Daab Chingri

Name: Daab Chingri
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Westbengal)
Ingredients: Large prawns: 500g, shelled, deveined; Green tender coconuts (daab): 2, tops cut open, water retained inside; Coconut cream: 100ml; Mustard paste: 2 tbsp; Green chillies: 4, slit; Ginger paste: 1 tsp; Turmeric: ½ tsp; Mustard oil: 2 tbsp; Salt: 1 tsp; Poppy seed (posto) paste: 1 tbsp (optional); Use young (tender) coconuts — hard mature ones don't work; The coconut water adds natural sweetness that balances mustard; Seal foil tightly or steam escapes and prawns dry out; Scooping young coconut flesh is part of the experience — do not pre-scoop

🍗 Non-veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Hard

Prawns cooked inside a tender green coconut shell with coconut water, cream and spices — a theatrical, flavour-intense Bengali dinner showstopper.

⏱️20 minPrep

🔥30 minCook

🕒50 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Daab Chingri

Mix prawns with mustard paste, ginger paste, turmeric, salt, chillies, mustard oil and posto paste if using.
Divide marinated prawns between the two coconuts (already containing their coconut water — do not drain).
Add 50ml coconut cream to each.
Cover coconut openings tightly with foil.
Bake at 180°C for 30 min OR steam in large pot 30 min.
The coconut shell acts as a natural cooking vessel.
Bring coconuts to the table; open foil dramatically.
Scoop prawns with young coconut flesh from the shell walls into bowls with rice.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 340 kcal | 26g | 12g | 22g | 3g | Daab Chingri is Kolkata's most theatrical dinner dish — a restaurant invention that draws on the coastal Bengali tradition of cooking in natural vessels. It became fashionable in Kolkata's landmark restaurants (Oh! Calcutta, Bhojohori Manna) before spreading globally. The dish combines the Sundarbans' prawn wealth with Bengal's coconut-palm coast, creating something that cannot be replicated outside fresh-coconut country. ---

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