Oal Chingrir Dalna (Elephant Foot Yam and Prawn Curry) is one of the staple Bengali dishes I’ve grown up eating. Oal is the Bengali name of Elephant Foot Yam. The dish tastes great always, and you can also cook a vegetarian version of it without adding the prawns. However, the addition of prawns usually lifts up the entire flavour profile of any food. There are many Bengali dishes where prawns are used for the same reason. Elephant Foot Yam is one common vegetable that can be found throughout the year. So, this sabji was quite common in our home menu, and I still cook this frequently. It’s an easy recipe to try if you’ve not eaten Oal this way, then you must try once. I hope you’ll enjoy cooking this and don’t forget to share your experience with me. 🙂
Oal Chingrir Dalna / Elephant Foot Yam and Prawn Curry
A tasty, delicious Bengali style sabji cooked with a healthy vegetable Elephant Foot Yam and Prawns. Oal Chingrir Dalna is an age-old recipe that tastes great every time.
Ingredients
- 500g- Oal / Elephant Foot Yam
- 2 medium-sized- Potatoes (cut into cubes)
- 150g small or medium-sized- Prawns
- 1 tbsp- Ginger paste
- 1 tbsp- Cumin powder
- 1 tsp- Coriander powder
- ½ tsp- Red chilli powder
- Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 3-4- Green chillies (halved)
- Mustard oil
- 1 tbsp- Sugar (read note)
- ¼ tsp- Garam masala powder
For tempering
- ½ tsp- Cumin seeds
- 2- Bay leaf
- 1- Whole dry red chilli (halved)
Instructions
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Discard the hard peel of Elephant Foot Yam and cut into cubes, wash well.
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Now transfer the oal pieces to a cooker, add enough water to submerge the pieces. Take off the flame after one whistle, open the lid after the steam dissipates, drain and keep aside.
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Mix in ½ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of turmeric powder to the freshly washed prawns, keep aside.
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Heat ¼ cup oil in a kadai/deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the prawns and sauté until golden (for 2 minutes)in colour, remove and keep aside.
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If there is not enough oil in the kadai add 2-3 tbsp more oil at this stage. We would be needing 4 tbsp oil to cook this dish.
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Add the cubed potatoes and sauté over medium heat until golden brown, remove and keep aside.
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In the rest of the oil temper with the ingredients mentioned for tempering. Next to add cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, green chillies, and ginger paste. Mix and cook over medium heat for a few seconds. Now add a few tablespoons of water, keep stirring the masala until it starts leaving oil. Adding water at this stage prevents the spices from burning, helps to dissolve the masala, and enhances the flavour.
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Now add the boiled oal pieces and potatoes. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, keep stirring in between. Add ¾ cup of water, mix well and cook until the potatoes are done. If the curry is thickening too much, adjust by adding some water. This curry needs to be cooked with a moderate gravy, but don’t make it too thick because it tends to get a thicker consistency as it cools.
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Add fried prawns, sugar, and garam masala powder at the end of the cooking. Mix gently and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl, serve hot as a side with dal and steamed rice. It tastes great with plain rice sans dal as well.
Recipe Notes
Adding sugar in this dish helps to balance out the taste and flavour of all the other spices. It doesn’t make the dish sweet.
