Bringing Bengali Classic of Daab Chingri to your Dinner Table
This Daab Chingri recipe belongs to the annals of Bengali heritage cooking, which often enjoys the high rank of occasional festive cooking. A traditional Bengali festive meal gets an instant upgrade when this dish of daab chingri is made as a part of it. Here, prawns are cooked in a coconut based gravy inside a tender coconut. This process of cooking makes it uniquely delicious and flavourful.
Here, in this article, I have elaborated on how to make a daab chingri recipe without microwave. In fact, we are going to use our very own trusted friend of the Indian kitchen, the pressure cooker. After bringing together the gravy base and the prawns, we will stuff it inside a medium-sized ‘daab‘ or a tender coconut. Then after sealing the top, we are going to steam it inside a pressure cooker.
After cooking what you get is a rich, luscious and flavourful dish which can be served with a side of rice.
How to make Daab Chingri – Ingredients list
- Prawns – medium-sized, deshelled and deveined
- Tender Coconut – medium-sized, one that would fit inside your pressure cooker
- Coconut Cream
- Mustard Seeds
- Poppy Seeds
- Mustard Oil
- Green Chilies
- Nigella Seeds or Kalo Jeere – optional
- Onion
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Salt
- Sugar
- Flour dough to seal the coconut or aluminium foil sheet
How to make Daab Chingri recipe Bengali traditional way?
Traditional recipe for daab chingri is quite obscure. There are numerous ways of making this, where each recipe varies by some degree mostly in terms of its ingredients. Overall, daab chingri is a classic preparation of prawns where it is cooked in a rich gravy of onion, ginger and coconut milk, inside a tender coconut.
I have tried this dish multiple times at various Bengali specialty restaurants and also the recipe which my grandma (nani) followed. However, I prefer the one that I devised to suit out palate. I will give you both the recipe here so that you can choose one for yourself.
The main difference in my version and my grandma’s version is one simple ingredient, and that is Nigella Seeds (Kalo Jeere or Kalonji). She used it, whereas I skip it. I find its aroma too overpowering for the sweet and flavourful gravy of this dish. You may also skip it or maybe use a pinch of it, its totally upon you.
So, here’s step-by-step list of instructions on how to cook daab chingri at home, using a pressure cooker.
How to cook Daab Chingri recipe in Bengali style?
- In a pan, heat some Mustard Oil and temper it with a pinch of Nigella Seeds. This is optional. As they splutter, add the onion, ginger and garlic paste in it. Cook it on low heat. Add the green chilli. Either keep it whole or slice it if you prefer heat.
Please keep in mind that we want to cook the onion paste till it gets rid of the raw flavour. We don’t want any browning to it. - Once you see that the onion mix has reduced in quantity, add the prawns. Give everything a mix. Soon you will see them turning pink, which means they are almost cooked. prawns cook very fast, and overcooking makes them chewy.
- Now, add the mustard seeds paste, poppy seeds paste, salt, sugar and coconut cream.
- To dilute the gravy, add the tender coconut water and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the heat.
- Prepare the daab or tender coconut. Scrape the inside using a tablespoon and leave it in there. Shave off the bottom of the tender coconut so that it stands perfectly on its own.
- Pour the prawn gravy into the emptied hollow of the tender coconut. Top it with some mustard oil and a couple of green chilies for extra flavour.
- If you have the top of the tender coconut with you then place it back in its place. Seal the joint using dough. Otherwise, if you do not have the top (like me), cover the top using a square piece of aluminium foil paper.
- Place a tripod inside the pressure cooker and place the tender coconut on it. Fill 1/4th of the cooker with water. Put on the lid and place the weight valve on. Allow it to whistle 3-4 times on high heat.
Caution – Make sure that there is a gap between the top of the tender coconut and the inside of the lid, especially where the release point is. - Turn off the heat and allow the cooker to cool off completely. Take out the tender coconut and remove the top carefully. Scoop out the gravy with prawns and serve.
How to serve it?
Daab Chingri pairs best with simple rice. This often comes after a serving of dal and bhaja, and a niramish torkari or a vegetable side dish.
In case you are looking for more interesting and delicious fish recipes, here are a few of them from my blog.
Katla Mach / Rohu Fish or Rui Maach Recipes
- Rui Macher Jhal | Bengali Fish Stew Recipe
- Aloo Phulkopi diye Rui Macher Jhol Recipe
- Aloo Diye Macher Jhal Recipe
- Doi Maach | Bengali Fish in Yogurt Curry Recipe
- Katla Macher Tel diye Bhat Chorchori Recipe
Baramundi / Basa/ Tilapia Recipes
- Kolkata Fish Fry Recipe
- Grilled Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce Recipe
- Kolkata-style Gravy Chilli Fish Recipe
- Shorshe Bata Diye Tilapia Macher Recipe | Tilapia in Bengali Mustard Fish Curry
Fish Head Recipes
Ilish Mach or Hilsa Recipes
- Sorshe Ilish Macher Jhal | Bengali Hilsa in Mustard Curry Recipe
- Ilish Maach Bhaja & Bhapa Ilish│Bengali Fried Hilsa & Steamed Hilsa Curry Recipe
Some other fish or seafood recipes
- Microwave Bhapa Chingri Recipe | Steamed Prawn Curry
- Lau Patay Chingri Macher Paturi Recipe
- Loittya Maach er Jhuro | Bengali Bombay Duck Stir-Fry
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This Daab Chingri recipe belongs to the annals of Bengali heritage cooking, which often enjoys the high rank of occasional festive cooking. A traditional Bengali festive meal gets an instant upgrade when this dish of daab chingri in made as a part of it. Here, prawns are cooked in a coocnut based gravy inside a tender coconut. This process of cooking makes it uniquely delicious and flavourful.
- 100 gms Prawns – medium-sized deshelled and deveined
- 1 Tender Coconut – medium-sized one that would fit inside your pressure cooker
- 2 tbsp Coconut Cream
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tbsp Poppy Seeds
- 4 tbsp Mustard Oil
- 2 Green Chilies
- Nigella Seeds or Kalo Jeere – optional
- 1 Onion Small
- ½ inch Ginger
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- Salt to Taste
- 1 tsp Sugar
- Flour dough to seal the coconut or aluminium foil sheet
-
In a pan, heat some Mustard Oil and temper it with a pinch of Nigella Seeds. This is optional. As they splutter, add the onion, ginger and garlic paste in it. Cook it on low heat. Add the green chilli. Either keep it whole or slice it if you prefer heat.
-
Please keep in mind that we want to cook the onion paste till it gets rid of the raw flavour. We don’t want any browning to it.
-
Once you see that the onion mix has reduced in quantity, add the prawns. Give everything a mix. Soon you will see them turning pink, which means they are almost cooked. prawns cook very fast, and overcooking makes them chewy.
-
Now, add the mustard seeds paste, poppy seeds paste, salt, sugar and coconut cream.
-
To dilute the gravy, add the tender coconut water and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the heat.
-
Prepare the daab or tender coconut. Scrape the inside using a tablespoon and leave it in there. Shave off the bottom of the tender coconut so that it stands perfectly on its own.
-
Pour the prawn gravy into the emptied hollow of the tender coconut. Top it with some mustard oil and a couple of green chilies for extra flavour.
-
If you have the top of the tender coconut with you then place it back in its place. Seal the joint using dough. Otherwise, if you do not have the top (like me), cover the top using a square piece of aluminium foil paper.
-
Place a tripod inside the pressure cooker and place the tender coconut on it. Fill 1/4th of the cooker with water. Put on the lid and place the weight valve on. Allow it to whistle 3-4 times on high heat.
-
Caution – Make sure that there is a gap between the top of the tender coconut and the inside of the lid, especially where the release point is.
-
Turn off the heat and allow the cooker to cool off completely. Take out the tender coconut and remove the top carefully. Scoop out the gravy with prawns and serve.
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