Bottle Gourd with Shrimp Curry/ (Lau Chingri)

Generally speaking, there is an inherent advantage of growing up close to a water body. Guess what?

Fish & Shrimp!

I grew up in a little town on the banks of river Hooghly (a tributary of river Ganges which you might be more familiar with). My dad would always look for a fresh catch of shrimp in the local markets. And my mom would rustle up this gem of a dish with the fresh caught shrimp and bottle gourd. This is a delicacy from West bengal. Although a Bengali dish, this is slightly unconventional due to generous use of veggies in a fish/shrimp based dish. In fact I would say, the primary texture is provided by the bottle gourd while the shrimp really provides an extra layer of sea-foody flavor on an otherwise, might I say, bland vegetable.

I value this recipe now more than ever because I hardly ever get fresh ingredients as mentioned before. However this is an attempt to recreate a piece of my childhood with what I could get my hands on, 8000 miles away from home.

Try it my mom’s style and let me know how you like it.

Ingredients:

• Bottle Gourd- 1pc (peeled & roughly chopped)
• Shrimp-12-15 pieces (medium size)
• Mustard oil- 2 tablespoon
• Dry Red Chilli- 2 pcs
• Bay leaves-2 pcs
• Panch Phoron- around 1/2 teaspoon (see Note below)
• Onion-1 small (chopped)
• Ginger-1 teaspoon (crushed/paste)
• Cumin powder-1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
• Salt (as per taste)
• Sugar- 1/2 teaspoon
• Water-1/2 cup
• Green chillies- 2 pcs (slitted)
• Cilantro-1 tablespoon (freshly chopped)

Note:

Panch Phoron consists of fenugreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, black mustard seed and fennel seed in equal parts.

Cooking Method:

1. Marinate the shrimps for 15 minutes with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder.
2. In a deep pan boil the bottle gourd and strain the water.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan, fry the marinated shrimp till they turn orange, remove and keep aside
4. In the same pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil and temper with bay leaves, dry red chillies & panch phoron, let them splutter for few seconds before adding the chopped onion.
5. Fry the onion till they are golden & fragrant
6. Add ginger paste, cumin powder and turmeric powder, stir a little and add 1/2 cup of water.
7. Add salt and sugar.
8. Fry for 4-5 minutes till the oil separates, then add the boiled bottle gourd and mix well.
9. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes allowing the excess moisture to evaporate.
10. Finally add fried shrimps, chopped cilantro & slit green chillies, cook for 2 minutes in low heat & remove from stove.
11. Lau chingri is ready to be served with steamed rice.