Bhapa Chingri - Steamed prawn in mustard sauce

Bengalis love prawns in different flavor and format. Bengali Steamed Prawns is a very easy to make dish, Prawns are steamed in Mustard & coconut sauce and it is an authentic Bengali dish which is loved by everybody. My mom used to make this in cooker and here I cooked it the same way but I have given various options to cook at the end as note.

Preparation Time: - 15 min

Cooking Time: - 10~12 min (It all depends upon the way you steam the mixture. You can cook in the pressure cooker, microwave oven or in normal oven. Time will be different in each of them)

Servings: - 3~4 persons (varies from person to person)

Ingredients:-  

1. 12 extra large prawns - I used fresh ones from market, you can use frozen ones
2. 1 tsp Turmeric powder
3. ¼ cup curd / yogurt
4. 3 tbsp mustard paste ( I used readymade paste from Sunrise mustard powder but you may grind mustard seeds to make mustard paste )
5. 3 tsp Poppy Seeds (Posto)
6. ¼ cup grated coconut
7. Few coriander leaves chopped
8. 5 green chili slited and two more for garnishing
9. 2 tbsp mustard oil
10. Salt to taste
11. ½ tsp Sugar for people with sugar tooth

Preparation:-

1. First remove the shell, remove the central vein of the prawn and clean thoroughly. In case you used the frozen prawns then no need to do this as they are already peeled and deveined.
2. Rub turmeric powder to the prawns and keep aside for 15 minutes. 
   
3. Take a fresh coconut and grate it.
   
4. Grind to make a smooth paste with mustard paste, poppy seeds, 3 green chilies, a little salt, coriander leaves and water. I had some old poppy seeds paste and used it. You can grind everything together.
   
5. Take a container and pour the paste from last step.
6. Mix the prawn and coconut with it.
7. Add mustard oil on top.
   
8. Close the container and put it in pressure cooker.
   
9. Pour sufficient water in the cooker so that only one-third of the container is submerged.
10. Close the pressure cooker and put it on the burner. Wait for one whistle.
11. Put off the flame and wait for sometime.
12. Take it out and garnish with two slitted green chili. You can sprinkle some more mustard oil if you like the smell of raw mustard oil.

Serve this as side dish with hot steamed rice. 

As a note the steaming process can be done various ways other than the pressure cooker.

1. Microwave Oven - You can cook in the microwave, combine everything together as above in a microwave safe bowl. Cook for 3 minutes, then take it out, mix everything and again cook for 3-4 minutes. The cooking time will vary will the power of the microwave.

2. Steamer: -This may also be cooked in a steam basket/steamer; place the container inside of a foil so that no water can go in. Steam for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until the shrimps are cooked properly. You will have to adjust the cooking time.

3. Bake: - You can use the same steel bowl if it is oven safe. Close the oven door and bake at about 350 degree Celsius for about 10 minutes. Stop the oven, open the bowl, stir and again bake for another 5 minutes. Basically the shrimp should be cooked properly.

4. Inside rice: - This is an old Bengali way to cook two things at a time.  Place tightly closed container inside the rice when cooking boiled rice. Calculate a time so that the container is inside the rice for about 5 minutes before the burner is turned off. Keep it inside for some more time so that the prawn gets cooked. The timing is very important here and my mom could time it perfectly but not me.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.