As I am preparing myself to write this recipe post, which happens to be ‘Chingdi Mach Diye Potoler Dolma Bhaja or Prawn Stuffed Pointed Gourd Fritters’, I begin to wonder and realise, how any stuffing in any vegetable or bread or for that matter meat, exponentially raises the strata of that simple dish and also our preference. Strange although that how this fact was never registered and was never analysed by my food focused mind. But the moment I acknowledge the fact, it becomes crystal clear why the popular stuffed dishes are so popular across the world. Now I realise, why everytime in any part of the country, the next Samosa gets sold before one pours the chutney on the previous one. Why everyday the people in Amritsar just halt for five minutes to grab quick bites of Amritsari Kulchas and Lassis from their favourite shops, and move on like nothing happened (ofcourse after 2-3 burps..;)). And why our drooling mouths find it difficult to place the order for a plate of Momos, everytime we stand in front of a Momo cart.
Circumstances are many, and each and every time there is a different flow of emotion as we get a chance to taste delicacies stuffed with edible mix. And this different flow of emotion along with curiosity lead me to chase the great human being who invented this master idea. Unfortunately my effort does not yield any sufficient result, except for the fact that the first recorded history of stuffed dishes came from the cookbook entitled Apicius de re Coquinaria, came from a chef by the name of Apicius, and my today’s dish ‘Chingdi Mach Diye Potoler Dolma Bhaja or Prawn Stuffed Pointed Gourd Fritters’ is an extension of Armenian dish Dolma, the idea which Armenians gifted to their Bengali friends during Christmas lunches, when they settled in Bengal in mid eighteenth century as a very active merchant community. Although the original Armenian Dolmas were traditional meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves, which Bengalis Indianised with Potoler Dolma, that eventually became integral part of Bengali cuisine.
Unaware of all the stories, I made my ‘Chingdi Mach Diye Potoler Dolma Bhaja’ inspired from my mother-in-law who also learnt the existence of this particular variety of Potoler Dolma (as vegetarian version of Potoler Dolma is more common in our household) after she moved to Kolkata three years back.
So, here is another delicacy to be devoured along with its interesting history.
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Recipe: Chingdi Mach Diye Potoler Dolma Bhaja or Prawn Stuffed Pointed Gourd Fritters
Preparation Time: Around 40 minutes Time Taken To Simmer Pointed Gourds: 15 minutes Time Taken To Scrape Pointed Gourds: 3 minutes Time Taken To Cook Prawns: 30 minutes Time Taken To Fry Fritters: 30 minutes (2 fritters at a time) Yield: 12 half pointed gourd fritters Equipment Used: Peeler, knife, a pan, a wok, turner, deep frying strainer, bowls, grater & scissor
Ingredients:
- 250 gm small prawns or shrimps
- 6 pointed gourds
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 onion
- 9 tablespoon refined oil
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1&½ teaspoon salt
- 1&¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 green chilli
- 1.25 X 1 inch ginger
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or maida
- 1/3 cup semolina
Method:
- Thaw the prawns an hour or two in advance if they are frozen
- Clean the pointed gourds properly under running water. Cut the ends from both sides before peeling the outer skin. Slice them into half
- Simmer the pointed gourds in a pan for approximately 15 minutes after adding 2 cups of water
- Remove the gourds from pan once you can easily insert a fork from the inner side or the white part of the gourd
- Let the gourd pieces cool down and scrape off the inner flesh with a spoon and keep them aside
- Chop garlic and onion
- Rinse the prawns and clean them
- Heat a pan and heat 2 tablespoon refined oil in the pan once the pan is hot
- Temper the oil with mustard seeds and chopped garlic
- Fry the chopped onion once garlic pieces are sauteed
- Add the prawns, followed by ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar. Stir the ingredients with a turner
- Chop a green chilli and grate ginger into the pan
- Cook the prawns on low flame till they are completely cooked and fried
- In a bowl add maida, semolina, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add a cup of water and mix the ingredients with a spoon or finger to arrive at a smooth batter
- Heat a wok or a pan and heat 7 tablespoon refined oil in the pan
- One by one fill the scraped pointed gourd pieces with fried prawns and dip the gourd in the batter. Deep fry the stuffed gourd till they are golden brown
Clean the pointed gourds.
Slice them into half after peeling and cutting the ends from both sides.
Simmer the pointed gourds in a pan for approximately 15 minutes.
Remove the gourds from pan once you can easily insert a fork from the inner side.
Scrape off the inner flesh with a spoon when the gourds come to room temperature.
Chop garlic and onion.
Rinse the prawns and clean them.
Heat a pan and heat 2 tablespoon refined oil in the pan once the pan is hot.
Temper the oil with mustard seeds and chopped garlic.
Fry the chopped onion once garlic pieces are sauteed.
Add the prawns, followed by ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar. Stir them with a turner.
Chop green chilli.
Grate ginger into the pan.
Cook the prawns till they are completely cooked and fried.
Make a batter by adding maida, semolina, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and a cup of water.
Heat 7 tablespoon refined oil in a pan or wok.
One by one fill the scraped pointed gourd pieces with fried prawns.
Dip the gourd in the batter.
Deep fry the stuffed gourd (two at a time) till they are golden brown.
Tips:
- Just peel off the extreme outer part of the pointed gourd. Don’t worry if some traces remain on the gourd
- Store the scraped inner flesh of pointed gourd. You can use the flesh later in some other curries
- In case of non-stick pan, heat the pan on low flame
- Break the prawn pieces in the pan itself while cooking if they appear little bigger in size
- To consume less oil and to avoid breakage, fry less number of fritters at a time
- You can use the leftover oil, batter and unused prawn stuffing later
- The quantity of batter is recommended little more in proportion, for the convenience of dipping the pointed gourd pieces and spreading the batter on pointed gourd
