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Have you ever noticed that Bengalis have a delicious, if somewhat peculiar, way of transforming humble veggies into fabulous, festive dishes? The trick is simple. Take a vegetable that people find boring, cook it with meat, fish or prawns, and voila! You have on your hands a vegetable-based dish that is festive enough to make your weekend brunch, lunch or dinner feast stand out! And when it comes to these vegetables-meet-non-vegetarian-ingredients dishes, my all-time favourite is Echor Chingri Dalna.
Simply put, Echor means green jackfruit or kathal, and Chingri means prawns. Echor Chingri Dalna, sometimes known only as Echor Chingri, is a curry made with jackfruit and prawns. In case you didn’t know, green jackfruit is not only a great source of plant proteins but also has a meat-like flaky texture. This is the main reason why many green jackfruit dishes are cooked with the same intense flavours as mutton dishes—plenty of ginger and garlic paste, lots of onions, and a slow-cooking technique that turns the profile of the dish deep and rich.
You might argue that given this flavour profile, green jackfruit or Echor doesn’t really need the addition of prawns. But to be honest, the combination works like magic! The prawns intensify the flavour of the jackfruit. Moreover, if you are cooking with small prawns or ones with their heads on, then the crunch of the Chingri offsets the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the Echor beautifully. What a way to transform a dish that could have been too simple into a sophisticated feast with nuanced flavours and textures!
If you are looking for a stunning dish to turn your weekend meals into a feast, this Echor Chingri Dalna is your best bet. The dish can be served with rice, pulao, roti, parathas and even naan or puris. Here’s the recipe.
Image courtesy: Facebook/Swati Banerjee
Ingredients:
200 g green jackfruit or kathal, cubed
200 g prawns, shelled and deveined
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
3-4 green chillies, slit
Salt, to taste
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp mustard oil
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1 dry red chilli
2 cups water
Ingredients:
1. Marinate the prawns in a bowl with some salt and turmeric powder.
2. Heat the mustard oil in a large wok.
3. Once the oil smokes slightly, add the cumin seeds, bay leaf and dry red chilli.
4. Once these stop spluttering, add the onions and ginger garlic paste and saute.
5. When the onions turn translucent, add the jackfruit cubes and potatoes.
6. Mix well, then add all the powdered spices, green chillies and salt.
7. Saute everything until the spices are cooked and the mix has browned properly.
8. Add the water, cover the wok and cook until the jackfruit and potatoes have softened.
9. Meanwhile, heat some ghee in a separate pan and fry the marinated prawns.
10. Once the jackfruit is cooked, add the prawns and ghee mix, and stir the Echor Chingri Dalna.
11. Add some sugar, mix well and cook for another minute.
12. Serve the Echor Chingri Dalna hot with rice or roti.
