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Creamy and Delicious Prawn Malai Curry – The Taste of Bengal

Prawn Malai Curry

If you live in Bengal, or simply admire their cuisine, then you know that Chingri Malaikari (Prawn Malai Curry) is an iconic treat. You can cook this dish for lunch, dinner or any special occasion. Its subtle, creamy flavours are achieved using a mix of spices and coconut milk, which compliment the tiger prawns in spades. This recipe may seem tricky but don’t be fooled, it’s probably easier than you think.

Bengali Prawn Malai Curry

By now you know that India is the spice capital of the world, and trading was, and is still prevalent. Now, what does that have to do with this dish? Most people think that the ‘Malai’ curry is named because of the use of coconut milk as it’s base, which is partly true. However, this actually happened over time.

In reality, Bengali people first named this curry because of the Malay influence on it. They came in contact with some Malay traders, learned a few tricks and adapted this curry. So, it’s really Malay curry, which is now better known as malai curry. Interesting right? You learn something new everyday.

You can make this dish even easier with Licious Whole Scampi/Giant Prawns.

Prawn Malai Curry Recipe

Since you're using whole prawns, you can skip right to prep and cooking. A kilogram of prawns will feed 6 people. This recipe has been created keeping that number in mind. You can adjust it for larger or smaller groups.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Indian
Servings 6 people
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes

Instructions

  1. Coat your prawns in half your turmeric powder and 1 tsp of salt and let them marinate
  2. Put your sliced onions in your grinder and make a paste
  3. Heat up your oil in a non-stick pan and fry your prawns in batches, for roughly 45 seconds on either side. Do not overcook them, or they will become tough
  4. Add your ghee to the remaining oil and temper your whole spices – cardamom, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon
  5. Next, toss in your onion paste and let this fry till golden brown
  6. Your ginger paste is next, fry this for at least 4 minutes
  7. Follow this with the rest of your turmeric and the Kashmiri chilli powder. If your spices stick to your pan, add a little bit of the coconut milk to loosen them
  8. At this stage you can add the rest of the salt and green chillies. Let this cook till the oil begins to separate
  9. Your yogurt goes in next, make sure to lower the heat and stir well to break up any lumps. Let this simmer for about 4 minutes
  10. Now it’s time for the coconut milk
  11. When the coconut milk begins to boil, you can put in the fried prawns. After five minutes of cooking, you are all done
  12. As a final step, sprinkle the garam masala over the top

Recipe Notes

So, if you’re craving the taste of Bengal because you live away from home or just never knew how to make it, then this recipe should certainly fix that. There is no denying the flavour this dish holds and once you get the hang of it, it becomes really easy to execute. Don’t forget to finish off your meal with a nice sandesh or rasgulla too. Tip: If you prefer to use deshelled prawns, then we also have great tiger prawns on offer, make sure to check out our selection.