SPICY PRAWN CURRY

A recipe from my kitchen for that yummy prawn curry. Tastes good with rice, aapam, roti and dosa. You can even sandwich it between 2 bread slices and toast it on tava for a delicious prawn curry sandwich.

I have used only 2 whole spices in this prawn dish unlike other non vegetarian dishes. What makes this prawn curry different is that, it does not have ginger garlic paste and garam masala, which is a usual in most non vegetarian recipes. The spicy taste comes mainly from the chili for this dish. Please adjust the spice level as per your taste. If you prefer something mild spicy, please reduce the quantity of chili powder by half. Some of you might like it very spicy, in that case, you can add another slit green chili to the dish.

The ingredients below makes it a medium spicy gravy, nevertheless you can follow the above suggestions to suit your palate. I have marinated the prawns before cooking it in the gravy, this is done to infuse flavour into the prawn. It is sufficient if you marinate the prawns for a few mins. Overnight marination is not required. Easy to cook and tastes great as an accompaniment. Serve hot on a bed of hot steaming rice.

 

INGREDIENTS

Gravy

Prawns - 750 gms

Onion - 2 finely chopped

Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped

Garlic - 5-6 cloves finely chopped

Green chili - 1 slit

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Chili powder - 1 tbsp  (Kashmiri chili powder) OR 

                        2 tsp if you're using ordinary chili powder

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Water - 1 cup

Coriander leaves chopped for garnish

Marination

Chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Juice of half lemon

METHOD

Clean and devein prawns. Add all the ingredients for marination and marinate for 10-15 mins. In a pan, heat oil, add fennel and cinnamon. Once fragrant, add the garlic and onion, saute till they turn light golden. Add the chopped tomatoes, green chili, masala powders and cook till it gets mushy. Now add the marinated prawns, 1 cup water and cook for 15-20 mins or till done. Check for salt and spice level. Add more water if you want a gravy. Once done, garnish with fresh coriander leaves. 

Isn't this easy? Do try it and send in your feedback. 

MILLET CURD RICE

Curd rice completes a meal, at least for South Indians. This humble dish is a comfort food that we all love with or without any accompaniment. Thayir Sadam, as we call in Tamil is a delicacy and loved by all . We usually make curd rice with rice and sometimes with vermicille (bagala bath) and present it in different ways ~ we temper it with cumin and mustard, add fruits, veggies or consume as it is. 

Here, I've used millets to prepare the curd rice. Millets have a lot of health benefits and it's suitable for all age groups. I've already shared a millet recipe - one pot sambhar rice. Here's another simple and tasty one from my kitchen. At home, mom prepares curd rice by mashing the rice well and adds more milk than curd so it's never sour even if we have it late. It also gives it a rich and creamy taste. I've incorporated the same method here just that I've added milk while cooking the rice itself instead of adding it to cooked rice. 

This is made with Barnyard millet but you're free to choose the millet variety of your choice. If you're using rice instead of millet then cook it in a pressure cooker with water in 3:1 ratio i.e 3 cups water for 1 cup rice because we're looking for a mushy consistency. Once the rice is cooked, mash it further adding milk and temper!  

INGREDIENTS

Barnyard millet - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Thick curd/yoghurt - 1/4 cup

Water (to cook millet) - 1 + 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

For Temering

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Dry Red chili - 2 

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp 

Curry leaves - 6

Coriander - chopped finely for garnish

METHOD

Wash the millet in water for about 5-6 times. This recipe uses Barnyard Millet, feel free to use any variety of your choice. Add the millet, water and required salt in a vessel or boiling pot and keep it on high until it boils. After the first roaring boil, slow down the heat, add the milk and keep mashing until all the liquid is absorbed by the millet. This will take about 7 minutes. Switch off the heat, mash the millet further with a wooden ladle. Check for salt and add the yoghurt. Give it a good mix. 

In a small pan, heat oil, add mustard, cumin, urad dhal, dry chili and once the mustard splutters and the urad dhal has become light brown add the asafoetida and curry leaves. A quick stir and add to the curd rice. Transfer it to the serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander. 

Note:

You can add grated carrots, pomegranate or chopped ginger if you prefer. It enhances the taste.