Chungdi Malai
prawns simmered in coconut milk, mildly spiced and faintly sweet, Odisha's most coaxing curry
Allergens in Chungdi Malai: milk, crustacean shellfish.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 500g medium, shelled and deveined, tails on Prawns
- 400ml thick Coconut Milk
- 2 medium, ground to a paste Onion
- 1 tbsp paste Ginger
- 1 tsp paste Garlic
- 3 tbsp Gheethe traditional fat here; use oil if you prefer
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1 stick, 3cm Cinnamon
- 4 green, bruised Cardamom
- 4 Cloves
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chillifor colour without heat
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
- 3, slit Green Chilli
- 1 tsp Sugar
- to taste Salt
Cookware
stovetop, kadhai
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Rub the shelled prawns with 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt and rest 10 minutes. Rinse and pat dry before cooking.
- Grind the onion to a smooth paste with no water. Wet onion paste will not brown properly and the gravy stays raw-tasting.
- Shake the tin of coconut milk before opening, and keep it out of the fridge. Cold coconut milk splits when it hits a hot pan.
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a kadhai and sear the prawns on high for 45 seconds a side, until they just turn pink. Lift them out at once.Prawns cook in under two minutes total. Anything more and they go to rubber, so undercook them here. They finish in the gravy.
- Add the remaining 2 tbsp ghee and drop in the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Fry 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the onion paste and fry on medium for 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until it turns pale gold and stops smelling raw.This is the longest step and the one people cut short. Wait for the paste to pull away from the pan in a mass.
- Stir in the ginger and garlic pastes and cook 2 minutes more.
- Add the turmeric, kashmiri chilli and salt with 2 tbsp water and fry 1 minute so the spices do not scorch.
- Lower the flame and pour in the coconut milk. Add the sugar and slit green chillies.Never boil coconut milk hard. It separates into oil and curds. Hold it at a bare simmer.
- Simmer gently, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes until the gravy thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Return the prawns with any juices, add the garam masala, and simmer 2 minutes only.
- Take off the heat and rest 5 minutes covered before serving with plain rice.
Safe temperatures: Prawns, crab and squid are done when the flesh is opaque and pearly right through. Reheat leftovers to 74°C / 165°F. FoodSafety.gov
Storage
Keeps 2 days refrigerated. Reheat on a low flame just until warm. Reboiling both splits the coconut milk and toughens the prawns.
Nutrition Low estimate
One serving of Chungdi Malai (300 g) is about 423 calories, or 141 calories per 100 g.
High protein: 28 g a serving, 27% of the calories
| Per serving300 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 423 kcal | 141 kcal |
| Protein | 28.1 g | 9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 11.0 g | 4 g |
| of which sugars | 3.7 g | 1 g |
| Fibre | 1.5 g | 0 g |
| Fat | 31.7 g | 11 g |
| of which saturated | 25.0 g | 8 g |
| of which unsaturated | 4.6 g | 2 g |
Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Nearest database match used for garam masala. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Gluten-free Indian recipes · Odia recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.