Daab Chingri Recipe | Authentic Bengali Daab Chingri Recipe with step by step pictures. It is a traditional authentic Bengali recipe where daab is tender coconut and chingri signify prawn in Bengali. This daab chingri or Prawns in tender coconut recipe, we bengalees generally prepare on any special Bengali occasion like Poila Boishakh, Jamai Shosthi in our homes.
As per my knowledge, this authentic bengali daab chingri recipe came from our super talented Grandmas’ kitchen. Those super talented ladies invented this super delicious recipe. Though daab chingri is indeed scrumptious in taste however, the preparation is a bit time-consuming and patients require much. However, I think, for preparing the super delicious recipes, effort and patients both are most important. As when the preparation is successfully done and the appreciation comes from your guests or family after tasting it once, you must pat your back with pride and wouldn’t think about the effort you paid.
Daab Chingri is a signature prawn dish of Bengalese, a dish of Prawns or shrimps cooked in green tender coconut (Daab in Bengali language). Chingris or prawns are cooked in grated coconut, coconut malai, mustard seeds, green chilies, tomatoes, coconut water, and onion, ginger, garlic paste and stuffed in Daab or tender coconut for making this recipe. As it is a pure Bengali recipe so cooking is finished in mustard oil (mustard oil is an important ingredient to enhance the taste of cooking any Bengali recipe). Though I tasted bhojohori manna daab chingri many times but this is not bhojohori manna’s recipe, actually, it’s my own version of daab chingri.
I might not have followed the authentic process(though kept all ingredients intact) while making it, as our Grandma generally used to do. But there is no doubt that my version tastes as authentic as their one. They usually placed the marinated prawns into the tender coconut or daab and directly put it on their earthen oven for slow cooking. Although low flame for slow cooking and huge time would require on those days as the only marinated prawns had been filled into the daab or tender coconut.
In my authentic bengali daab chingri recipe, I little fry the prawns and made the gravy with required ingredients and cook the prawns in the gravy for few minutes then shifted the whole things into the tender coconut or daab. Though here I have described both the microwave oven method for baking the prawns filled tender coconut and the steaming method on the normal gas oven.
You can enjoy this daab chingri with white rice or my other recipes i.e, Bengali white pulao or Bengali Basanti pulao too.
Daab Chingri Recipe | How to Make Authentic Bengali Daab Chingri Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 gms Jumbo Prawns / Galda Chingri
- 3 Daab / Tender Coconut (Medium size with soft flesh)
- 2 cups Coconut Milk( Narkel er Dudh)
- 1/2 cup Coconut Malai (Daab er shans)
- 1 cup of Coconut Water
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes
- 1+1/4 tbsp Mustard Seeds
- 2 medium-size Onion Paste
- 1 tsp Ginger paste
- 1 1/4 tsp garlic paste
- 4 Green chilies
- 1 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- Garam masala powder( contains 3 green cardamoms, 4 cloves, I inch cinnamon stick)
- 4 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Salt(as required)
Prep time: 30-35 mins
Cook time: 50mins
Served in: 1 hr 25 mins
Serving for: 9 people
Cuisine: Bengali(Authentic)
Course: Main course
Author: Moumita Paul
How to Make Daab Chingri Recipe with step by step pictures
Instructions
How to prepare the tender coconut or daab for making this recipe:
1 Wash the tender coconuts or daab and make bigger round or square shape hole on the top of each coconut.
Do it carefully with the help of a sharp knife and gently take out the cutout portion intact. Keep aside the cutout portion for further use.
2 Now, drain the coconut water into a bowl and keep it aside.
3 Scoop out the malai/soft flesh of the tender coconut with help of a spoon.
How to prepare the prawns / chingris for this recipe:
1 First, devein the prawns, remove the sharp portion of its head and eyes with the help of a scissor, and then wash it under running water for 3-4 times.
2 Marinate the prawns with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
3 Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil into the pan, add the marinated prawns into the oil, and shallow fry both sides of the prawns for about a minute.
4 Remove the prawns from the pan and keep it aside.
How to prepare the masalas
1 Take a small blender jar or mixer jar, put the grated coconut, malai/soft flesh, mustard seeds, green chilies, tomatoes, and 2 tbsp coconut water, and make a fine smooth paste with it. Keep the paste in a bowl for further use. Mix the ginger, and garlic paste with the paste.
2 Make the coconut milk ready by blending 1/2 cup of coconut with little water(3-4 tbsp). Then soak the blended coconut in hot water for 10 mins. Strain it and homemade coconut milk is ready to use. which you can easily make at home.
3 Again take the same blender jar, add the onions(cut into four pieces) into it to make a smooth paste.
How to prepare the chingri / prawn in the gravy:
1 Heat the same pan(which was used to fry prawns), add 1 more tbsp of mustard oil into it, let it be hot.
First, add onion paste into the oil and immediately place a cover over the pan, as it will start spluttering and that can cause a burn.
Let fry the onion paste, until the raw onion smell goes off and it will start to release oil from its side.
The onion paste will get a nice golden brown color as shown in the pic.
2 Then add masala paste of other ingredients(contains grated coconut, malai, mustard seeds, green chilies, tomatoes, coconut water and ginger, garlic paste) into the pan, and mix it well.
Add red chili powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, and 1/2 tsp sugar into it.
Keep stirring till the raw smell of the masalas go off and it starts to release oil from its side.
Add 2 cups of coconut water and salt to it. Let boil the gravy, then add all fried prawns into the gravy and cover the pan with a lid.
3 After 2-3 minutes add 2 cups of coconut milk and bring it to a boil for about 2 more minutes.
Then add the garam masala powder into it, mix it well, and bring it to boil for 2 mins.
And lastly, add 1 tbsp of mustard oil, mix it well, and cover the lid. Then immediately turn off the heat.
Method to prepare daab chingris in microwave oven and gas oven
1 Gently place 2-3 prawns (chingris) and enough gravy into each tender coconut or daab. And place the cutout portion of the tender coconut in the right place to seal the coconut’s mouth. As the vapor should not come out through the hole during cooking.
2 For the microwave baking, preheat the microwave at 180-degree temperature for 20 mins. Place the prawns stuffed daab or tender coconut in the microwave, for 30 mins in convection mode. After 30 mins, serve the daab chingri with piping-hot steamed rice. So this is the recipe, how prepared in the microwave.
3 For making on gas stove steaming in a vessel, put the vessel with water(water level should touch half of the sealed tender coconut) on the medium heat of your gas oven. And then place the sealed coconut into the vessel water. Cover the vessel with a tight lid. After 10 mins, slow down the heat and let it be cooked for 20 more mins on low flame. After 30 mins of steaming in vessel, your daab chingri is ready to serve.
Tips
- If you have a wide-mouth pressure cooker, you can steam this chingri stuffed daab in a pressure cooker too. On the low flame and one whistle is enough for it. But wait till the pressure release the pressure automatically.
- Here I have used jumbo prawns/galda chingri, you can use any size of prawns or chingri as per your choice.
- Here I have used 3 tbsp mustard oil for cooking, as the coconut milk and grated coconut will release some coconut oil.
- I must recommend this to all of my Bengali friends, enjoy this daab chingri with piping hot steamed rice and especially with a slice of Gondhoraj lebu( a lemon, which is famous among Bengalis for its wonderful aroma).
Based on 9 Review(s)
Tried.. came out Good.. kids loved it. Thank you for a real good recipe.
Thank you so much Nabanita