Chingri Maccher Malaikari (Prawn Malaikari)

Sundays are when we prefer to relax and eat out. For me it's the one day when I try out new recipes. Now I have been planning to make the authentic and delicious Chingri Maccher Malaikari since a long time. But one thing stood between me and this dish. The coconut milk which is the most important ingredient after the chingri or prawns. I don't have the means to extract milk from the coconut. Someone told me of the readily available coconut milk powder but I did not get it in the local shops. A trip to Big Bazar at Patia, Bhubaneswar and there it was. The prized ingredient sitting on the rack proudly. I grabbed a couple of sachets of the Maggi Coconut Milk Powder and I was ready to prepare my first Chingri Malaikari.

I woke up very early on Sunday morning at about 8 AM. Come on for bachelors that's pretty early when the day is Sunday. I got the prawns and was back home. A cup of coffee and I was ready to prepare for the dish.

It is always recommended to get king prawns or golda chingri as we call it in Bengali. Also if you can extract milk from coconut there is nothing better than that. As for me it was big sized prawns and coconut milk powder. I have detailed the process below:

Ingredients:

Chingri or prawns 300 grams

Coconut milk 1 cup or coconut milk powder 3 tsp

Mustard Oil 2 tbsp

Onions 1 large cut

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Green chilli 1 pc slit

Ghee 1 tsp

Garam Masala 1 tsp

Spice Mix

Ginger garlic paste 1tsp

Turmeric powder 1tsp

Red chilli powder 1tsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Tomato ketchup 1 tbsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Preparing the spice mix

Mix all the ingredients mentioned under Spice Mix with 1 tbsp water and keep aside.

Preparing Coconut Milk

Mix coconut powder with a cup of hot water and keep aside.

1.  Pour the oil on the kadhai and let it get hot
2.  Put the cumin seeds and once they start spluttering put in the onions. Let it fry for a couple of minutes
3. Now pour in the masala mix that we had prepared earlier
4.  Let it fry for few minutes and then put in the prawns. Mix well and let it cook until the oil comes out
5.  Once the oil starts floating, put in the coconut milk and bring it to a boil
6.  Now put the flame in simmer and let it cook for 5-7 minutes
7.  Put off the flame. Put in ghee and garam masala
8.  Serve hot with plain rice or basmati rice

Hope you enjoy the dish. If your style of preparation is different from the one I shared, do share!