Kochu pata Chingri - Prawns with Colocasia leaves

We have this Bangladeshi restaurant in Kolkata named Kasturi where we have tasted this delicious dish for the first time. Here the prawns are cooked with kochu pata or young colocasia leaves with coconut and mustard paste. Flavor of Mustard oil is very dominant in this dish and you have to be really really careful about the leaves, since colocasia leaves may give you an itchy throat. In a nutshell, a dish not for the faint hearted.  

Ingredients

• Colocasia / Kochu leaves - finely chopped, 2 cups
• Green chilli and mustard paste - 3 tbsp
• Prawns - 200 gm, cleaned and deveined
• Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp
• Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Salt, turmeric
• Mustard oil - 4-5 tbsp, more, if required

Boil the colocasia leaves in hot water and then discard the water. This is a mandatory step to omit the itchiness of the throat. Now pour mustard oil in a pan. Lightly fry the prawns with a pinch of salt and turmeric and keep aside.

Remove the prawns, then in the same oil add the mustard paste, sugar, salt and turmeric, Fry quickly.

Now add chopped leaves which were steamed in the hot water.

Stir it to mix with the masalas, then add the fried prawns.

Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, then add the coconut milk and desiccated coconut.

Cover and cook till the milk dries up and oil starts coming out the sides. Adjust the seasoning. Switch off the heat and then pour one or two tbsp of mustard oil more over it. Keep covered for some time. Sprinkle some more desiccated coconut and serve with plain rice.
You may add some more chopped green chillies, if you can handle the heat. Enjoy !!