Chingri Diye Phulkopir Dalna(Potato-Cauliflower curry with prawns)

Today I'm showcasing a very unusual but delicious fish preperation from bengali cuisine. In bengal, we love all kinds of fish, from sweet water fish till salted sea-water fish but Bengali's love for sea-fish is something undescribable. Bengalis get emotional, sentimental and everything when it comes to Sea-fish, specially all bengalis have a very soft corner for Prawns. Prawn takes the taste of any curry to a diffrent lable. Try this curry when cauliflowers are in season, i.e., in winter. Fresh cauliflower and potato curry and addition of fresh prawns cooked in a mildly spiced curry are divine. You can also add fresh green peas in the curry and enjoy with piping hot plain rice......a heart warming comfort food, I must say.

You need :
Medium sized prawn : 12-15 pcs.
Potato : 2, medium, peeled and diced
Cauliflower : 1, medium, cut into big florets
Onion : 1, medium, grated
Ginger paste : 1 tblsp.
Tomatoes : 2, medium, chopped
Green chilli : 2, roughly chopeed
Turmeric powder : 2tsp.
Cumin powder : 2 tsp.
Coriander powder : 1tsp.
Red Chiili powder : 1-2 tsp. (as per taste)
Mustard/vegetable Oil : 3-4 tblsp.
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander Leaves for garnishing
Spices to temper :
Bay Leaf : 1-2
Cardamom : 2-3
Cloves : 3-4
Cinnamon Stick : 1(1")
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp.

How to :

Marinate cleaned prawns with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Keepa aside for 10 minutes. Same way marinate potato and cauliflower pieces with salt and turmeric powder.
Heat oil in a cooking pan, add 1 tblsp. oil and fry prawns till lightly browned from both side. just fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Do not overfry prawns, they tend to get hard. Keep aside.
Heat 2 tblsp. oil in the same pan, fry marinated potato and cauliflower pieces untill brown one at a time. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tblsp. oil in the same pan, temper with tempering ingredients, then add grated onions. Saute till onions are light brown, add ginger paste. Saute for another 2 minutes, then add green chillies, all spice powders and chopped tomatoes.
Adding sprinkling little water on teh pan, fry teh spices until oil seperates the spices. Add fried potato, cauliflower and prawn pieces and mix well with the spice paste. Season with little salt and a pinch of sugar. Be careful not to add much salt in the curry as we marinated all the vegetabels and prawns with salt too. Note : In Bengali cuisine, it's very common to add little sugar to the curry to balance all the taste, not to sweeten the curry, just a pinch of sugar does a lot of magic.
Add about 2 cups of water in the curry, cover with lid and let it boil. When potato and cauliflower, both are cooked and gravy has thicken a bit, check the seasoning. Add if needed, the gravy should be not too runny, not so thick.
Finally, add fresh chopped coriander leaves in the curry, remove from heat and Keep aside covered until serve.
Enjoy with warm white rice. The taste is unforgettable.