‘Bhapa Chingri’ or ‘Chingrir Bhapa’ is one of the delicate Bengali recipes with ‘Prawns’ aka ‘Chingri’. I have already shown my weakness for prawns through my earlier posts which include various of its curry preparations, rice dishes as well as cutlet. This recipe is perhaps the simplest and need few ingredients. Time for both preparation  and cooking is very less. As we know, mustard seeds are very common in bengali fish recipes. Here, along with two types of mustard seeds (black and yellow), I also added grated coconut and poppy seeds.They reduce the strong pungent smell of black mustard to some extent and infuses an interesting flavour. Raw prawns cooked in mustard paste along with generous amount of mustard oil and green chilli creates the magic which we call ‘ Chingrir Bhapa’. 🙂

The same recipe can also be followed for some other fishes, such as Hilsa, Bhetki etc.

Ingredients to serve 2-3 :

1. Prawns – 250 gm.
2. Yellow mustard seeds – 1 tbspoon
3. Black mustard seeds – 1 tbspoon
4. Poppy seeds – ½ tbspoon
5. Grated coconut – 2 tbspoon
6. Green chilli – 3-4
7. Mustard oil – ½ small cup + 1 tbspoon
8. Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
9. Salt to taste

Procedure :

Remove the shell, head and tail of the prawns, devein them and wash thoroughly. Keep the prawns aside.

Make a fine paste with yellow & black mustard seeds, poppy seeds, grated coconut and 1-2 green chilli. Use water as required to make the paste.

Now in a medium size heat proof bowl (though I used a steel tiffin box, a heat proof glass or aluminum bowl will also work) transfer the prepared paste, mustard oil, turmeric powder and salt, mix them well. Pour ½ cup of water in the blender jar and wash the jar if there is any remaining mustard paste. Then add this water to the bowl.

Add the prawns to the above said mixture and coat them well with the mustard paste.

Sprinkle 1 tbspoon of oil over the prawns and also add two slit green chillies.

Now seal the bowl with a lid or aluminum foil.

Heat enough water in a large kadai or pan over medium flame.

As the water starts boiling, put the bowl at the center of the kadai. The bowl should be half immersed into the hot water. Now, cover the kadai or pan with a lead and steam the prawns for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes put the gas off and take out the bowl form the hot water. Uncover the bowl as it attains room temperature.

Serve with steamed rice.

Note :

1. You can use one type of mustard seeds instead of two. In that case use the quantity accordingly.
2. One onion can also be added in the mustard paste.
3. I used king size prawns. However small prawns can also be used for this preparation.