Pepe Chingrir Dana is a traditional Bengali dish in which raw papaya is cooked with prawns and potatoes. This Dalna is then served as a side dish with steamed rice and dal. If you’ve often wondered, apart from adding to Sambar, how to include Raw Papaya in your diet, this can be a good option to try. If you prefer, you can cook this dish without the prawns as well, then that would be a vegetarian version of Penper Dalna.
Pepe Chingrir Dalna / Raw Papaya Curry with Prawns
Pepe Chingrir Dana is a traditional Bengali dish in which of raw papaya gets cooked with prawns and potatoes. This Dalna is then served as a side dish with steamed rice and dal.
Ingredients
- 1- Raw Papaya / Kacha Pepe (medium-sized)
- 2- Potato (medium-sized)
- 200g- Small prawns
- Turmeric powder
- 2 tsp- Cumin powder
- 1 tsp- Coriander powder
- 1 tbsp- Ginger paste
- ½ tsp- Cumin seeds
- 2- Bay leaves / Tej pata
- 1- Whole dry red chili (halved)
- 2-3- Green chillies (halved)
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp- Sugar (read notes)
- ½ tsp- Garam masala powder
- ½ cup + more as required- Mustard oil
Instructions
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Peel the papaya, discard the seeds, cut it into cubes, wash, and keep aside.
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Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes, wash, and keep aside.
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Add salt and ½ tsp of turmeric powder to the freshly washed prawns, mix well and keep aside.
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Heat oil in a deep frying pan/kadai. Shallow fry the potatoes over medium heat until they turn golden in color. Remove and keep aside.
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Next, add the prawns, shallow fry them for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Remove and keep aside.
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In the rest of the oil (3 tbsp oil should be there in the kadai to cook the dish, if not add some more at this stage) temper with bay leaf, dry red chili and cumin seeds. Sauté for 3-4 seconds.
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Add the spice powders along with salt and ginger paste, and mix well. Add a splash of water so that the spice mix doesn’t burn. Cook the spice for a minute or until the oil starts to separate from it.
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Add papaya pieces, potatoes and green chillies, mix well.
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Add 1 cup of water. Mix, cover and cook over low heat until the papaya pieces get cooked thoroughly.
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Add the prawns, sugar, and garam masala powder. Mix well and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl
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Serve delicious, hot Pepe Chingrir Dalna with steamed rice, enjoy!
Pepe Chingrir Dalna
