India- Pak WC 2011 special

Another hour to kill before the match begins. I can't concentrate on a book, my daughter is engrossed with her books, husband's not back yet. I guess this is my only chance to do a quick come back post on the occasion of THE match.
Made Sanjeev Kapoor's Coconut Prawn Masala and Vegetable Kolhapuri for dinner- I wanted to make something very spicy and heady to keep with today's mood. And this recipe promises all that - very Goan and very masaledaar- just like what tonight's match will be. I don't know where my enthusiasm comes from, but I dug out my camera after ages to shoot these.

You'll find the recipe here . (I just added a whole lot of green chillies to make it really hot :-) . That's about  the only addition to the recipe. )

Here's hoping I make Rasamalai and Rasgullas to celebrate India's victory, tomorrow. 

Maju’s Simple and Sipcy Prawn Masala

We know very few people in Sydney. And the ones we know are thankfully gastronomes. Especially, the Jacobs. We love dining at their place, though the much promised Appam and Stew are yet to savored. The first time Maju and Manoj had us over, we came back so content and gloating with happiness – all thanks to Maju’s spicy prawns settled in our tummies. For many days we couldn’t get the taste out of us, especially, Raj couldn’t. So yesterday, I finally decided to give Maju’s recipe a try. Its amazing how simple it is. I was done in 10 minutes flat! If you are a lover of south Indian food, this recipe rocks. Simple and most kickass!

Here goes:

You’ll need

250 gms prawns – medium sized, shelled and deveined

Tomato- 1 medium sized

Onion- 1 medium sized

Garlic paste/crushed- 1 teaspoon

Chilly Powder- 1 –2 teaspoons (totally depends on how much you can take- for me the spicier the better)

Curry Leaves

Oil- 2 to 4 teaspoons

Tamarind – Maju suggests we get the Mallu variety of tamarind – round ones, apparently. I used regular tamarind. Though i vouch for her version. She had an altogether Mallu touch. So if you can find that tamarind go on and add 2 of those. Else just soak a little tamarind in water.

Method

If you are using fresh prawns then par boil it (2 minutes) with very little water, turmeric and chilly powder and keep aside. If you are using frozen prawns they can be used directly.

In a pan pour oil, add curry leaves, onions and sauté till they go just about brown. Add garlic and sauté more. After a few minutes add tomatoes and mix well. Let the tomatoes soften, and oil separate. Add chilly powder, turmeric and salt, mix well. Add the cleaned prawns to this and mix well. On medium flame keep mixing this till the mixture dries and stick to the prawns. Add the soaked tamarind pulp and mix. Don’t add water.  The masalas have to cook well and dry out. Don’t take it off flame when still soggy.

I added some ground pepper too- that’s optional. It adds to the flavour, and I recommend freshly ground pepper.

Serve with hot steamed rice on a nice wintery day.

Lemme know how it goes!

Creamy Prawn Curry

Ananya made this one night for dinner, and I still haven’t forgotten the taste. Each time I make it, i want more of it. you can create wonders by just replacing one ingredient from a curry. This is similar to Malai Curry, but you replace coconut milk with fresh pouring cream and I use tomatoes in this.

You’ll need:

500 gms fresh prawns/shrimps – cleaned, deveined

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon Ginger

1 chopped onion (large)

1 teaspoon tomato paste or 1 diced tomato

1/2 to 1 spoon of red chilly powder

1/2 spoon turmeric

1 tablespoon dhania powder

1/4 spoon cumin powder (optional)

1/2 cup pouring cream

3 table spoons of ghee or oil (i recommend ghee)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon Garam masala

Bunch of coriander

Preparation:

Mix lemon juice and turmeric to the prawns and set aside for about 10 minutes. In a non stick pan sauté the prawns till pink. Set aside. Sauté onions till brown in ghee. Add ginger, garlic and sauté come more. After about a minute add the tomatoes, chilly powder, dhania powder, cumin, salt, turmeric and mix well to form a paste. Now stir in the fresh cream and mix well. Add the prawns and mix for about a minute. Pour water as per your gravy requirement. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. After 5-7 minutes, sprinkle garam masala and top with lots of coriander.

Serve with hot steamed rice!

The Ketchup Girl’s Malabar Prawns with a twist

I made this yesterday, and it was yumm. I exchanged this recipe with Sunny’s two kickass recipes (below). Since I had already typed it out, posting this was simple- cut and paste. Now u know, why more recipes don’t appear here- lazy baby, lazy.

ok, lets get started.

Warning- this is not authentic- coz its a Kerala recipe and i don’t like coconut oil. so i replaced it with ghee. but you are most welcome to use coconut oil.

• 1 tbsp ghee /coconut oil
  1 tsp mix of whole spices- elaichi, cinnamon, laung)
  1-2 onions, diced (finely)
  A good amount of garlic paste- about 2 tsps
  1 tsp ginger paste
  2 green chilies slit/chopped
  Tomato puree (1 large)
  2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder)
  1/2 tsp haldi
  1 -2 tsp red chili powder depending on how spicy u like it
  1 cup coconut milk
  A little bit of coconut cream – a spoon or 2. (optional)
  Salt to taste
  500 gms medium sized fresh prawns
• Curry patta (Curry leaves)

(The prawns need to be washed and deveined. Then rub some lime juice to it and keep aside)

Heat the ghee in a kadhai and add the spices like cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Add onions and curry patta, let it brown.

Now add the garlic, ginger paste, green chilies. Add in the tomato puree and mix well. After 2 minutes, add in haldi, mirchi and dhania.

Wait for fat to separate.
Add the prawns to the mixture and stir for two minutes. (I recommend, u sauté the prawns earlier for just a minute in ghee and now add it to he paste. Now pour the coconut milk and boil on low heat for five minutes.

Stir in the coconut cream and serve hot the Prawn Malabar Curry with rice.
Coconut cream is optional. I don’t add it. If you like your gravy to be thick and creamy then add.

Chingri Macher Malai Curry (Shrimps/Prawns in Creamy Coconut Milk)

This one's an absolute favourite when people come over. I dont eat prawns, but love cooking this dish because it ALWAYS fetches me a ton of compliments. Try it!

 

Ingredients:

1. 250 gms of medium sized prawns- shelled and de-veined (actually, the bigger, the better :))
2. 1 Onion, diced
3. 1 spoon ginger and garlic paste
4. 1 cup of thick coconut milk
5. 1/2 spoon chilli powder
6. 3 slit green chillies
7. 1/4 tsp turmeric
8. salt to taste
9. 1 spoon of lime juice
10. 1/4 tsp sugar
11. 1 tsp tomato ketchup
12. 4 tbsp Ghee (please do not compromise on this one!)
13. Garam Masala Powder - (coarsely pounded cinnamon, clove and cardamom ( dalchini, labongo, elaichi)

 

Method:

• Clean the prawns, add the turmeric and lime juice to it, toss it, keep aside for 10 minutes (be sure to drain out all the excess water before adding the juice and turmeric)
• In a pan, pour 2 tbsps ghee, once its heated, add the prawns to it.
• Stir fry the prawns for exactly half a  minute. Be careful not to over do/fry it, else it gets rubbery. Just wait till the prawns turn a beautiful pink, and u are on the rt path!
• keep the prawns aside.
• Add the remaining two tbsp of ghee and add the diced onions to it.
• Add the green chillies
• Saute till it turns translucent. Add ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric, salt and saute till the ghee separates
• Add the prawns to the masala in the pan and saute a little bit
• Now add the coconut milk and see the beautiful- orangish pick colour unfold.
• Add sugar and tomato ketchup.
• On medium flame bring it to a boil. Add the garam masala powder.
• Serve hot with steamed rice.

 

This one's a fav of my mil and mum, both. Actually everyone who loves prawns and has dined at my place! Try it and lemme know, ok?

(Made this on Sunday, but forgot to click a picture :(. Will put up one soon.)