CHINGRI POSTO MALAIKARI ( Bengali Style Prawn Curry with Poppy Seeds and Coconut Milk )

This is a Traditional Bengali recipe, prawns cooked with poppy seed paste ( Posto) and thickened with coconut cream. Bengali posto dishes are very delicious specially when we use the mustard oil for cooking. You can also prepare fish or vegetables following the same recipe. Prawns being my personal favourite I have made it with prawns today.

Ingredients:
Prawns ... 500 gms
Onion ..... 1
Green chillies .. 3-4
Poppy seeds .. 3-4 tbsps ( soak them for a few hours and grind to a paste)
Ginger ... 1 tsp
Garlic .... 1 tsp
Coconut milk ... 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder .. 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder ... 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf .... 1
Cinnamon Stick .. 1 inch piece
Salt .... to taste
Sugar .. to taste ( optional)
Yogurt ... 1-2 tbsps
Mustard oil ... 4-5 tbsps

Method:
1. Clean the prawns. Retain the tail if you like. Marinate them with turmeric and salt.
2. Grind the onion, 2 green chillies, ginger and garlic to a coarse paste.
3. In a pan add half of  the mustard oil and shallow fry the prawns until they change colour (half cooked)
4. In another pan heat the remaining mustard oil and add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. When they give out aroma, add the ground onion paste and saute until it dries up.
5. Now tip in the fried prawns and saute for a few minutes.
6. Add the poppy seed paste and curd. Add the salt and slit green chillies. Mix well and pour 1 cup water ( or as much gravy you require) . Simmer to cook. (about 5 minutes)
7. Finally stir in the coconut milk and garam masala powder. Bring to a boil until blended and cooked.

                                     Serve with plain rice.

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