Pui shaker chorchori

PeekNCook’s Pui Shaker Chorchori is an attributed grandmother’s Bengali vegetable curry. This selected version uses shrimp with Malabar-spinach leaves, potato, pumpkin, eggplant, radish and ridge gourd.

Shrimp are peeled, deveined, washed under tap water and marinated with salt and part of the turmeric. The chopped spinach leaves soak in water and are strained; the supplied cut vegetables are also washed under tap water.

Part of the mustard oil lightly fries the shrimp, which are removed to a bowl. The remaining oil is added to the same pan and tempered with panch phoron and green chilli before chopped onion and the other vegetables are fried with salt and the remaining turmeric.

The chopped leaves are mixed in, and the pan is covered for low-heat cooking. The leaves and vegetables release their own moisture; once they are cooked, sugar is added and higher heat evaporates the excess liquid, with stirring developing the described burnt flavour.

The same fried shrimp are gently mixed into the curry at the end. The chorchori stands briefly before serving with steamed rice and the selected masoor-dal accompaniment.