I’ve developed this very new recipe of Prawn Curry with Chana Dal recently. What next; my family and me loved it to the core, and this was a hit in no time. Try this asap and let me know about your experience.
Dal Chingri/Prawn Curry with Chana Dal
Ingredients
- Chingri/Prawn- 500g (I used medium sized prawns)
- Cholar dal/Chana dal- ¼ cup
- Hing/asafoetida – a small pinch
- 1 large sized onion- chopped
- Garlic paste- 3/4 tsp
- Ginger paste- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Cumin powder- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- ½ tsp
- Salt
- Sugar- 1½ tsp
- Thick coconut milk- ½ cup
- Kashmiri mirch powder- 1tsp
- Slit green chillis- 4
- Mustard oil
- Ghee/Clarified butter- ½ tsp
For tempering
- Green cardamom- 4 (roughly crushed)
- Cloves 4
- Cinnamon 2″ (single piece)
- Black peppercorns- ½ tsp (roughly crushed)
- Bay leaf – 2
- Whole dry red chili- 1 or 2 (broken)
- Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
Method
Wash and soak chana dal for minimum 3-4 hours or more. Pressure cook with enough water (water level should be 1.5″ high from dal), a pinch salt and few drops of mustard oil. Check after 3-4 whistles. You need to cook the dal with the grains visible and mushy at the same time. Open the lid after the pressure has reduced. Keep aside.
Rub salt and 3/4 tsp of turmeric powder on the freshly washed pieces of prawns. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and shallow fry them on medium flame. Keep aside. Add some more mustard oil at this stage if needed. 4-5 tbsp oil is enough to make the curry. Temper with the ingredients mentioned ‘for tempering’. Next to add the chopped onions, fry until light brown in color. Add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder, green chillis, kashmiri mirch powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix and stir until the masala starts to leave oil. Now add coconut milk. Mix and give this a quick boil on high flame. Reduce the flame; add prawns, boiled dal and hing. Cover and cook until the raw smell of masala goes (12 minutes max). Add sugar and ghee, mix and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. The consistency of this curry should be thick not runny.
Serve hot with steamed rice.
