Let the Fasting Begin

ছোলা ভাজা
Chickpeas

My first batch of chickpeas this year

It's that time of year again. Fasting while growing up was always exciting. Getting up for seheri after midnight felt like a bit of an adventure, especially if I was in Bangladesh with the extended family (read: cousins my age). There was also an element of competition with said cousins - and yes, I do know this isn't the point of Ramadan. But all of this gave Ramadan an extremely festive mood, and made for a great feeling when coupled with the charitable spirit that permeated the air during this time.  

What really cemented this feeling for me was the food. In Bangladesh, this is when restaurants and other establishments retract their normal menus in favour of Ramadan staples: kebabs, various vegetable fritters, haleem, chaap and so on. Opening times change to match iftaar and seheri times, and footfall into food halls and open markets often starts early afternoon and continues into the early hours of the morning. These flipped-around living patterns, queuing for elusive Ramadan-only food makes for a very unique experience.

But food for Ramadan doesn't always need to be bought. Certain staples, like chickpeas, have always been home-cooked in our family. Chickpeas form the bulk of our family's iftaars, substituting carbs for a month. This makes them a somewhat immutable part of Ramadan for me and as such the perfect first recipe to share. At iftaars, we serve this with vegetable fritters, a garnish of salad, fruits and dates to form a full meal. If you're not having this for Ramadan, it can also be served as a snack or a side dish as part of a larger menu.

Semi De-Shelled Prawns

Less Crunch, More Prawn

If you've read my immediately previous dry prawn curry recipe, you'll have seen in some of the pictures the prawns are not fully de-shelled. This is quite normal for Bangladeshi cuisine - prawns will have their antennae, legs and middle shell removed but the head and sometimes the tail will remain. This is because in a properly cooked curry the heads are crunchy and chewy, and therefore quite edible. By not removing the heads you also don't risk wasting any of the meat inside them. 

In fact, I suspect that the peeling mostly achieves the object of cleaning the prawn. The legs in some cases are left if the prawn is carrying eggs, which in my family at least are considered somewhat of a delicacy. To de-shell prawns, begin by cutting off any remaining antennae and legs from the prawn. Follow this by cutting lengthwise along the top of the shell, split the shell in two and tear off gently without damaging the meat. Clean the top curve of the meat - the black gunk along the prawns body. Finally, peel off the surface shell from the head as well. The series of pictures below provide a quick reference to the steps.

Cut lengthwise along the top of the prawn's shell
and split in two.

The Blog's First Crustacean

চিংড়ি দোপিয়াজা
Dry Prawn Curry

Prawns served with rice

Bangladesh is quite conservative when it comes to food. Granted, I've heard rumours of frog-eating, but I've never actually seen someone serve it up anywhere in the country. Squid and shellfish have never been easily available locally - at least not in mainstream food markets and restaurants. And it is only recently that I've started to see curried crab served in restaurants, though even this is still limited to coastal regions. Somehow, running completely counter to this narrative is our country's love for prawns. We eat every variety: from the tiny ones ground into a paste, to the massive jumbo king prawns served at special occasions - legs and antennae included! 

I have to admit I very much share this affection towards prawns, and growing up they were amongst the few 'fish' I liked. Whenever my mom would try to make me skip meat and eat fish, this is what I would ask for. An argument about how prawns weren't real fish would ensue, and sadly I'd often have to settle for eating something like rui or ilish. I have expanded my palate since, but prawns remain a favourite. As such I'm surprised it took me so long to try cooking this dish. As far as curries go, this is a very simple one. Prawns are hard to get wrong, and the result is usually a sweet, mildly fragrant curry despite the chilli I've used below. Apologies for the strangely varied pictures - they come from 3 separate occasions of (past) cooking! 

Ingredients:

• 150.00 g raw peeled prawns
• 1 small onion
• 1.00 tablespoon of garlic paste
• 0.50 tablespoons of ginger paste
• Turmeric powder, 3/4 teaspoon
• Chili powder, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Chopped coriander, a handful

Method:

• Chop the onion and heat some oil in a non-stick saucepan
• Fry the onions on medium heat till they go translucent
• Add the garlic and ginger paste, followed by the turmeric and chilli

The onions just as they're done, with the spices being added

• Mix the onion and spices thoroughly, and cook for at least 10 minutes 
• Add small amounts of hot water to the saucepan now and again to prevent the mixture from drying out

The cooked spice mixture, transferred
to a new pot because of kitchen logistics.
Basically mom needed the saucepan
for something else.

• Wash the prawns and add them to saucepan 
• Mix the prawns and spices thoroughly, again adding hot water intermittently to prevent the dish from drying out completely 

Prawns being mixed with the spices

• Add salt as desired and leave to cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add the chopped coriander, mix into the curry
• Leave to cook for another 5 minutes and take off the heat
• Serve with rice, polao or khichuri

Additional Information

The dryness of the curry is a personal preference. Feel free to add more or less water based on how much sauce you want. Bear in mind though that the more water you add, the thinner the sauce will become. Prawns are often cooked like this with aubergines and potatoes, which bulk up the dish. Add the potatoes straight after adding the spices, allowing everything to cook together for the 10 minute period. Add the aubergines (or any other vegetable you fancy - I've used green beans or courgettes too) at the same time as the prawn, allowing them to soften without turning to mush.