No, please do not try translating this one to the hopelessly generic ‘Jumbo Prawns Cooked in Tender Coconut Shell.’ Like a Wienerschnitzel is a Wienerschnitzel in Bavaria and Colombo alike and baklavas, baklavas in Istanbul and in Sydney, let the Daab Chingri remain just so wherever you may be cooking/relishing it.

No, please do not try translating this one to the hopelessly generic 'Jumbo Prawns Cooked in Tender Coconut Shell.' Like a Wienerschnitzel is a  Wienerschnitzel in Bavaria and Colombo alike and baklavas, baklavas in Istanbul and in Sydney, let the Daab Chingri remain just so wherever you may be cooking/relishing it. Athough the description 'Jumbo Prawns Cooked in Tender Coconut Shell' is more or less credible for the prawns are indeed 'cooked' inside the sealed shell of a tender green coconut, it is less than perfect. The prawns must be slow-cooked and that too in a wood fired clay oven. Sounds exotic and challenging at the same time? Well, indeed.

Having not tried the clay oven myself, I continue to rely on my decade-old Panasonic microwave oven which works swimmingly   I cannot, however, assess the extent to which convenience gets in the way of perfection. The fact that it certainly does, makes my Daab Chingri far less earthy and exotic. Sigh!

This is a special recipe in more sense than one. To begin with, there wasn't any recipe but a story – a sketchy (yet, lovely) design without any prescription.

Of the many stories my grandfather had told me, some of the liveliest were the stories of his childhood. So when we weren't in Scotland Yard with Inspector Blake, hot in pursuit of the evil Black Spot or, in the company of the canny Hercule  Poirot, we loitered around in Bikrampur – bravely sailing down the billowy Padma in our humble dinghi; gathering the golden sweet-sour 'doua' (lotkon) till we could carry no more; snuggling close to Thakuma (my grandfather's paternal grandmum) as she told stories of boatmen and headless ghosts and stoked the dying fire in her clay oven from time to time with the far end of a timeworn poker.

Although I've never been to Bikrampur – my grandfather's village in undivided Bengal – I knew the place inside out and although I haven't ever tasted the doua, I knew exactly how its tangy sweetness tickled the tongue leaving a moist, tart aftertaste. Such were my grandfather's stories.

It was from Thakuma's – the formidable widowed matriarch's – kitchen that the delectable Daab Chingri emerged in all its resplendent glory! I can imagine her slouching over her clay oven, the dying fire casting an unearthly amber glow on her pale, turmeric-stained hands. The salted prawns – doused in a heady concoction of freshly-ground mustard, green chillies, mustard oil and the gooey, white flesh of the tender green coconut – would now be cooking gently, almost languidly, under a stack of smouldering firewood. I can almost picture the pungent aroma of mustard infusing the freshwater prawns with an ardent, moist lusciousness.

My Daab Chingri is hopelessly urban; what I gain in terms of convenience is way too paltry compared to the attendant privation.

The recipe, too, is a concocted one – the now-lost goings-on in Thakuma's kitchen had to be imagined from the stories of my grandfather for he could only describe the complex flavors and the rich, vivid color of the fabled delicacy.

Here's my take on it. Try it, if you please:

Ingredients

1. 1 tender green coconut (set the coconut water aside for later use; scrape clean the inside of the coconut with a spoon and preserve the soft white flesh in a clean bowl)
2. 4-6 freshwater jumbo prawns cleaned & de-veined (retain the tail)
3. 3 tbsp yellow mustard, 1 tbsp black mustard, 3-4 green chillies and the soft flesh of a tender green coconut: all ground to a smooth paste with a pinch of salt. Use up the coconut water instead of plain water while grinding for added flavor.
4. 4-6 green chillies (slit lengthwise)
5. Half a tsp turmeric powder
6. 1/3 tsp red chilli powder
7. Salt and sugar to taste
8. Mustard oil
9. dough for sealing the coconut

Method

Soak the prawns in 2l water mixed with 1/3 cup each of salt and sugar. Let it rest undisturbed for 30-40 minutes. Gently pat dry with a kitchen towel and set aside. This step may be skipped but it helps in tenderizing the prawns especially if they've been in the freezer.

Heat a tbsp of mustard oil in a pan and shallow fry the pawns for under a minute over a low flame. The prawns will release water. Set them aside along with the fluids they release in a separate bowl. Heat some more mustard oil and add the grounded mustard, green chillies and coconut flesh together with the turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir fry over a low flame for about 2 minutes and add the prawns to the gravy. Season with salt and a dash of sugar. Cover and simmer for no more than 3 minutes. Turn of the gas. Stuff the green coconut with the prawns and the mustard gravy (this should not be watery at all). Toss in the slit green chillies and a tbsp of mustard oil. Seal the stuffed coconut with flour dough and bake in a preheated oven (180 C) for about 15 minutes. Leave the coconut in the hot oven for about 5-10 minutes more then remove the seal and serve the Daab Chingri with steamed white rice.