Prawns falls under the category of shellfish and not everyone is blessed to have that delicious seafood
Reason being people like me are allergic to shellfish. i cannot have shrimp, crab or clams etc. I haven’t tried any other shellfish since i got to know i suffer from anaphylaxis. There is no home remedy for it and no solution either. You have to give up on eating it is the only way.
But i love to cook foods and especially cook for my husband. he loves seafood and fortunately does not suffer from any problems like me. So i make this prawns curry for him which he loves. And he enjoys eating it soulfully.
A tip on making it miraculously delicious :
This recipe that i am going to jot down is a very basic style with no fuss and a style commonly observed throughout my hometown Tirunelveli. It tastes more delicious when cooked in earthernware and openfire especially with hand ground spices using Ammi kallu (An age old traditional flat, rectangular-shaped stone with cylindrical stone pestle)
Recipe instructions:
- In a wide chatty add little extra oil than usual. add mustard seeds to splutter.
- add finely chopped onion, preferably shallots and freshly ground ginger garlic paste.
- Now Add finely chopped green chilly. cook until golden brown.
- Add crushed fennel seeds and jeera ( cumin seeds).
- At this stage add a generous amount of curry leaf, give a quick stir and add in the finely chopped tomatoes. sprinkle salt as required. cover and cook.
- When the oil separates at sides add in the spices like turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, spicy red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, jeera powder.
- Note that slightly dry roast the spices in a pan except kashmiri red chilli powder and turmeric powder if they all are store bought spices. This will enhance the quality of flavours into the dish.
- Add the fully cleaned and de-veined prawns into the dish. make sure you was them atleast 5 – 6 times to get rid of unpleasant smell of its shell.
- Initially keep the flame moderate high for first 3 minutes and after giving a good stir gradually simmer the flame. cook for a minimum of 15 to 20 mins with an occasional stir.
- In clay pot it takes around 15 – 20 mins for me. you may adjust the time according to the vessel you choose to cook.
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. serve piping hot.
- Relish with rice or chapati or just eat it like that.
Few tips to note:
- Always remember to use freshly grounded ginger- garlic paste on the spot. That is the key ingredient of all.
- Prefer using as much as wide chatty and an earthernware clay pot if you can. when the prawns are spread equally touching the vessel surface they taste much better.
- Add little extra oil and cover up to saute maximum ingredients within the oil as it releases a lot of flavours.
- Green chilly is must. if you are not comfortable with spices. then use the light green chillies as they are least spicy at all. but the flavour is very important.
- Never miss to garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. mix it well otherwise the leaves may start turning dark.