Kucho Chingrir Bora | Chingri Macher Bora | Small Shrimp Fritters

My recent trip to Kolkata was an eventful holiday, all my to-do-list were fulfilled. Watching Bangla theater, meeting friends, watching new Bengali movies,shopping, meeting relatives, friends and what not ! I had kept one mission on the day of departure, a visit to local fish market which falls on the west of the Ballygunge bridge around Gariahat Flyover. How could I miss a trip to the huge fresh water fish market before embarking for Chennai ! As expected I bought many fish varieties which are hard to find in Chennai. Small Puti, Kucho Chingri, Mourala, Bhetki (fish finger cut), small Pabda and Parshey to name a few. The recipe that I am going to share today is simple but delicious. Have a look at the pic and see how fresh these kucho chingris were...

See how small they are

Ingredients:

400 gms Kucho Chingri (Baby Shrimps)
1 small Onion, finely diced
1-2 Green chilies, chopped
1 tsp Ginger paste
3-4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
1/3 cup All purpose flour
Handful of Coriander leaves(chopped) + 1tbsp of tender stems of coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
The first step is to clean the nano shrimps by taking a big bowl and rinse them several times in running water. Use both your hands and rub thoroughly. This is the only effective way to remove any mud.

 Strain through a fine sieve and let it sit for 5 minutes. In between take a mixing bowl or plate, add onions, green chilies, ginger paste and mix well. Squeeze out any excess water from the Kucho Chingri (baby shrimp) and add into the bowl.

 Now what my Baba follows is to mash the Kucho Chingri with the bottom of a glass. I sometimes take half of the Chingri and run it for a minute in a coffee grinder. You can skip this step if you wish to. Add the remaining ingredients except oil and mix everything well. Heat oil in a frying pan and drop small amount of batter into the pan.

The final batter looks like this...

 Fry on low heat till it becomes golden brown. Repeat this till you finish all the batches. Enjoy these hot Kucho Chingrir bora with chili sauce / dhonepatar chutney or just itself !

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Kumro Phool Bhaja | Pumpkin Blossom Fritters

Firstly a very happy and Prosperous New Year to all my readers and blogger friends all across the world. Hope this new year 2015 brings immense happiness and prosperity to your lives.

Let me start the blog with a humble snack called as “Kumro Phool Bhaja” or Pumpkin Flower Fritters. Essentially it is a snack that can double up as a side dish in a main meal as well. During my childhood days in Haridwar ( Uttarakhand), we used to wait till the blossoming of the flowers used to blossom and then me and my sister used to pluck them and bring them straight to our kitchen to let Ma fry them for us. Yes we were fortunate to have a huge Bagaan (backyard kitchen).

I remember an incident few years back. During a trip to Ooty, while returning from the beautiful hill station, we passed from a household outside on the road there were pumpkin plants with flowers blossomed. We immediately stopped our cars and like a commando operation me and my sister plucked a lot of flowers. And before the neighbours who never knew that this flower was edible, yelled at us, we had zoomed back in our car. Was it a fun sight to watch. Sheepishly admit that I am a 'phool' (blossom) chor :-P

You can also check my previous Bhaji recipes like Bok Phool Bhaja (Hadga blossom Bhaji), Pur Diye Sheem Bhaja (Stuffed Hyacinth Beans Fry)

Ingredients: 

5-6 Pumpkin Blossom (Kumro Phool)
1/2 cup Rice flour
1 small pinch of Kalo jeera (Kalonj /Nigella seeds)
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder (optional)

Small pinch of Black pepper powder

Water to make the batter

Salt to taste

Refind oil for deep frying

Method:

First of all you need to  remove the stigma and the stem from each blossom (I sometimes leave the stem part as while eating it makes easier to hold it BUT NEVER EAT THAT PORTION). Take a big serving bowl and dip these blossoms in chilled water. Take extra care not to tear them as the blossoms are very delicate. 

Mix flour with nigella seeds, baking soda,black pepper powder, turmeric (optional) and salt. Add water to make a thick batter.

Heat oil in a wok. Dip the blossoms one by one into the prepared batter and deep fry for couple of minutes on low flame until light golden. 

Remove with a slotted spoon and place the fried blossoms on tissue paper to soak extra oil. Serve immediately with steamed rice-dal combination.

Tips:

• You can use Besan (Bengal gram flour) in place of rice flour, in that case do add2-3 tsps of Flour along with it.
• You can try the same recipe with Bok phool.

Thin like wafer, hint of sweet yet so crunchy....

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