When I was growing up, this dish was ever present during mealtimes, cooked lovingly by my mother and served with steaming plates of freshly cooked basmati rice. We always ate with our hands, which is customary, adding a squeeze of lebu or lemon on top before savoring a morsel. This recipe has been passed down to me by my mother, and I make it whenever nostalgia hits. Chingri—shrimp in Bengali—are traditionally cooked with lubi uri, or borboti, long beans in mustard oil. Occasionally, I swap the long beans for regular green beans as they are very similar and easier to source, and use vegetable oil instead of mustard oil. The shrimp are cooked toward the latter half of the process, which keeps them tender and lightly spiced, complementing the freshness of the beans and aroma of cilantro and green chiles. This dish is a taste of classic Bangladeshi home cooking.
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What you’ll need
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Large Skillet with Lid
$40 At Amazon
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Potato Masher
$15 At Amazon
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Glass Measuring Cup
$22 At Amazon
Ingredients
4 servings
Step 1
Heat¼ cup vegetable oilin a large skillet with a lid over medium. Cook4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, stirring, until softened and barely golden, about 1 minute. Add1 medium onion, finely chopped, and1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher saltand cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in ⅓ cup cold water, cover pan, and reduce heat to low. Cook, checking once or twice to avoid burning, until onion is very soft, about 5 minutes.
Step 2
Uncover pan and, using a potato masher, gently smash onion until smooth (the water should have evaporated and the oil risen to the surface). Stir in1 tsp. Kashmiri chile powder,1 tsp. ground coriander,¾ tsp. ground turmeric,½ tsp. cayenne pepper, and½ tsp. ground cumin. Cook, stirring, 1 minute, then add ⅓ cup water and bring to a gentle simmer. Immediately add1 lb. green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2" pieces. Re-cover pan, increase heat to medium-low, and cook until crisp-tender, 6–8 minutes.
Step 3
Add1 serrano chile, thinly sliced,1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and remaining2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, re-cover pan, and cook until shrimp are opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and top with¼ cup chopped cilantro.
Step 4
Serve stir-fry withsteamed basmati riceandlemon wedgesfor squeezing over.
How would you rate Bangladeshi Spiced Shrimp and Green Bean Stir-Fry?
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Reviews (4)
Back to Topyummy! perfect amount of heat, looking forward making again. May try to crack the lid after shrimp go on to help thicken the onion sauce.. still nice, light, fresh.
Kelsey
oregon
5/29/2023
Very tasty with a heat that built up as you ate. Used paprika in place of chili powder as I didn’t have, and was too lazy to source. I was skeptical about the need to mash the onions but glad I didn’t skip the step as it turned the spiced mash into more of a “sauce.” I placed the shrimp on top of the beans and let the low heat do it’s thing, turning them over halfway through. The one change I would make is to use lime instead of lemon, feel like it would compliment the spices and cilantro a bit better. Only thing I don’t understand is why it’s called a stir fry, but I’m a sucker for semantics.
PawelyD
Chicago
3/7/2023
