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Somewhere between prawns and lobsters lies a beautiful, meaty seafood variety called jumbo prawns. With a hard shell and soft flesh, jumbo prawns are a delicacy used in the many coastal cuisines of India. In Bengal, however, jumbo prawns are not only cooked in the traditional coastal blend of flavours that include coconut milk and, on occasion, mustard. Instead, a popular Bengali jumbo prawn dish has major mainland Mughlai influences.
We are referring here to a dish called Golda Chingri Korma. You might be familiar with meaty kormas made with chicken and mutton, or even those made with vegetables like cauliflower and lotus stems. But Bengali Golda Chingri Korma is a rare and unique combination of Mughlai flavours with the freshest seafood of Bengal.
Just like other korma dishes, Golda Chingri Korma boasts of a rich gravy made with onions, cashews, almonds, with a hint of sweetness from raisins. The recipe is made without any tomatoes and the gravy is thickened with yoghurt for a dash of sourness. The jumbo prawns, on the other hand, are prepared simply with a marinate of turmeric and salt. The biggest variation from North Indian kormas here is the use of mustard oil along with ghee to make this Bengali korma.
Video credit: YouTube/Simply Cooking & Shubhra's Lifestyle
Packed with the flavours of jumbo prawns cooked in a Mughlai korma gravy, this Bengali Golda Chingri Korma can turn even the simplest of meals into a feast. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients:
4-5 jumbo prawns
2 onions, ground to paste
½ cup yoghurt
½ cup birista or fried onions
5-8 cashews, soaked
5-8 almonds, soaked
5 raisins, soaked
2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
5 green chillies, slit
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp sugar
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp ghee
Image credit: Experiencesofagastronomad
Method:
1. Wash, clean and dry the jumbo prawns and place them in a large bowl.
2. Add salt and turmeric powder, mix well and marinate for half an hour.
3. Peel the almonds and place them in a grinding jar with the cashews and raisins.
4. Grind into a fine paste and set aside.
5. Heat the mustard oil in a wok.
6. Add the jumbo prawns and fry them until they turn golden. Drain from the wok and set aside.
7. Add ghee to the remaining mustard oil and let it heat up.
8. Now add the cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and saute.
9. Once the spices stop spluttering, add the onions and ginger garlic paste.
10. Saute and cook until the onions turn brown.
11. Now add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and cook until the spices are no longer raw.
12. At this time, whisk in the yoghurt and mix well.
13. Saute and cook the yogurt gravy until its oils are released.
14. Now add the cashew, almond and raisin paste and cook until these are no longer raw.
15. Add salt and mix well, then add the cooked jumbo prawns.
16. Mix well and add the garam masala, green chillies, birista and sugar.
17. Make sure the gravy is thick but not sticky. Add a splash of water to adjust if needed.
18. Cook for two minutes, then remove from heat.
19. Serve the Golda Chingri Korma hot with pulao.
