Chingri Mach Diye Mulor Ghonto( Radish cooked with Prawn) is a simple side dish recipe, loaded with flavour! In Bengali Chingri Mach means Prawn, Mulo means Radish. So you understood that Prawn and Radish are the two main ingredients in this recipe.
It’s a cold rainy day here in Melbourne. It is the last week of May, and then it will be officially Winter. As I grew up in Calcutta, a tropical city of India where Winter used to arrive max to the max for a week or two!
Though it’s been more than six years, I am living here in Melbourne with my family, and I still struggle to adjust with Melbourne winter.
When I used to live in Calcutta, Winter had a festive charm. That time winter means the last month of the year; Winter means Christmas, Picnic and new year celebration. But in Australia, Winter starts in the middle of the year, in June. Winter means small days and long nights. All I love to do during winter months are to cook and enjoy warm, delicious food, snuggle myself in a warm blanket and enjoy my favourite Netflix series ” The Chef’s Table”!
Looking at the warm food on the TV screen, that also makes me hungry and inspire me to cook something deliciously comforting!
About “Ghonto”?
Ghonto is a mishmash kind of dish, made with a different type of veggies but not entirely smashed. The vegetables should hold a texture! It is a well-liked side dish in Bengali cuisine, and this is a regular visitor in everyday Bengali Lunch menu.
Ghonto usually made from a variety of seasonal produces, such as Mochar Ghonto, Badhakopir Ghonto, Lau Chingri Ghonto.
Typical Ingredients for Ghonto!
The interesting part is that all Ghonto recipe uses almost the same species but taste different.
Whole spices: Cumin seeds, bay leaf usually used for tempering.
Ground Spices:Cumin powder , Turmeric powder, red chilli powder.
Ginger paste : This in a key ingredient in Bengali vegetarian recipes.
Gorom Moshla or Bengali Gaaram Masala: Either use whole Bengali gorom moshla for tempering the oil or sprinkle Garam masala powder to finish up the dish.
These are common flavouring agent in most of the Ghonto recipes.
Veg and Non -veg Ghonto
Almost all Ghonto recipe has one veg and nonveg version.
We Bengali love our fish! While we use fish pieces to make gravy dishes, small fish, fish head, fishbone known as Kanta, use in Ghonto, Chorchori, Chyenchra! ( Will explain all the dish name while I will share the recipes)
Prawn considered fish in Bengali cooking!
Yes, in Bengal, we consider prawns as fish! So we say Chigrimach!
Chingri Mach Diye Mulor Ghonto is a winter delicacy in my maternal house!
What you Need to make Chingri Mach Diye Mulor Ghonto
Prawns– For this recipe, use small prawns. Earlier it used to be a time-consuming recipe. First, you need to clean the shrimps or prawns; but I like to buy cleaned and shelled prawn from my local market or supermarket. I know it is a little bit pricier than the unclean one. But then I can save some time! So the choice is yours!
White Radish- you need to grate the Radish by your hands. Now thanks to technology, you can use a food processor and, it takes hardly five minutes to grate or shred one kg White radish!
Indian Pantry staple spices-
Whole spices – Cumin seeds( Jeera) Bay leaf ( Tej Pata)
Ground spices – Cumin Powder ( Jeera Guro), Ginger paste, Garam masala, Salt, sugar.
Oil– you can use vegetable oil, but Mustard oil is my personal favourite for Bengali recipes.
Meal Ideas
Like any other cuisines, with a little bit of planning and pre-work, you can put together a Bengali meal for your weekdays’ lunch or weeknights dinner.
An everyday Bengali meal consist, Rice, Dal, one or two side dishes, One main dish( usually fish), Chutney.
My Mantra is “Cook once and eats twice.” I try to come up with the combination of the recipes with a variety of colour, flavour, texture and make-ahead dishes.
- Rice
- Dal– Tomato Diye Arhar/ Toor Dal
- Side Dish 1- Lau Posto
- Side Dish 2 -Chingri Mach Diye Mulo-r Ghonto
- Chutney- Tomato chutney
Recipe: 2/300
Read more about my 300 recipes challenge here.
