Chingudi Jhola

The prawns are fried in mustard oil first, and the tomato and garlic are what make it red.

Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish.

Ingredients

600 g prawns, shelled
4 tablespoons mustard oil
500 g tomatoes, chopped
10 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons ground red chilli
1 teaspoon salt
300 ml water
20 g coriander leaves

Method

THE PRAWNS ARE FRIED IN MUSTARD OIL FIRST, AND THE TOMATO AND GARLIC ARE WHAT MAKE IT RED. Its article gives both halves. The method: the curry is prepared by FRYING THE PRAWNS IN MUSTARD OIL, and then in a mixture of garam masala INCLUDING CINNAMON, with bay leaves also used. The colour: the curry includes AN ABUNDANCE OF TOMATO AND GARLIC WHICH GIVES THE CURRY A REDDISH HUE AND SPICY FLAVOUR. Abundance is the word to take seriously -- ten cloves of garlic and half a kilo of tomato for four people, which is twice what the other curries here carry.
THE PRAWNS ARE FRIED AND LIFTED OUT WITHIN A MINUTE. They finish in the gravy for two minutes at the end. Prawns cooked through twice are rubber.
THE WHOLE SPICES GO IN AFTER THE PRAWNS COME OUT. Its article's order: the prawns are fried, AND THEN in the spice mixture. Cinnamon, bay, cardamom and cloves into the same oil.
CINNAMON IS SINGLED OUT AND IT IS NOT SUBTLE. Its article names it specifically within the garam masala. A whole five-centimetre stick, left in.
THE GARLIC IS CHOPPED, NOT PASTED. Ten cloves. Pasted it disappears into the gravy; chopped it stays as sweet, soft pieces.
THE TOMATOES ARE COOKED UNTIL THE OIL SEPARATES AND THEN SOME. Fifteen minutes at least. Half a kilo of tomato holds a lot of water and all of it has to go.
THE COCONUT-CASHEW VERSION IS A DIFFERENT DISH AND ITS ARTICLE FLAGS IT. It notes some variations use a coconut-cashew paste, which makes it milder and thicker and loses the red.
IT IS A JHOLA, SO IT IS LOOSE. Three hundred millilitres of water at the end, simmered five minutes.
THE PRAWNS GO BACK IN LAST AND THE PAN COMES OFF. With the coriander over the top.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes