Think of West Bengal , and that brings Rabindra sangeet ,beautiful movies and the elegant Shantineketan bags 🙂 to my mind. I adore the women in crisp Bengal cotton sarees with a heavy bunch of keys on their back and the conch bangles jingling as the they move.  Never been to Bengal but my Bengali friends tell me Kerala looks almost like their place. Well a significant similarity other than political ideology and the aesthetic taste would definitely be the love of rice and seafood delicacies.

Here is one such beautiful Bengali friend of mine bringing us a seafood dish She is Chitrangada of Color and Spices.  A blogger who effortlessly cooks famous recipes and substantiates it with excellent photographs.

Chitrangada  has a distinct style of writing very descriptive introduction to recipes.  She emphasizes on sticking with the original, doing it  from scratch and gives in depth detail on the scene with all when, how, why answers which interests me the most .Check out  Macher Kaliya where  she says about ‘Bong’ or Roganjosh  how about some Kerala crab curry  with how to clean crab, does that bring  a smile on ur face then let it stay there because there is whole lot of  Bengali sweets .Most sweets are milk based , have  a look and I promise u will be dying  to have some so  check out Misti doi , Chomchom ,Sandesh  and my favorite melt in the mouth Rasagullas with some trade secrets yum yumm..

 Was it not a feast but wait Chitrangada runs a virtual baking section too. Focaccia, pizza  then… then.. ok do one thing u guys do the choosing later.If there  is any newbie blogger out there take a look at her pictures and you will notice that she puts so much attention to detail,.the images look so real and as if right in front of you.The food has a beautiful sheen which is well captured.She is definitely a blogger to look out for.

 Over to Chitrangada

Thanks to Meena to giving this platform to share my story. Thanks for her patience to answer my silliest questions and continuously encouraging me to do this post. I was not sure about what to cook for this guest post,  so I again poked Meena to help me to decide. And as she suggested some traditional Bengali dish I opted for something with fish. We Bongs are famous for our different fish dishes. So here is a very traditional Bengali dish for you all.

                                                    Prawn Paturi

My all time favorite is a traditional bhetki paturi. But unfortunately we don’t get fresh bhetki fillets here. So I tried my another favorite, prawn to make paturi.

Things needed to make Prawn Paturi:

• Large prawns: 6
• Black mustard paste: 1.5 tbsp
• Yellow mustard paste: 1.5 tbsp
• Poppy seed paste: 3 tbsp
• Coconut paste: 6-8 tbsp
• Green chilies: 6-8
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil: 1/4 cup
• Banana leaf to wrap the prawns
• Kitchen twine

Steps of making Prawn Paturi:

1. Clean, devein and wash the prawn. Smear the prawn with salt and turmeric powder, keep aside for 15 min.

2. Prepare all the paste. While making the mustard paste add a pinch of salt and a green chili to the grinder, that will prevent the mustard paste taste bitter.

6. Brush a heavy bottom pan with mustard oil, place the prawns wrapped in banana leaves in a single layer. Cook over medium heat for 15 min. Turn in between.

7.Take out from the pan and let rest for 5-6 min. Serve with hot steaming rice. And discard the banana leaf before eating.

Thank you so much Chitrangada . My Bengal ties are stronger now:). Wish your blog all the good luck.Hope you succeed in all your endeavors in the years to come.

I am sure my Malayali friends would be thinking the prawn paturi is the look alike of meen polichathu 🙂 except for the regional difference of using mustard  and mustard oil  instead of coconut  products.So now you know why I visit the blog often 🙂

Dear readers Color and Spices has many windows open so shower your likes through whichever social media you would prefer. I am sure won’t want to miss this happening place.

Hope you guys liked this special edition – Guest post  so all you lovely people out there let us know.

Meena