varutharacha chemmeen curry (Prawn in roasted coconut gravy)...

This traditional Kerala style Prawn curry my Mamama/grandmother used to make this when I was a child. My amma/mom made a version of it, too. I make a version of it, too, with chopped ginger and some pepper. I also added a bit of garam masala and some lemon juice. I made this last Sunday and it was a hit!!! When my 14 year old daughter saw me clicking , she was like "Oh wow... That looks soooo good!" Love it when she gets excited about dinner like that LOL! She then proceeded to taste couple of prawns, and told me to put it on the menu often!

Ingredients
For marination:

• 1/2 kg Prawns shelled and deveined 
• 1/2tsp Turmeric powder
• 1tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Lemon juice

For Roasting in oil and grinding

• 1/2 grated Coconut
• 1tbsp Coriander seeds
• 10 Whole dried red chilles
• 4-5 Garlic, cloves
• 10 sambar onions/shallots or 1 Onion chopped
• 10 Pepper corns
• 1 Lemon sized ball of tamarind
• 1 tsp Garam masala ( optional)
• 3 tsp coconut oil

For tempering:

• 1 Onion or 7-8 shallots
• 3-4 Green chillies
• 1tsp Mustard
• 2 spring Curry leaves
• 1tbsp Coconut oil
• 1 tsp Chopped ginger

Cooking Directions

1. Combine the marination ingredients well and keep aside for 30 mins.
2. Heat two teaspoons of oil in a pan and fry the grated coconut, coriander seeds, Red chillies, Garlic, turmeric powder and pepper corns stir well. When the mixture becomes brown in colour, grind it into a smooth paste with tamarind and garam masala and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in an earthen/ clay pot/large pan.Add Mustard,curry leaves and saute for a second.Now add onion and saute till onions becomes dark brown colour.
4. Add slit green chillies and ginger and fry again for couple of minutes.
5. Now add roasted masala paste and saute for a few minutes.
6. Now add marinated prawns and check for salt and add at this stage.
7. Simmer and cook covered till the gravy is semi dry and oil comes on top
8. Now get ready to relish this spicy prawn dish with hot red boiled rice or roti

Prawn Koliwada

Sunday special..."Prawn koliwada"..

Today i prepared this yummy Prawn fry for lunch along with my fish curry and rice Prawns are marinated with spices and deep fried. Its a traditional recipe from the Koli community in Maharashtra and this dish is named after the places where the koli communities live which is locally called as Koliwada.

Ingredients

• 1/2kg prawns shelled and deveined
• 1tbsp Red chilli (kashmiri) powder
• 1/2 cup Gram flour Besan
• 2 tbsp Maida or cornflour
• 1tsp Ginger paste
• 1tsp Garlic paste
• 1tsp Coriander-cumin powder
• 1/4tsp Ajwain/carom seeds
• 1/2tsp Garam masala powder
• 1tsp Lemon juice
• salt as per taste
• A pinch of orange red colour (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. onion slices and lemon wedges to garnish
2. Wash the shelled and deveined prawns well. 
3. In a bowl, mix the prawns with the rest of the ingredients till the prawns are well-coated with the spices. Marinate for about 30-45 minutes.
4. Heat the oil till it is hot and deep fry the prawns on medium heat till they are crisp.
5. Garnish with onion slices and lemon wedges.

TIPS:

1. The kashmiri chilli powder is of a very bright red color and is less hot compared to the normal type. It gives a lovely red color when added to any dish. The normal red chilli powder will do equal justice to the taste if not the color.
2. Fish slices can be used in place of prawns to make Fish Koliwada.
   
   

Chingri (Prawn) Macher Malai Curry.......a bengali cuisine

Chingri Macher malai curry

Today i tried bengali dish called Chingri( means prawn)Macher Malai Curry.Bengalis love prawns and have it all year round in variety of ways.They have created their own distinct style of cooking  which is quite different from others when compared to our konkani or goan konkani dishes and prawn dishes definitely ranks one of the most popular among them.Chingri/prawn malai curry as it is better known by bengalis,is one of the signature dishes created by bengalis,which is served with rice.This dish is not at all spicy but you can really enjoy the prawns and its flavour as it contains only few spices and very subtle flavour of coconut milk which makes this dish very delicious and incomparable taste

Tiger prawns

Tiger prawns

Clean and devein the prawns

Ingredients:-
Jumbo prawns-1/2kg
Onion-1large(finely chopped)
Green chillies-5-6(slit)
Chilly powder-1/4tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4tsp
Cardamom-3
Cinnamon-1" piece
Cloves-4-5
Bay leaf--1
Garlic-2-3 cloves(finely chopped)
Ginger-1(small piece chopped)
Coconut milk-1cup(thick)
Salt to taste
Oil-2tbsp

Method:-

• Clean and devein the prawns.Apply salt and turmeric and keep aside for 20 mins
• Coarsely pound cardamom,cinnamon and cloves and keep aside
• Heat a oil in kadai/frying pan and fry the prawns until it changes to light golden brown color.
• Once it is done take it out and spread it on a paper towel
• In the same oil add  coarsely pound masalas,bay leaf,chopped garlic,ginger, onions and saute until onion turns to light pink color.
• Now add red chilly powder,Green chillies and followed by coconut milk and mix it well.
• Add a cup of water and bring to boil,when you see the gravy starts buddling add shallow fried prawns  and continue cooking on low flame until the gravy thickens and becomes creamy.
• Serve hot with Pulao or plain Basmathi rice. 

Chingri Macher Malai curry

Prawn Patia/Patio..a parsi dish

"prawn patia/Patio"..its a authentic parsi dish which is not only spicy but sweet and sour too.I got this recipe from one of TV shows of Karen Anand's .I am a big fan of parsi cuisine so tried this dish and it was really tasty and it is very different from our curries .Usually we do not add jaggery or sugar to our non-veg dishes but this curry has jaggery in it but still we all liked the taste and the aroma of this dish which goes well with Parsi brown rice.

 

Ingredients:-

1. Prawns-1kg
2. Tamarind paste-1tbsp
3. Onion-3 chopped
4. Oil-3tbsp
5. Tomato -2 chopped
6. Coriander leaves for garnishing
7. Jaggery-2tsp

For the masala:-

1. Coriander leaves-2tbsp
2. Green chillies-4
3. Dry red chillies-7-8
4. Cinnamon-2sticks(1"piece)
5. Cardamom-4-5
6. Cloves-6
7. Pepper corns-7-8
8. Coriander seeds-1tbsp
9. Cumin-1tsp
10. Ginger-1"piece
11. Garlic-1big pod

Method:-

• Mix jaggery with tamarind pulp and keep aside.
• Wash clean and devein the prawns.
• Grind 1-11 masala ingredients to fine paste.
• Now take a heavy bottom sauce pan and add oil,onion,tomatoes and fry for a minute.
• Add masala paste,tamarind-jaggery pulp ,prawns and the salt.
• Now cover the pan with a lid and cook on a medium low till the gravy is semi dry or almost dry.
• Serve hot

Prawn Pakoda

Prawn pakoda

Ingredients:-

Marinated prawns

1. Tiger prawns-1/2kg
2. Coriander leaves-1/2 cup
3. Mint leaves-1/4 cup
4. Green chilly-6-7
5. Red chilly powder-1/2tsp
6. Lemon juice-1tsp
7. Turmeric powder-1/2tsp
8. Onion-1small
9. Cumin-1tsp
10. Ginger-1"piece
11. Garlic-6-7 cloves
12. Coriander seeds-1tsp
13. Ajwain-1/2tsp
14. Maida(all purpose flour)-1/2cup
15. Besan(chickpea flour)-1cup
16. Corn flour-1/2 cup

Method:- 

• Remove the shell and de-vein the prawns.
• Now grind  all the 11 ingredients  from  2-12 to fine paste.
• Now marinate the prawns with the paste for about 30 mins.
• Now add maida,cornflour and besan to marinated prawns and make a thick batter.No need to add water
• Now heat a oil in deep frying pan and start frying all the pakodas till crisp.
• Serve hot as an appetizer or evening snack or as a side dish.

Spicy Prawn Curry...konkani style( sugta hinga udka upkari)

This is my grand mom's recipe and one of my favourite dish.I love this dish because its spicy and slightly different from our typical konkani curry.In this curry we do not use coconut ,only red chillies and tamarind and asafoetida which is cooked in coconut oil for flavor.That is why this dish is called sungta( prawns)hinga udka(asafoetida water) upkari.This special curry  we can  prepare with either prawns ,mussel or shark not with any other fish.It i s very simple and easy curry.So those who love spicy can try this. 

Ingredients:-

Prawns-1kg(shelled and de-veined )

Kashmiri Red chilly-15-20

Tamarind-1 big lemon sized lump

Asafoetida-2tsp (if it is in powder form)or 1marble sized ball

Salt to taste.

Coconut oil-2tbsp

                 

Method:-

• Roast red chillies with a 1tsp of coconut oil on low flame till it changes to dark red.
• Now grind chillies and tamarind to a fine paste and keep aside.
• Heat a sauce pan and add coconut oil.
• In that add ground masala paste and asafoetida powder or asafoetida water and bring to boil.
• Now add the prawns and cook until the gravy thickens.
• Serve hot with rice.

Actually its a dry dish which you can keep for couple of days without refrigerating.All you have to do is heat it twice.The next day it tastes heavenly.I prefer this dish little wet which goes well with my boiled rice.The real taste comes from the coconut oil and the asafoetida. 

Prawn Fingers

Ingredients:-

1. Tiger prawns-1/2kg
2. Kashmiri red chilly paste-1tbsp
3. Giger-Garlic paste-1tbsp
4. Cornflour-1tbsp
5. Maida-1tbsp
6. Egg-1
7. salt to taste
8. oil for deep frying

Clean and devein the prawns

• First devein the prawns and keep aside.
• Now insert the toothpick into the prawns as shown in the picture.
• Mix all the ingredients and make a smooth thick batter using little water.
• Now add prawns in that batter and coat it well.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and drop prawns one by one.
• Fry till crisp.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze some lemon juice.
• Serve hot with tomato ketchup. 

tender coconut shake(bondya shake)

ingredients:
tender coconut-2
sugar-1tbsp
ice cubes-5-6
Method:Make a hole on the top of the tender coconut,pour the juice in to one bowl.Now scoop out the pulp from the coconut with a scoop or with spoon.now blend all the above ingredients in a blender.Serve chilled.

Etti sukka(dry dish) sungta sukkey with sambar onions

ingredients:

prawns-1kg
coconut-1/2 grated
chillies-10
onion-2 finely choppe
ginger-1inch piece
garlic-1 big pod
coriander-1tbsp
methi(fenugreek)-1/2tsp
cumin(jeera)-2tsp
tamarind-1 Small lemon sized ball
sambar onions(small type shallots)-8-10
curry leaves-10-15

 Method: 

• remove the shell ,if you want you can keep the head but just cut off the claws & very important  don't forget to remove the dark vein(intestine). after cleaning, boil the prawns with salt and very little water say about 1/2 cup of water.since prawns cook very fast the thing to look for is a change in a color.when prawns turns orange color it is done. So avoid overcooking because it makes prawns tough. so just take 1 boil  that is more than enough to cook the prawns.

• dry roast coriander,methi,red chilly and half the cumin.

• grind together dry roasted spices along with tamarind to a fine paste.

• now add coconut and remaining 1tsp cumin to the same paste and grind again for just a second.The masala should be very coarse.

• Take a pan add some coconut oil or any oil of your choice.add chopped onions and saute till its light brown.now add sambar onions and saute for another 2mins.

• Now add the prawns stock ,cover and cook till shallots are soft and well caramelized .
• Add the ground masala paste along with some curry leaves.saute till the masala is dry.

Garnish with sliced lemon & serve with steaming hot rice.