Chingri Malaikari | Perfect Bengali Chingri Malai Curry | Prawns Curry | Pujo Special | Varun

Hey guys, this is the Bombay Chef Varun Inamdar and welcome to Get Curried. Well, today let's make a quintessential Bengali curry called Chingri Malai Curry. Well, for the uninitiated, it's a coconut rich, slightly sweet curry and I'm sure you'll love it. Let's begin. Let's first begin with marinating the Chingri or the Golda Prawns. Well, these are freshwater prawns and if you can get these, well, nothing like it. Let's add in some Turmeric. And to this, I'm going to add in some Salt. The Chingri or the Prawn needs to be cleaned and washed well. You can remove the gut, you can clean the head, clean it the way you want or your family prefers. Let's keep this aside. And let's move on to making a paste of Red Onions and Ginger. Let's first grind this and then we'll see if we need some water, only then we'll use it. Well, it's ground absolutely nice and smooth and that's exactly how we want it. Let's keep this aside and let's move on to heating a pan. To this, let's add in Oil. Well, you can begin with lesser Oil, if you need, we can take some more Oil later. But the first process is to fry the Prawns or the Chingri. Well, when I say fry, you do not really need to fry till it's completely well done. It just kind of needs to get seared on the outside and that's about it. The Oil is heated up. Let's slide in the Chingri or the Prawn which has been marinated. Once the Chingri is kind of seared on one side, not more than 30 seconds, we flip it over and ensure the same happens on the other side as well. With this, we turn the flame off. And remove this extremely carefully in a bowl or a plate. The same pan goes back on heat. To this, I'm going to add in some Ghee. Well, in Bengal, I know a lot of my friends and family use something called Jharna Ghee. If you can lay your hands on that, nothing like it. Let's add this, swirl it a little. And to this, let's begin with adding in whole Garam Masalas or whole spices. To begin with, Cloves, Green Cardamom and Cinnamon. Followed up with Bay Leaves and whole Red Chillies which are dried. Swirl it a little. Once the spices start emitting an aromatic flavour, I'm going to add in the paste of Onions and Ginger. Once the Onions kind of just begin to cook, let's add in some Red Chilli Powder. Followed up with the remaining Turmeric. Along with this, some Sugar. Let's add in Green Chillies. And along with this, the Curds. Let's just kind of whip it lightly. Well, legend has it that Chingri Malai Curry is actually, hear the way I say it, it's Malai Curry and not Malai Curry. Well, because of the Malaysian traders that once did business in West Bengal. So, it's called a Malai Curry or a Malaysian Curry. But of course, over the years, Malai has become Malai which is cream or creamy. And that's where we have Chingri Malai Curry. So, whichever story you agree to, that holds the legend true. Give this a mix and allow this mixture to cook on low flame, till it kind of starts releasing oil on its sides. Once the spices are kind of cooked off, the next thing that goes in is Thick Coconut Cream or Thick Coconut Milk. Once the Coconut Cream is added in, we increase the flame and cook this on high flame for at least 2 to 3 minutes. Once the Coconut Cream kind of cooks off, let's add in the marinated and cooked Chingri. Let's swirl this pan. And to this, let's add in the Thin Coconut Milk. With this, let's also not forget Salt. We'd added some Salt while marinating the Chingri, but that's about it. Let's adjust this and allow this to simmer on slow flame, till the Prawn is absolutely well done and cooked. Once the Chingri or the Prawn is absolutely well cooked, one final ingredient which stirs in like magic, and that is Bengali Garam Masala. With this, off goes the flame, and your Chingri Malai Curry is done and ready. Well, this Durga Puja, invite your Bengali friends over, and surprise them with Chingri Malai Curry. Bye for now.