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.
Peel the papaya, discard the seeds, cut it into cubes, wash, and keep aside.
Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes, wash, and keep aside.
Add salt and ½ tsp of turmeric powder to the freshly washed prawns, mix well and keep aside.
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.
Next, add the prawns, shallow fry them for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Remove and keep aside.
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.
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.
Add papaya pieces, potatoes and green chillies, mix well.
Add 1 cup of water. Mix, cover and cook over low heat until the papaya pieces get cooked thoroughly.
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
Serve delicious, hot Pepe Chingrir Dalna with steamed rice, enjoy!