I remember my grandmother recollecting her old East Bengal (now Bangladesh) connections now and then. Her house in Faridpur, married to a doctor from Pabna, her travels to Kolkata via Goalanda jetty. The convenient medium was a steamer. But surprisingly, she never introduced me to a wonderful dish called Goalanda Steamer chicken curry. She was a pescetarian, and that probably made the dish go beyond her taste buds. As the name suggests, it was a savory dish that used to be prepared by the native boatmen, using only a handful of available ingredients and absolutely without spices. Intriguing? Indeed. The main ingredient, rather the game-changing ingredient of Goalanda Steamer chicken curry recipe, is shrimp.
Let’s see how you too can prepare this in your kitchen.
Ingredients:
Chicken – 500 grams (medium pieces)
Shrimp – 100 grams (cleaned and pasted/minced)
Onion – 1 No. (Sliced)
Ginger – 1 inch (coarsely ground)
Garlic cloves – 6-7 Nos. (coarsely ground)
Green chilies – 3 – 4 Nos. (coarsely ground)
Turmeric powder – 1 Teaspoon
Red dry chili – 3 – 4 Nos. (soaked in hot water and ground/chopped)
Mustard oil – 4 tablespoon
Salt – To taste
Procedure:
Marinating the chicken:
Take an apparently bigger bowl.
Put chicken.
Add sliced onion, coarsely ground ginger, garlic, and green chili, chopped red chilies, along with turmeric powder, salt, and 2 tablespoons of mustard oil.
Mix them really well.
Put a lid on and place it aside for half an hour.
Now add the minced or paste shrimp to the marinated chicken.
Mix it well.
Keep it aside for another half an hour.
Preparing the curry:
Now take a wok.
Heat 2 tablespoons of mustard oil.
Though the authentic Goalanda steamer chicken curry recipe doesn’t have potato, I prefer adding it to the curry. And so, I fried some potatoes (peeled and cut into halves) at this stage.
Add the chicken along with the fried potato pieces.
Stir-fry it on high flame for 5 minutes.
Now add a little water and put a lid on it.
Simmer the flame in this stage.
Cook it until the chicken is done.
If you find you need more gravy, add hot water.
Adjust the salt to taste.
Bring it to a boil.
Serve hot with steamed rice.
Conclusion:
Goalanda steamer chicken curry recipe is a lost recipe. Its aroma used to enchant every passenger once, now available in old yellow cookbooks. Let’s not let it die. Let’s prepare this dish in regular intervals. Surprise your family and your guests with the rustic taste of undivided coastal Bengal.
Read other Recipes here.