Bangladeshi Chingri Bhorta with Rice

Ingredients

• 12 oz peeled shrimp
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 3 tbsp mustard oil or neutral oil, divided
• 1 small red onion, half finely diced and half thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 to 3 green chilies, minced
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 lime, half juiced and half cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• Salt and black pepper

Steps

1. Rinse the rice and simmer it in 2 1/4 cups salted water, covered, over the lowest heat for 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
2. Pat the shrimp dry and toss them with the turmeric, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the shrimp for 2 minutes per side, until pink and just opaque at 145F (63C). Overcooked shrimp will not mash into a proper bhorta; they turn to rubber crumbs.
4. Lift the shrimp out and cook the diced onion and garlic in the same pan for 5 minutes, until soft and golden.
5. Mash the shrimp with a fork or in a mortar, keeping it coarse and shreddy rather than reducing it to paste. Bhorta should still show the texture of the shrimp.
6. Work in the cooked onion and garlic, the chilies, and the remaining raw sliced onion.
7. Beat in the remaining oil and the lime juice, and season generously with salt. Mustard oil, if you have it, is what gives bhorta its characteristic pungency.
8. Fold in the cilantro and serve at room temperature with the hot rice and lime wedges.

Allergen note: Contains shellfish and mustard.

Use the listed quantities as a guide, adjust seasoning to taste, and cook proteins to a safe internal temperature.