too...more famous than the ones in my locality...like Ganguram’s small kachori, the famous shop from Hedua, from where Netaji once ate, Putiram’s chop and singara (fritters and samosa) and Tiwari’s Samosa. But they were really occasional for me...so down the memory lane they do not hold so much of a space.

Today I am sharing my version of Prawn Bhuna / Prawn Bhuna Masala...for which I have used a little different method.  I have fried the onions, ginger-garlic and tomato. Then made a paste of them with curd. Marinated the prawns in them and prepared the curry using the paste and cooked them altogether with the prawns. The end result was fantastic. Super super tasty!!

Prawn Bhuna / Prawn Bhuna Masala

Serves 3- 4

Ingredients:

500gm tiger prawns / bagda chingri (around 8-10)

1 large onion / 2 medium onion – sliced

4-6 garlic cloves - chopped

2, 1 inch stick of ginger - chopped

1 medium tomato – chopped

4-5 dry red chillies (Preferably Kashmiri Red Chilies)

2 green chillies – chopped

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder (preferably Kashmiri red chilli powder)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ - 1 tsp garam masala powder

½ cup curd

1 small cinnamon stick

3-4 green cardamom

3-4 cloves

A small bunch of fresh coriander leaves – finely chopped

2 tbsp oil

Salt

A pinch of sugar

Method:

Heat half of the oil in a kadai and add the sliced onions. Sauté till they start to become golden.

Then add the chopped ginger and garlic and sauté till the raw flavour of the garlic is gone.

Next add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they become mushy.

Now add the dry red chillies and fresh green chillies, and cook for more 2-3 minutes.

Once done, take all of them out of the kadai and make a fine paste of them in a blender using the curd. Keep aside.

Peel the shell and de-vein the prawns. Add 1 tbsp of the prepared onion paste and salt to the prawns and marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Now heat the rest of the oil in the kadai and shallow fry the prawns, shaking off the marinating paste, till they become golden from both the sides. Once done, take them out of the kadai and keep aside.

Add some more oil if requires, or in the same oil put in the whole garam masalas – cinnamon stick, cloves and green cardamom. Sauté for 10-15 seconds or until the oil becomes aromatic, and then pour in the prepared onion paste.

Stir and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until all the moisture from the paste is completely evaporated. It will become thick like a paste.

At this stage add a dash of water and put in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder.

Mix everything properly and add in 2 and ½ cups of water. If you want a thinner gravy then go ahead and more water to it.

Simmer again and let the gravy come to a boil. Now add salt and the kept aside fried prawns.

Put cover and cook for 10 more minutes, or until the prawns are cooked from inside. Stir in between to avoid anything sticking to the bottom of the kadai.

Once done put off the cover and simmer till it reaches your desired consistency.

Finally add in the garam masala powder and chopped fresh coriander leaves. Give a good stir and serve hot with steamed hot rice / pulao / pilaf / roti / paratha / naan. It goes well with pretty much everything.