Last holiday season, Nadia and I excitedly worked to bring you one of our favorite family recipes. We want to share as many authentic Bangladeshi recipes — beyond chicken curry — as possible. A Sylheti style uri and issa tharkari, which is a dish that features South Asian beans, prawns, and potatoes. This Bangladeshi bean and prawn curry was a staple growing up in our house. Although I detested fish and other seafood as a child, almost all of my favorite Bangladeshi curries had some combination of prawn and vegetables.

It’s also what I always requested when I visited Bangladesh. Relatives in Bangladesh were always perplexed. Prawns used to be a cheap staple protein — and not worthy of serving to guests visiting from America or the UK. That all changed when the seafood export market really took off in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi Uri Beans

These mangetout bean varieties are popular throughout South Asian. They are called valor beans in India, sheem (in Bengali), uri (Syhleti dialect), and shurti papdi (in Gujrati). In English, they are called hyacinth beans and come in flat, green, and purple varieties. Growing up in New Jersey, it was considered a luxury when local South Asian grocery stores (usually marketed as Indo-Pak) had these fresh beans in stock. We usually made do with canned valor beans. Many families would try their best to grow them during the short northeast summer season. Now frozen beans are available online at iShopIndian.

Both the pods and beans (fresh or dried pulse form) are used extensively in Bangladesh for seafood curries and vegetarian stir-fries. In Northern India, a vegetarian version of this dish is usually prepared with just the bean pods and potatoes.

Print Recipe

Bangladeshi Bean and Prawn Curry

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Bangladeshi

Keyword

bean curry

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
• 1.5 teaspoon Chilli Powder or to taste
• 1.5 teaspoon Curry Powder
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 pound Valor beans
• 1 pound prawn cleaned and deveined
• 1/2 pound baby potatoes peeled and halved
• 1 tablespoon coriander leafs chopped to garnish

Course Main Dish Cuisine Bangladeshi Keyword bean curry Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 3 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon Salt or to taste 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder 1.5 teaspoon Chilli Powder or to taste 1.5 teaspoon Curry Powder 1 large onion chopped 1 teaspoon chopped garlic 1 pound Valor beans 1 pound prawn cleaned and deveined 1/2 pound baby potatoes peeled and halved 1 tablespoon coriander leafs chopped to garnish

Instructions

1. Prep ingredients. Snap off ends of beans and cut into thirds. Chop one large onion. Peal and cut baby potatoes in half. Clean and devein prawns. (I usually cheat and buy prawns already cleaned).
2. In a heated pot add olive or preferred cooking oil. Add onions and brown. Add garlic and salt and stir. Cover for 2-3 minutes. Keep flame on medium.
3. Add dry spice mix and stir well. Add 2 tablespoon lukewarm water. When oil separates from spices, add in prawn. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add in beans and potatoes. Stir well. Add another 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Cover and lower the flame. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Turn off the flame once vegetables are fork tender. Uncover and garnish with cilantro and green chillis to taste.

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