Vine leaf wrapped golda chingri

If I were Sue Grafton — the one whose books all follow an alphabetical trail starting right with A is for Alibi — my contribution for the letter P would have been P is for Prawns. Those squiggly creatures, who have given us such joy, need to be immortalised. And a book dedicated to them would be just the way to do it.

But since I am not Sue Grafton, let me sing my paean to prawns in a different way. Today, on the start of Durga Puja, let’s go prancing with prawns. Pujas are the days when food-loving Bengalis and other easterners love their food even more than ever. They eat at food stalls, throng restaurants, invite people over and generally celebrate the festival with all that is delicious.

Even when they are eating at home, food during the Pujas is special. And keeping that in mind — as well as the fact that prawns figure high on the Bengali gourmet’s food wish-list — I thought I’d ask some of the leading chefs of Calcutta for some simple — yet exotic — prawn recipes for the occasion.

Gambas pil pil

I am sure every Bengali knows how to do chingri maachher malai curry with coconut milk, or bhapa chingri with grated coconut and mustard. And while those dishes, no doubt, have their place under the sun, the chefs have suggested some very innovative ways to cook prawns. And they have cut across cuisines to come up with various options.

You can go northwards, and experiment with a dish that chef Sujan Mukherjee, of Taj Bengal, calls prawn khurchan. Khurchan, as you may know, is a term used in the cowbelt for something that’s been scraped. It’s the name of a wonderful sweet as well — where milk has been thickened and scraped till it turns into khurchan. Or you can go eastwards and cook your prawns in a bamboo hollow, as chef Utpal Mondal of the HHI group suggests.

And you don’t have to stick to our borders either. Chef Chiranjib Chatterjee of Afraa prepares prawns in a sauce from Tarragona in Spain. And chef Sharad Dewan of The Park wants you to go for fusion, with a dish that calls for prawns, bacon, and aamsatta — or aam papad!

That’s what’s so special about the prawn. You cook it with mustard oil and green chillies, and it immediately takes on an eastern Indian flavour. Grill it and serve it with a sauce, it’s European. Stir it with cayenne pepper and paprika, and you’ll have an exotic Cajun dish. Douse it with soya, or serve it with wasabi, and it will turn Oriental. Or, if you want to cook it with garlic and red chillies, as chef Chiranjib often does, you’ll have a Gambas Pil Pil fit to do the flamenco.

The prawn, indeed, adapts beautifully to different culinary traditions. And as the chefs tell me, they work very well when you want to push the envelope. Chef Dewan, for instance, infuses the flavour of radhuni — a favourite Bengali spice — in the prawn, and then bakes it after wrapping it in vine leaves, serving it with kasundi.

There are so many ways of cooking prawns that you can come up with a book that will outweigh our old telephone directories. You can steam them, grill them, bake them, fry them, boil them, roast them — or you can even eat them raw as the Japanese do, provided your shrimp is fresher than the day’s news, and served with the right sauces.

But do not do what a friend did at a party several months ago. I had cooked some king-sized prawns that day, and since there were many guests that evening, I did the prawns in batches. And the raw ones I kept in bowl marinated with turmeric and chillies for later use.

The aforementioned friend went for dinner, spotted the raw prawns in a bowl — and I must say they looked pretty tempting bathed in yellow and red — and generously helped herself to quite a few of them. She took a large bite of one juicy prawn — and chewed and chewed, wondering why it was so rubbery till she realised that she was eating was a huge raw prawn. Since then, the sight of prawns has always made her a little queasy.

But that’s not something we have to worry about. We have some great recipes with us, with which we can celebrate the arrival of Durga to her mother’s house. Just remember not to leave any raw prawns around for curious guests.

And, oh yes, happy Pujas!

Bacon wrapped bagda chingri with chilli aamsatta-r chatni (serves 2)

Ingredients:

For the bacon wrapped prawns:

• 16 large peeled and de-veined prawns • 3 tbs oil • 2 lemons

• 16 strips thin bacon

For the chilli amsatta chatni:

• 400g amsatta (aam papar)

• 1 tsp panch phoran

• 4 whole red chillies

• 400g sugar

• 25g maida

• 50g tamarind mixed in water

• 50ml oil l1 tsp jeera powder

• salt to taste

• water to boil

Method:

For the chatni (chutney), cut amsatta in cubes and keep aside. Heat oil. Crackle panch phoron and whole red chillies in it. Add water. When it boils, add jeera powder, sugar, tamarind water, salt and amsatta. Cook for 5-10 minutes and mix maida for thickening. Cool and keep aside.

For the bacon wrapped prawns, mix lemon juice, oil and seasoning in a bowl and marinate the prawns in this. Spread the bacon pieces out. Working one at a time, wrap a half piece of bacon around each piece of prawn and secure with a toothpick or thread. Grill uncovered for 5-7 minutes on each side, till the prawn is cooked and the bacon is crisp. Serve with the chutney.

By chef Sharad Dewan

Prawn khurchan (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 600g medium sized prawns • 30g red bell pepper • 30g yellow bell pepper • 30g green bell pepper • 30g onion, thickly sliced • 30g tomatoes, de-seeded and thickly sliced
• 15g chopped green chilli • 30g chopped garlic • 20g chopped ginger • 5g red chilli powder • 20g roasted ajwain powder • 70g chopped tomatoes • 70g chopped onion • 10g chopped fresh coriander leaves • 35g vegetable oil • 4-5 whole red chilli • salt to taste

Method:

De-seed and cut the bell peppers into thick slices. Wash and de-vein the prawns. Shred into thick strips. Heat oil in a pan. Add whole red chillies. Add the chopped garlic and cook till brown. Add chopped onion, green chilli and ginger. Add the powdered spices and chopped tomatoes. Add the thick slices of bell peppers, tomatoes and onion. Add the shredded prawns and toss for a few minutes.

Allow the gravy to thicken and cling to the prawns. Adjust the seasoning, sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on it and serve hot.

By chef Sujan Mukherjee

Bansi chingri (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 500g bagda chingri • 70g onion paste • 10g ginger-garlic paste • 2g turmeric • 5g red chilli powder • 50g butter • 3 green chillies • 20g mustard paste (half black, half yellow) • 100g shredded bamboo shoots • 20ml coconut milk • a pinch of cinnamon powder
• 5g coriander powder • 1 green bamboo hollow (one side open) • banana leaf for wrapping • salt to taste

Method:

Marinate the prawns with salt and a bit of red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Sauté the onion paste in butter till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry some more. Add the remaining red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Sauté some more. Add mustard paste. Add the coconut milk. Cook for two minutes. Add shredded bamboo shoots, coriander powder and cinnamon powder. Let it thicken and then set aside to cool. Now mix the marinated prawns in this gravy. Wrap in a banana leaf and stuff it inside the bamboo hollow. Roast it over charcoal. Serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

By chef Utpal Mondal

Grilled prawns with Romesco sauce (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 12 medium sized prawns • 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil • 2 tsp salt

For the sauce:

• 2 tbs sweet paprika la pinch of hot cayenne (or Kashmiri chilli powder) • 1 peeled, seeded and chopped tomato • 3 garlic cloves • 12 blanched and skinned almonds • 24 skinned hazelnuts • 1 slice of toasted bread • 1 tbs parsley • 3 mint leaves • 150 ml extra virgin olive oil • 1tsp salt • 1 tbs vinegar • freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Combine the paprika, cayenne pepper, tomato, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts, bread, parsley and mint in a blender. Blend until you have a smooth puree. Now blend in the olive oil a little at a time and then season with salt, pepper and the vinegar. The sauce should ideally be served at room temperature.

For the prawns toss them generously in olive oil and salt.

Carefully thread them on skewers (if using the wooden type, ensure the skewers have first been soaked in cold water for around 30 minutes). If using a charcoal grill make sure it is at medium heat and grill for about three or four minutes, turning once. Make sure that the prawns are cooked all the way through before serving.

Push the prawns off of the skewers and arrange on a platter with the Romesco sauce on the side.

By chef Chiranjib Chatterjee