From the story: Thought for Food.
This main course dish can be part of an exciting three-course meal when made with Masoor Dal and brown basmati rice recipe posted in this blog. For those who have not experienced cooking Bangladeshi food or this type of cuisine before, it’s fun and and the end result is very rewarding!
Bangladesh Bhapa Chingri (Steamed Prawns with Mustard and Green Chili)
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw prawns, shelled and deveined can substitute with large raw shrimp
- 2⅛ teaspoons brown mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon bottled or filtered water
- ¼ cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 whole green chilis, finely chopped adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste
- ¼ cup pink Himalayan sea salt (for shrimp rub)
- 1 tablespoon ghee
Instructions
- Wash prawns (or shrimp). They should be shelled and deveined. Remove ¼ teaspoon of salt and set aside. Rub the remaining salt onto the shrimp/prawns. Set aside and leave for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Wash off salt by rinsing well under cold water. Pat dry and set aside. If you do not want the prawns (or shrimp) to end up salty, then use less salt and rinse within 5 minutes.
- Grind mustard seeds coarsely, not finely. Transfer into a pot. This pot should be large enough to fit the prawns (or shrimp) but small enough to place on top of a second larger pan that will contain water (like a double broiler)--in order to steam the prawns (or shrimp) on stovetop.
- Add the tablespoon of water to ground mustard seeds. Add green chilis, the ¼ teaspoon of remaining salt that was set aside, onion, red chili powder, turmeric, and ghee. Mix and cover pot.
- At this point, take the larger pan with water in it and place the covered pot containing the mixture on top of it (think double broiler). Water should come approximately ⅓ of the way up the top of the covered pot. Steam for approximately 10 minutes or until the prawns/shrimp are cooked through. (One telling sign for prawns is that the outside should be pink with red tails and it will have semi-opaque white color flesh. Shrimp will have an opaque white and pink color and a curved “C” shape). As with all fish, we recommend using a food thermometer to check that the food reaches the internal temperature recommended by FoodSafety.gov.
- Stir and serve. Can be eaten on top of the Fragrant Rice Bengali Style (on this site), or separately.
