Chingri Begun Pyajkolir Torkari / Bengali Mixed Vegetable curry with Eggplant, Prawns and Potatoes

My husband’s Boro Pishi cooked this scrumptious prawn curry with potatoes, eggplants and pyaj koli / spring onions for us when we went to her house this year for lunch. I ate so much of this particular dish that in the end there was no space in my tummy for the chicken, fish, and chutney. Since we don’t get pyaj koli or onion flower stems here in Abidjan, I replace them with the spring onions. The final taste comes somehow close, except the crunch of the onion flower stems, because they are thicker and firmer in texture than the regular spring onions.

The key process of this recipe is to cook on low flame and without any water. Do not stir too much or else you will make a mess of everything. The eggplants, potatoes, and spring onions / pyaj koli should remain their shape and taste so that in every bite you get to taste each of the veggies individually with a hint of prawn.

Begun Chingri Pyajkolir Torkari / Bengali Mixed Vegetable curry with Prawns, Eggplant, Spring Onions / Onion flower stems and Potatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

500gm prawns – de-veined

1 medium potato –peeled and cut into thin wedges

1 small eggplant – cut into cubes

 A bunch of pyaj koli / onion flower stems / spring onion – chopped into big chunks

1 small onion – chopped

4 cloves of garlic – minced

2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

Salt

2-3 tbsp pure virgin mustard oil

Method:

Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp turmeric powder and some salt for around 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a kadai and shallow fry the prawns for 2-3 minutes.

Take them out of the kadai and keep aside.

Shallow fry the eggplant and potato wedges in the remaining oil and keep aside.

Add more oil if required.

Add onions and garlic to the remaining oil and fry until the onions become lightly golden.

Add the chopped pyaj koli or spring onion / onion flower stems and sprinkle some salt over them.

Add the shallow fried potatoes to them.

Add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder.

Stir to mix everything and cover the kadai with a lid.

Switch the flame to low and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Open the lid and by this time the spring onions / onion flower stems will start to wilt.

If the curry appears dry add a dash of water and cover again.

Cook until the potatoes and the spring onions / onion flower stems are soft.

Add the fried eggplants and prawns to them.

Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

When the curry becomes dry and the oil starts to separate, switch off the flame.

Serve hot with some plain rice and lentils.