Jhinge Chingri Posto / Prawns and Ridge Gourd Curry with Poppy Seeds Paste

It’s an old habit that I add prawns in almost every vegetarian dish to satisfy my carnivorous cravings. So this time....when I got some really juicy and plumpy ridge gourds, I added prawns again and cooked Jhinge Alu Chingri Posto. A dish, loved outrageously by almost every Bengali.

Besides, I hate eating Jhinga / ridge gourd on its own...so this is a trick that my mother used, to make me eat all the greens. Trust me...anything; almost everything goes great with prawns. And it really had made my life a lot simpler.

Fry the onions until translucent.

Add the potatoes. Sprinkle some salt and cook till the potatoes are half cooked. Add water if the potatoes tend to burn.

Add the rige gourd. Add salt if required, and put cover. Cook until the potatoes are ridge gourd are cooked through.

Next pour in the poppy seeds paste. Mix and simmer on low to medium flame until the oil separates.

Finally add the fried prawns. Give a good mix and simmer for another minute before putting off the flame.

In this curry I overcooked the potatoes and ridge gourd to give a mushy kind of texture. But you can leave them chunky if you like!! It all depends on your preference!!

Jhinge Chingri Posto / Prawns and Ridge Gourd Curry with Poppy Seeds Paste

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

3 medium ridge gourds

2 medium potatoes – cubed

1 medium onion – chopped

250gm prawns

2 and ½ tbsp poppy seeds

4 green chillies

2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt

2 tbsp mustard oil

Oil to fry the prawns

Method:

Roughly peel the ridge gourd and chop up into small pieces.

In a bowl marinate the prawns with salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder. Mix well so that each and every prawn gets a good coat. Keep aside.

In a grinder put together the poppy seeds, ¼ th cup water and 2 green chillies.
Grind them until you get a smooth paste. Make sure that the paste does not remain grainy.

Heat the oil in a kadai and add the onions.

Sprinkle some salt over them and cook until translucent.

Next add the potatoes and cook until the potatoes become a little brown.

Then add some water to them and cover to let them cook.

When the potatoes are half cooked add the chopped ridge gourd to them.

Sprinkle the rest of the turmeric powder and little salt and put cover again.

There is no need to add more water as the ridge gourd will ooze out enough water to cook them.

In a separate pan heat some more oil and fry the prawns until they curl up and become golden from outside.

Take them out of the pan and keep aside.

When the potatoes and ridge gourd are cooked through, pour in the prepared poppy seeds paste and mix well.

Cook them on low to medium flame for 3-4 minutes or until the oil starts to separate.

Now throw in the kept aside fried prawns and mix them well.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Simmer for another one or two minutes and then put off the flame.