Chingri Maach Diye Bandhakopi r Torkari

In our ancestral home all the 11 brothers and 2 sisters of my dad never had rice for their dinner. Which is atypical for a bong household. Their eldest sister (my boro-pisi) used to make this dish commonly for dinner. She could chop cabbage as fine as hair using the traditional boti (pictured on the right).
Even in US I have my boti, which I very rarely use. However, when my dad comes over he shuns my fancy Hamilton Beach knife set and gets this boti out.

Ingredients

1. 12-15 medium sized prawns de shelled and deveined
   
2. 1 medium sized cabbage finely shredded
   
3. 2 large potatoes diced
   
4. 1/2 cup green peas
   
5. 1 medium onion finely chopped
   
6. 2tbsp. grated ginger and garlic
   
7. 1 large tomato cut into quarters
   
8. 2 green chilies slit length wise
   
9. 1tsp. turmeric powder
   
10. 1 tbsp. chili powder
    
11. 1 tsp. cumin powder
    
12. 1 tbsp. coriander powder
    
13. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
    
14. 1 tsp. ghee (clarified butter)
    
15. 1 tsp. sugar
    
16. Salt to taste
    
17. 2-3 tbsp. of cooking oil

Procedure

Smear the cleaned prawns with turmeric and salt. Keep them marinated for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they turn golden yellow. Remove and reserve them.

Add chopped onion and green chilies in the same oil and sauté on medium heat till onions turn light brown.Add cubed potatoes to it and fry.
Add grated ginger garlic along with the dry spice powder. Fry them altogether. Add tomato pieces to it along with salt and sugar. Cook for a while till the tomatoes become soft.

Add shredded cabbage (Bandha-kopi) and mix well with all the spices. Keep it covered on low heat. Add green peas. After 5 minutes you will see water is releasing from the cabbage. Mix it once more scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan.

Cook it  covered till the cabbage and potatoes are done. Now remove the lid and increase the level of heat to reduce excess moisture. Give a taste test and adjust accordingly.
This is the time when you add the fried prawns to it. Cook it for further 3-4 minutes.
Sprinkle garam masala powder and add a spoonful of ghee to finish.
I love to have this with hot Phulkas.