UCCHE CHINGRI

It was a long long wish to blog about this particular recipe of UCCHE CHINGRI, a very authentic family recipe! This picture was clicked in the month of May, ate bitter gourd after that a couple of times. Then what was I waiting for? Well, I had a conversation with the silly mind, I explained myself that even though some of the dearest people do not eat prawns or meat or bitter gourd, I have to go ahead with shares with them as main ingredients often. I live with two horrid men who would pick and eat the prawns from the dish and leave the bitter gourd pieces for me.... that should not stop me from cooking and sharing it.... I definitely will prepare a minced meat or meat curry for them to serve with "luchi / porota"on such days!.... Besides, I will talk a lot about food today with my readers... What was I doing the last two days? I went to the Bangladeshi shop and the Indian super market for some "desi" stuffs. I was craving for an "ilish" which gets scarce and expensive during this time of the year. I did not mind buying an 1kg 100-150gm fish for 37 sing dollar, sacrificed the Revlon lipstick I was eyeing at for the time being. Yes, a homemaker must manage her home the right way.... specially applicable for those who do not earn and feed on their husband's hard earned money!

You can see I love an "ilish" to what extent. Anyway, I am not that wise a girl as I project myself to be.... specially during this time of the year I end up buying few gold & silver ornaments. Waiting to visit "Gahonaz" early next week.... this girl Roshni knows my taste, so does a Jayeeta Dasgupta of My D-Sign.... SAREES With Aesthetics or a Debarathi of .... Shaukh ..... The only reason I do not shop much from the last one is that "all" their sarees are exclusive and the price tag is a bit high.... we have to understand that all the boutiques here have to get their supplies from Kolkata / & different parts of India! Here we buy 100gm of green chilli for 100 rupees. The Shaukh girl has full support of her husband... who is a painter, photographer, software engineer.... too good at all. I do talk about this soft spoken guy from time to time, indeed he is like a little brother.... I know him ever since I was in 9th standard and him a 5-6 year old boy. Our fathers worked together at the SBI of a small hamlet in the Murshidabad district of Bengal for 3 years.... then I discovered him as the husband of  little sis... who happened to be my colleague for 2 years! I simply adore the dressing / style sense of her.... however too much of dieting makes her look like a skeleton these days.... at least I and her mother think so.... you see relationship and business do not come together.... she knows I buy more from Kolkata! 

Besides an ilish, I got loti / taro stolons to cook with dried Bombay duck / "loitta shutki or hudki".... those big sized prawns to express my love for the men and to change the pictures of my blogpost about masala prawns. Come on I bought few gold ornaments, I have to make up the guilt, haha! He is not bothered so long the wife spends from her own savings, she always ease the guilt of not earning a penny saying.... all are for my daughter-in-law. Prospective daughter-in-laws, be nice to me and get prepared to live with another most difficult person on the earth!... He... like his father will not sing and dance around the trees with you... he is a bit weird!

You see I got those Indian / Kolkata kind of jhinge / ridge gourd after a long time and the "gondhoraj lebu" too! Those smaller but fresh "aar maach" / long whiskered cat fish comes from the neighbouring country.... I cooked it with "aloo tomato".... We are fond of "aar maach" and absolutely dislike the big sized, frozen supplies here.... Kolkata never sells such small sized "aar".... lets eat it here and wait for a December visit at the Baguiati bazaar... I just cannot fancy stale, river fish supplies here except for the ilish. The tiny heads of the cat fish were cooked with ridge gourd & egg plant! You guessed it right.... it was "bhanga chora shukto".... The hilsa head was cooked with moong dal... the pointed gourds with potato because my "aloo potoler dalna" post had to have upgraded photographs. 

I stopped cooking 10-12 dishes on Saturdays.... I get tired. Well, there was a chicken dish too which I wish to blog about! By the way, I see a couple of Bengalis use the hilsa tail in curries.... refrain from that if you may! The hilsa tail tastes best while deep fried! I reserve it for me... can you see? Then at night... I went downstairs.... the entire neighbourhood got suspected .... what is that heavy object in the water? After that, the  shameless had to order pizza, we do it if we are not going out on a Saturday evening.... however full is the refrigerator! "prithibi khadyomoy hok".... I admit that I am a hypocrite-"democrat cum liberal marxist".....

UCCHE CHINGRI is not something my men or the junior's "mamujaan" will eat! The "mamujaan's" mother loves it and learnt it from her mother. My maternal grandparents shifted to India before the partition. The maternal grandfather was a SBI employee, the grandmother learnt a lot of cooking in the present land never giving away that of her roots. Her side of the family migrated and settled in the "edeshio" hotbed Burdwan.... yet maintained and practiced the food of their land as told by the grandma! I do not believe in this demarcation... yet loved to listen. I last visited Burdwan while at college and saw an entire neighbourhood is inhabited by the family branch from the grandmother's side .... with all the family heads being a SBI employee, seriously! 

The maternal grandfather obviously would not agree to handover the grand daughter to a mariner.... he told that at this home daughters go to SBI / UBI /RBI employee grooms only.... The grand daughter was clever... she had known already the mariner fetches her "Poison, Elizabeth Arden, Christian Dior, Clarins to Swatch and Swarovski".... "yeh admi ko chorne ka nehi".... That they do not come my way anymore and I have to remain happy with Revlon / Maybelline is a different story, haha! Leave the joke, end of the day we are the working class! Anyway, I cannot rave much about Burdwan... the family ties got loosened, or was never so strong .... but I cannot forget the taste of "mihidana-sitabhog".... can I ever blog about them? You know our mother.... she will not go beyond "Belurmath", "Dakshineshwar", Shyambazaar, New Market, her kids, two sisters, three brothers, mother, two brothers of our father who live in Assam and her home. It was the father who visited occasionally the mom's relatives in Burdwan and his own in Assam & Tripura.... Yes, very few in this world has a pure heart like our father... 

Leave the past, the "mamujaan" and his nephew bond over car games and meat, so long they get the supply of both undisturbed, they should not have a problem with an UCCHE CHINGRI! This prawns cooked with bitter gourd is a very healthy recipe, there is no spice powders or much of oil required! The mother perhaps steam the prawns too before lightly frying, I skipped.... the lazy cook lightly boiled the bitter gourd in the microwave. Though I named it UCCHE CHINGRI, we use "korola" here, hardly get small sized "ucchey".... This not at all exotic dish can be an entrant to any of your rice meal.

My "ALOO POTOLER DALNA" and "MASALA PRAWNS" blogposts got up dated with new pictures. Just click the below links for the full recipes!

ALOO POTOLER DALNA / POTATO & POINTED GOURD CURRY

MASALA PRAWNS

INGREDIENTS :

Bitter Gourd : 4-5 medium sized [karela / korola]

Small Sized Prawn : 150-200gm [jhinga / chingri]

Fenugreek Seed : 1/4tsp

Dry Red Chilli : 1

Green Chilli : 2 [slitted]

Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp + 1/4tsp

Salt : As Required

Oil : 1tbsp [I always use mustard]

PROCEDURE :

Cut the two ends of each of the bitter gourds. Cut half each. I usually throw the seeds, bitter gourd was not a natural love since birth... You can keep the seeds. Cut widthwise into not so thick nor thin slices. They will look like a half moon. 

Wash the bitter gourd slices and apply little salt to them. Rub well and add to a microwave proof bowl. Fill with 2 coffee mugs of water. Microwave at high for 3-4 minutes. You can do this part in gas top too.

Strain the water from the bitter gourd pieces.

Clean, de shell the prawns, wash thoroughly under running water. Rub with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder & little salt.

Heat the oil in a wok and lightly fry the prawns. Authentically, they are lightly steamed or boiled too in water.

Take the lightly fried prawns out of the wok and reserve for later use. Temper the same oil with fenugreek seeds & a dry red chilli, bayleaf.

Add the lightly boiled bitter gourds, add the rest of the turmeric powder and salt as required.

Mix well and cover cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes. Open cover and stir every minute. The bitter gourd pieces should not burn.

Open cover and add the slitted green chillies and the marinated prawns.

Fold in well. Cover cook for another 3-4 minutes. We are done.

Enjoy with piping hot steamed rice. We also had some minced meat and potato curry alongside on that particular day.