This favorite of mine is a classic for prawn/shrimp lovers, especially so if you like the Oriya/Bengali way of cooking with a mustard paste. It's easy to make - take sless than 30 minutes, and makes you go absolutely slurp-slurp-slurp! The taste differs quite a bit depending on whether you use fresh mustard paste, english mustard or dijon or any of the ready made mustard pastes available in supermarkets. If you have a coffee/spice grinder, I definitely recommend using fresh mustard seeds. So here you go!
You need (Serves 2):
10-12 prawn/shrimps (up to your apetite really!)
Onion - 1 medium, sliced
Tomato - 1 medium chopped fine
Green chili - 2, slit
Ginger-garlic paste (2 tbsp) or if you want to make it fresh, 1 inch ginger grated and 4-5 cloves of garlic crushed fine
Panch phoran (1 tsp)
Mustard seeds (2 tbsp)
Mustard oil
Yogurt/Set Curd - 1 cup (beaten thoroughly)
For the mustard paste:
Soak the mustard seeds for 1 hour, and then grind into a paste with the spice grinder. Add a little water to ensure you get a creamy texture.
Heat 4 tbsp of mustard oil in a fry pan and fry the prawns in on medium to low heat for 5-8 mins
Take the fried prawns out, and to the same oil, add the panch phoran.
Once the panch phoran starts spluttering, add the split green chilis
Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent (I like to fry them a little more, since I like the dhaba effect of extra fried onions)
Add the ginger and garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone. Cover the pan with a lid from time to time to retain moisture.
Now add the tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes
Lower the heat, add the mustard paste and the fried prawns and mix slowly. Cover the pan and let it settle for a couple more minutes
Add the curd and mix slowly. Make sure you do this under very low heat, so the gravy does not curdle.
Serve with white rice.
