Posto Chingri Bhape (Steamed Prawns with Poppy Seeds)

Posto - Poppy seed (khas khas) and Prawns are two great favourites of West Bengal. A combination of the two is just heavenly for people of West Bengal (and also for some from the East). For this you do not have to have the big prawns, medium sized ones will do just fine, even the small ones are not too bad.

Ingredients

• Prawns ½ kg
• Poppy seeds ~200 - 400 gms
• Mustard seeds 30 - 50 gms
• Grated coconut ½ cup
• Mustered Oil 3 - 6 tablespoon (You may substitute mustard oil with any other vegetable oil but it will not be the same thing)
• Green chillies 3 - 5
• Salt to taste

Preparation

Prawns

Clean the prawns. Clean the back. Leave the tail on if you like. This is generally not cooked with the head but if like keep them on. Wash them and let the excess water go away.

Poppy seeds

We need to make a paste of poppy seeds. This can be done various ways.

1. Old fashioned stone grinder

Soak the poppy seeds in water and then grind the standard way

2. Use the small container of a regular mixer

Fill the container as per specification, add some water and then use the high setting

3. Use a coffee grinder

Put dry seeds in the grinder then grind until the paste feels oily, then put the ground seeds in a bowl and mix water to make a paste

The paste should not be "too" smooth; when you squeeze it you should feel some seeds at your finger tips. Also make sure it is not very watery.

Remember to mix the mustard seeds with the last batch of the poppy seeds.

Cooking

Mix all the ingredients with the prawns. Put the green chillies in to the mixture, if you like it hot break them.

There are various ways of cooking it

Traditional

Put the mixture in a metal container that can be closed properly and has a flat top. In a big vessel pour some water. Place the container with the mixture in the water. Let the water boil. Put something heavy (another pot with water will do) on top of the container so that it does not bounce around.
If you do not have a flat top container with lid then cover it nicely with aluminium foil. and put a plate that is little bigger on top and put something heavy on top.

Please make sure that water does not enter the container.

Ready in 45-50 minutes

Conventional Oven

Put the mixture in a oven safe container. cover in aluminium foil. Put in a preheated oven at 180 - 190 °C for 30 minutes.

Microwave Oven

Put the mixture in a microwave safe container cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at high for 20 minutes or at medium for 30-35 minutes.

Cooking time may vary. if the prawns are red and soft you are done.

Variations

The same dish is made with Rohu (Bengali Rui) and Hilsa (Bengali Ilish). The one with Hilsa is also a top favourite especially among the people from East Bengal (now Bangladesh).

However, for Hilsa the poppy seed is totally replaced by mustard seeds. Also some people do not use the coconut