Lau chingri is a hot favorite dish in East Bengal. Basically
this is Portuguese recipe. It is a combination of the sweet bottle gourd and
the spicy shrimp.
Ingredients:
Serves: 5
·
Lau
(bottle gourd or lauki) - 1 small (about 750 grams)
·
150
g- Small Shrimps/Choto Chingri
·
salt to taste
·
1 tspn turmeric powder
·
4 tbspn of oil
·
1 tspn cumin seeds
·
1 bay leaf
·
2 whole
dry red chili
·
1 tspn cumin powder
·
Coriander leaves for garnishing
·
Water as needed
Preparation:
Peel
the vegetable and chop finely cut into 1 inch long thin strips.
Peel shrimp, wash
thoroughly, rub salt and turmeric and keep aside.Cooking procedure:
Heat
oil in a kadai/ pan. Fry the shrimps and keep aside.
To
the same oil, add jeera (Cumin seeds) / panch phoron, bay leaf and dry red
chillies. Fry until the seeds change color (about 15 seconds).
Add
the cut lauki, and mix. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat.
Add
turmeric, jeera (cumin) powder, green chilies and fried shrimps. Mix thoroughly
and cover to cook further for approximately 8 minutes or until the vegetable is
tender and cooked.
Take
the cover off occasionally and stir. If the lau is fresh it will release water.
The lau will soften gradually. No need to add water as the lau will cook in its
own juice.
Remove cover, add salt, and turn heat to
medium-high to evaporate excess water.
Garnish with coriander
leaves and remove from heat.