Malai curry is super Bengali dish — it’s a very specific dish with a very specific taste, so it’s often made for special occasions. One of these special occasions was last week, so my mom and I traded off – she’d make the kosha mangsho and I would be responsible for the malai curry.
Ok —
this is something that I was already familiar with as it’s quite a common base — I only needed
didn’t have were golda chingri, or giant tiger prawns, which are shrimps around 6-8 inches long if they are straightened. Regardless, I still had some large shrimps in the freezer, so I decided to use that.
STEP 1: Is to get everything ready. Interestingly, many Indians, especially ones who speak North Indian languages, are mislead by the name of the dish. You see, malai means dairy cream in many of these languages, so they expect this dish to get it signature smoothness and mouthfeel from cream. However, this misunderstanding is because the malai in malai curry is a Bengali transliteration of Malay, as in from Malaysia. About four hundred years ago, this recipe cemented itself in Bengal, and has really adapted Bengali cooking traditions and ingredients, but some of the basic ideas will reflect principles of South East Asian cookery. For example, the first thing I did was make an onion paste – necessary for some classes of Bengali dishes, but I also made a blend of red chillies, green chillies, ginger, and garlic (this one should be spicy enough to feel in the air – throughout the rest of the cooking process we won’t add any more spicy heat, only things to cool this down)– flavors which are now considered quintessentially North Ind
ian, but the technique of effectively creating this paste out of non dry spices is something that we tend to associate with SEA cuisine.
STEP 2: Collect the whole spices necessary – in this case it was cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and because I didn’t have bay leaves, I used whole black pepper in stead.
STEP 3: Heat the pan, and then when it’s hot add the oil, when the oil’s hot, add the onion paste, and when you and smell the edge of the onion go away, add the whole spices to fry.
STEP4: Then, add the red paste we made and let that fry. What identifies this dish as Bengali, is the addition of sugar here. Letting the sugar fry brings a sweet depth of flavor and contributes to the warm color tones of the dish as it caramelizes. This is also what contributes to the smooth mouthfeel.
STEP 5: This next step requires a bit of finesse, first take a bit of yogurt and beat it until it becomes very viscous and light. Once beaten, add some cumin, coriander, and turmeric powder to the pot, then mix. Then take your beaten yogurt you’ve let sit, and dump it into the pot with one swift motion — do not try to get all the drippings in — that will contribute to the yogurt not getting incorporated properly in the hot food. Immediately after you add the yogurt, stir the stuff in the pot vigorously, until it’s all well combined.
STEP 6: Of course, salt as you go, but now it’s your final chance to add salt before you finish up.
STEP 7: Here you want to add some coconut milk and your shrimp – and in 5 or so minutes, it should be ready to eat!
This dish looks great! Again, I love the history and nuances of Bengali cuisine compared to other South Asian styles. You mentioned that this dish is only made for special occasions, but I wonder what that special occasion was? I am interested to know if its a holiday or some other event.
The even was the tail end of the Hindu festival Navratri. Literally translated into “nine nights”, it is the lead-up to biggest Bengali holiday of the year, so for each of the days (day # 6 – day #10), food is specific, elaborate, and governed by certain rules.
I had no idea about that transliteration–so cool!It’s so cool to learn about non-veg Indian cooking. I have never looked into it or seen how Indian spices blend with meat, so this is very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I always enjoy hearing about the background of each dish and where they come from. For example, you said how this dish can be misleading because of the origin of its name and how others may think it may be. Also, I find it nice that you can incorporate your family into your cooking by being able to do it together and helping each other out.