Daab chingri recipe | How to make daab chingri | Prawns cooked in tender coconut

Bengali cuisine is famous for its myriad extraordinary recipes because of their unbeatable taste, texture, flavour and unique ideology of cooking. But Bengali fish curries and Bengali desserts have occupied a special place in everyone’s heart. Bengali cuisine is incomplete without mentioning about the treasure recipe – daab chingri.

What is daab chingri?

Daab chingri is an authentic Bengali prawn curry. It is a pure Bengali name where ‘Daab’ refers ‘Tender coconut’ and ‘Chingri’ means ‘Prawn’. The name itself describes the recipe to some extent. In daab chingri recipe, prawns are cooked inside tender coconut shell with the mustard-coconut-poppy seeds gravy. This preparation is hugely popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh.

In old days, authentic daab chingri was prepared by putting the marinated prawns with the masala paste inside sealed tender coconut. Then the coconut was directly placed inside the unan, I mean earthen oven to slow cook. But now a days, it can be prepared in microwave, oven or on stove top.

As a bong, I have grown up eating this scrumptious Bengali prawn curry in many special occasions like pohela boishakh, durga puja, bhai fota and even in celebrations like birthday parties or anniversaries.

In fact, when I used to work in Bengaluru and stayed in a PG, cooking non-veg was strictly prohibited. So, I used to go to a renowned Bengali restaurant and had ordered Daab chingri multiple times to satisfy my craving.

There is an eternal bonding between fish and Bengalis. Any occasion is incomplete for us without fish preparations. Both Bengal and Bangladesh are surrounded by numerous rivers. They have been a superb source of freshwater fishes from ages. The availability of fishes is the main reason behind the vogue of Fish Curries in these regions. This is the secret behind the huge variations of Fish curries in Bengali cuisine.

Daab chingri is a simple recipe and the difficulty level of cooking this is low. All the ingredients required for the recipe can be regularly found in any Bengali kitchen pantry except daab aka tender coconut. You just need to grind the poppy seeds and mustard seeds in grinder. No need to cut and chop anything for the recipe. Isn’t that great?? Only to cut the green coconut properly requires little bit of skill. other than this, the daab chingri recipe can be prepared by beginners very easily.

Normally, daab chingri is prepared in two different ways. One is using onion and garlic which tastes quite like chingri macher malaikari. The other preparation is the lighter one without using onion and garlic where the flavour of tender coconut and mustard is distinct. In many renowned restaurants, I have mostly tasted the second version of daab chingri. Today, I am going to share the no onion no garlic version of daab chingri recipe with you.

Daab chingri is an effortless dish which makes it a great option for any small party or family get together. It can be an ideal recipe to surprise your guests and receive lots of praise for your culinary.

I have learnt the daab chingri recipe from my mom and she got it from her mom, I mean my GRANDMAA. So, you can consider it a 100 years old recipe. My grandma used to prepare it in authentic way inside the earthen oven, but with time the process of preparing daab chingri has evolved to match up with the modern techniques of cooking. When it comes to the taste and texture of the dish, there is hardly any difference between modern style of cooking and authentic way of cooking daab chingri recipe.

My mom used to prepare bengali daab chingri on stove top. But in this recipe, I will show you how to prepare daab chingri recipe in three different ways – in microwave, oven and on stove top as well.

Daab chingri step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section of the recipe. If you follow the step precisely then you will stop spending money to order daab chingri from restaurants. But before jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about the recipe.

How to make daab chingri?

To prepare a perfect daab chingri, it is very important to choose perfect daab or tender coconut for the recipe. Make sure there is water inside the tender coconut and the coconut should be green in colour.

First, I have cleaned the prawns and marinated it with salt and turmeric powder for 10 minutes. After this, I have fried them in mustard oil for 30 seconds on each side and kept them aside.

On the other hand, wash the tender coconut and cut the top portion of it carefully with a sharp knife. Take out the cut-out portion gently so that it is intact. It will be used later to seal the coconut. Pour the water from the coconut into a separate bowl and keep it aside.

If there is tender flesh inside the coconut, then scrap it out with a spoon and keep it aside. In the tender coconut that I was using this time, there was no flesh inside.

Then in the jar of a mixer grinder, add mustard seed, poppy seed and grind it to fine powder. Add green chillies, coconut water, grated coconut into the jar and pulse it to a smooth paste. If you have coconut flesh of the tender coconut, then add it instead of grated coconut.

In a separate bowl, take the fried prawns and add the mustard paste in it. Add coconut milk, coconut water, salt, sugar one by one into the bowl and mix it well.

Then pour the whole content carefully inside the coconut shell but leave a little space inside. Pour some extra mustard oil inside the coconut shell and add few green chillies in it.

Seal the coconut shell with the cut-out piece and then tack it with soft atta dough. Daab chingri preparation is all done. Now, it’s time to cook it.

The most important part of preparing the perfect daab chingri is to estimate the time of cooking, because it can’t be seen from outside. Different ways of preparations take different cooking time.

Daab chinri in microwave

For microwave, place the prepared daab on a microwavable plate and cook it on full powder for 12 minutes and allow it to stand for 2 more minutes.

Daab chingri in oven

Place the tender coconut on oven-proof plate and put it inside the preheated oven. Cook it at 200°C/180°C Fan for 40 minutes and then switch off the oven.

Daab chingri in pressure cooker

Place the sealed coconut inside the pressure cooker and add water up to ¼th level of the coconut inside the cooker. Close the lid of the cooker and place it on the stove on medium flame. Cook it till 2-3 whistles and switch off the flame. Allow the pressure of the cooker to settle down.

Daab chingri in kadai

Take a large kadai and add water in it. Place the coconut carefully into the kadai. Put on the lid and cook it on high flame for the first 5 minutes until the water starts boiling. Then put the flame in medium and cook it for another 30-35 minutes. The water level should be 1/3rd of the height of the coconut. Check the water in the kadai after 25 minutes. Make sure kadai should not get dry. Add more water if required.

Ingredients:

• 100 grams or 6 medium size Prawns (Chingri)
• ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon Salt

• 1 tablespoon Poppy seeds (Posto)
• 2 tablespoons Mustard seeds (Shorshe)
• 2 tablespoons grated coconut or young coconut flesh of the tender coconut
• 1-2 green Chillies, as per taste
• 5-6 tablespoons Coconut water

• 1 tender Coconut (Daab)
• 3 tablespoon Coconut milk
• ½ cup Coconut Water
• 3 green Chillies
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• ¾ teaspoon Salt, as per taste
• 1 teaspoon Mustard oil, to pour into the tender coconut
• ½ tablespoon Mustard oil, to fry the prawns

1. Cut and clean the prawns and wash them nicely.
   

2. Marinate the prawns with salt and turmeric powder and keep them aside for 10 minutes.
   
   

3. On the other hand, wash the tender coconut and cut the top portion of it carefully with a sharp knife. Take out the cut-out portion gently so that it is intact. It will be used later to seal the coconut.
   
   
   

4. Pour the coconut water of the tender coconut into a separate bowl and keep it aside. If there is tender flesh inside the coconut, then scrap it out with a spoon and keep it aside. In the tender coconut that I was using this time, there was no flesh inside.
   
   

5. To prepare the masala paste, take a jar of the mixer grinder and add mustard seeds, poppy seeds and pulse it to a powder.
   

6. Add green chillies, grated coconut or young coconut meat, coconut water into the jar and pulse it to a smooth paste. Keep the paste aside.
   

7. Put a pan on flame and let it become completely dry.
8. Add Mustard oil into the pan and wait until the oil is hot.
   

9. Add the marinated prawns (Step 2) and fry them in low flame for 30 seconds on each side. Don’t over fry the prawns or else it will become rubbery.
   
   

10. Transfer the fried prawns with the juice and extra oil in a large bowl or casserole.
    

11. Add the masala paste (Step 6) on it.
    

12. Add coconut milk, coconut water, salt, sugar one by one and mix it well.
    

13. Fill the whole content carefully inside the coconut shell but leave a little space inside the shell.
    

14. Pour 1 teaspoon mustard oil inside the coconut shell and add 3 green chillies in it.
    
    

15. Seal the coconut shell with the cut-out piece and then tack it with soft atta dough.
    
    
    

    Daab chingri on stove top
    

16. Take a large kadai and add water in it. Place the coconut carefully into the kadai. The water level should be 1/3rd of the height of the coconut.
    

17. Put on the lid of the pan and cook it on high flame for the first 5 minutes. Then put the flame in medium and cook it for another 30-35 minutes.
    
    

    Note: Make sure that kadai is not get dry during the time of cooking. Check the level of water in between. Add water if required.

    Daab chinri in microwave
    

18. Place the prepared daab on a microwavable plate and put it inside the microwave.
    

19. Close the door of the microwave and cook it on full powder for 12 minutes.
20. Let is stand for 2 minutes and take it out of the microwave.
    

    Daab chingri in oven
    

21. Preheat the oven at 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6 for 8-10 minutes.
    

22. Place the tender coconut on oven-proof plate and put it inside the middle of the preheated oven.
23. Cook it for 40 minutes at same temperature and then switch off the oven.
    

24. Take out the daab chingri from the oven after 2 minutes.
25. Remove the atta dough seal of the tender coconut. Take off the cut-out piece of the coconut with a knife.
    

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