Kochur Loti Chingri
Kochur loti chingri is a popular Bengali dish made with two key ingredients: kochur loti, which refers to the taro stolon, and chingri, which means prawns or shrimp.
Ingredients
- 400 grams Taro stolon (cut, peeled & cleaned)
- 200 grams Prawn (cut, deveined & cleaned)
- 1 piece Onion (chopped)
- ½ tablespoon Kashmiri red chili
- ½ tablespoon Cumin powder
- ½ tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon Turmeric powder
- 3 pieces Red colored green chili
- 3 tablespoon Mustard oil
- Salt to taste
Paste
- 1 inch Ginger (pasted)
- 10 cloves Garlic (pasted)
- 2 pieces Green chili (pasted)
Instructions
- First, marinate the prawns with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Keep it aside for 10 mins.
- After 10 mins, you can see the change of color in the prawns.
- Heat the wok on a gas stove. When it is ready, add mustard oil to sauté the prawns.
- When the oil is hot, add the marinated prawns. Keep the flame low to medium. Sauté the prawns lightly.(Expert tip: Do not overdo it, otherwise, the prawns will become rubbery.)
- While sautéing the prawns, you will notice a little bit of water oozing out from them. Take out the prawns when the water has dried up.
- Add bit of oil into the same wok, raise the flame and let it heat up.
- When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions. Sauté the onions for 2 mins.
- When the onions are slightly fried, add the ginger-garlic-chili paste to the wok. Keep the flame low to medium.
- Sauté the paste along with the chopped onions for 2 mins. Keep the flame at medium to high.
- Now, add the powdered masalas. First, add the ½ tablespoon turmeric and then the ½ tablespoon red chili powder, followed by ½ tablespoon coriander and cumin powder. At this moment, add a pinch of salt to the preparation.
- Sauté all the ingredients and add a little bit of water to cook the masala.
- As soon as the water dries out, add the taro stolons.(Expert tip: These stolons are baby stolons, which is why I did not add them directly in the oil to sauté. Instead, I added them to the masalas. If you want then you can add the stalons directly into the oil to stir-fry it.)
- Sauté the stolons for 5 mins. When the water starts coming out from the stolons, cover the wok with a lid and let it cook for 5 mins.
- After 5 minutes, remove the lid and add all the sautéed prawns to the wok. Mix all the ingredients well.(Expert tip: You can add potatoes to this recipe, but I did not include any in this particular recipe.)
- Now, add ½ cup of water into the wok.(Expert tip: Do not add too much, otherwise, the stolons will melt completely.)
- Let it simmer a bit. At this point, add a little bit of salt and the three-slit green chilis to the light gravy. Cover the wok with a lid and let it cook for 10 mins.
- Keep the flame at medium to high level. In between, open the lid and check the consistency. If there is still some juice left, let it dry up and Kochur Loti Chingri is done.
- Transfer Kochur Loti Chingri to a bowl. Serve it hot along with steamed rice, vegetable pulao, luchi, roti (Indian bread) or paratha (layered flatbread).
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Notes
Always use fresh ingredients to make this dish especially the prawns that should be firm and of high quality.
I sauté the prawns to golden brown before adding the taro stolons. This will retain its tenderness and add to the crunchiness of the dish.
Clean the taro stolon properly and cut them into uniform shape. This adds to the look of the dish. It is better to blanch them first in salt water to remove the natural bitter taste and add to the eventual taste and texture of te dish.
Do not overcook the prawns or the taro stolons. Cook on a low to medium flame to ensure the flavors of both meld with each other nicely.
You may add more or less chili powder and adjust other spices according to your taste preferences but do not add anything in excessive amount to overdo the earthy taste and flavor of the taro stems.
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