Chingri Malaikari
Tiger Prawns in Coconut Milk
Growing up, fish was an everyday staple at home. However, prawns (somehow still considered to be in the fish category) were consumed only on special occasions, primarily because they were expensive and not as easily available as the usual fish. They were usually cooked only on a weekend, and my sister and I would start fantasizing about the dish soon after we woke up on any of those special weekends!
Before these special occasions, my father would take great pains to select the freshest possible prawns, scrutinizing and examining them before finally proceeding to buy them from the local market. My mother would then pour all her love into the dish, and the whole house would have a lovely warm aroma floating around. My sister and I were all willing that day to eat any kind of otherwise loathed dish, just so that we could reach our final destination of chingri malaikari. Birthdays, celebrations, visiting relatives, having college friends over for a special lunch, this dish was a must on the menu.
I learned how to make chingri malaikari much later in life when I had my own kids, settled 8,000 miles away from home. I needed to learn the recipe to satisfy my cravings as well as familiarize my children with some traditional dishes. Today my kids love this dish just as much as me. They even look forward to the same dish cooked by their grandma when they get to visit her in India. Most recently, my older child expressed interest in learning this dish, and that was when I knew that life had truly come full circle.
