Recipe : Salmon Soy Wasabi

Another low carb meal that is quick to prepare.

I added a hint of honey to the marinade for a bit of sweetness and a sticky glaze, , but you can drop the honey for a keto dish.

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets (about 400 gms - skin on or off - your choice)

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

1-2 tsp wasabi paste (wasabi paste and fresh root differ in spiciness - taste and adjust)

1/2 tsp honey (optional)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp oil

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, soya sauce, ginger, wasabi and honey.

Marinate your cleaned and dried salmon in this mix for about 15-30 minutes.

Kim's tip : Don't marinate delicate fish fillets for too long in an acidic marinade, you may just end up with hash in your pan when the fish starts flaking apart.

Heat a pan with the oil.

Scatter the sesame seeds in a plate.

Roll the marinated salmon in the sesame seeds and pan fry lightly on both sides for a couple of minutes until the fish is done to your liking.

Remove the fish from the pan to a plate.

Put any leftover marinade and sesame seeds into the pan and thicken, then pour over the fish.

This was a no carb meal, so I served it with stuffed peppers and a salad, but you can serve it with any simple rice, fried rice or noodles.

Recipe : Salmon Gochujang

Gochujang is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment made from chili powder, glutinous rice, meju powder, yeotgireum, and salt from Korea. It is easily available in Asian Grocery stores in London.

However, Gochujang is also quite a thick paste, so it needs to be thinned out a bit before using it as a marinade.

In this dish, I used an Italian wine vinegar and since this batch of Gochujang didn't have much sweetness, I also added a bit of honey which helped with caramelisation.

This is not a traditional Korean dish, I have just used a well known Korean ingredient in the marinade.

Ingredients :

4 slices salmon cleaned (skin on or off is your chocie)

2 tbsp gochujang

1/2 tsp honey

1 tbsp Italian wine vinegar (use any non synthetic vinegar of your choice)

Salt

Oil

Mix together the gochujang, honey and  Italian wine vinegar to form a marinade.

Add salt if and only if needed.

Marinate the fish in this paste for 20 minutes - 1 hour

Pan fry the marinated fish on medium flame for a few minutes turning once half way through.

Transfer to a plate.

Add the marinade juices to the pan and thicken, use this to top the fish.

I also added charred padron peppers to this dish and they paired well together.

If you want to do that, rub a little oil on the washed and dried padron peppers and char them in the pan, before you start to fry the fish. Keep aside when done.

Layer the fish, the thickened marinade sauce and the padron peppers.

Sprinkle a little salt on top of the peppers. Personally, I'm loving the Maldon smoked salt.

Recipe : Tandoori Salmon with Indian Spiced Salad & Almonds

Tandoori Salmon with Indian Spiced Salad & Almonds is not a dish you would find on a restaurant menu per se, its something I've been fiddling with for awhile and I'm finally really happy with the results, so I'm sharing it with you.

You can make this in small portions as an appetiser (with or without the salad) or turn it into a main course. It does not need any carb on the side, so this works well for anyone on a no-carb / low-carb / keto diet too

Salmon or trout works best for this recipe, the masalas are too strong for delicate fish.

Tandoori Salmon

4 boneless slices of salmon (see picture for reference)

1-2 pinch of salt

2 tbsp lemon juice

2-3 tbsp tandoori masala

red chilli powder to taste (optional, if your tandoori masala isn't spicy enough)

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

4 tbsp yoghurt/thick curd

Method:

Clean fish well and descale.

Coat in lemon juice and salt for at least 15 minutes and throw away all the water that comes out.

Marinate in a mix of tandoori masala, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and yoghurt/curd.

Keep in fridge as long as you need. I left it marinating for 3 days I think.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C for fan)

I like to line the pan with foil when making fish, so the fishy smell doesn't remain in the pan - I use the same pan for baking biscuits and scones.

Lightly coat the pan or foil with oil and place the fish skin side down.

You need 4-6 minutes of baking time per half inch thickness of your fish slice on the middle rack.

Keep an eye on it. You don't want it overcooked.

If you keep it on the top rack and turn the grill on for the last few minutes, you will get a nice brownish crust.

Kim's Tip:

If you can't be bothered with turning on the oven, or you don't have an oven, just pan fry it in a little oil.

Salad:

The salad here is a simple mix of rocket, watercress and baby spinach leaves with very thinly sliced onions.

250 gms salad leaves

1/2 medium onion sliced and marinated in a tsp of lemon juice. (while you are getting the other ingredients ready)

Dressing:

The dressing is hazelnut (you can use olive) oil, lemon juice, salt, freshly crushed black pepper and 1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar - because I like the sweetness it gives.

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper

1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar

You can add chaat masala or black salt to the dressing if you want a stronger Indian flavour in the dressing, but remember to adjust for salt.

Assembly :

Mix the salad leaves and onions in a bowl.

Shake or whip the dressing till it emulsifies and mix into the leaves.

Portion out into individual plates.

Lay the hot salmon on top.

Sprinkle with sliced almonds

This is another version of the same dish, plated in a large bowl rather than individually. the dressing here was an onion raita and I used roasted pine nuts in the garnish

Recipe : Pan Seared Scallops with Chipotle Butter

This is a very quick and easy recipe, that takes less than 10 minutes to put together.

Ingredients :

200 gms cleaned fresh scallops.

2 tbsp butter + few drops oil

2 tbsp garlic chopped fine.

1 tbsp chipotle flakes (substitute - red chilli flakes)

Method:

Rinse scallops and pat them dry with paper towels before cooking. They won't brown if they have too much moisture on the outside.

Heat a little butter in a pan with a few drops of oil (to prevent the butter burning)

Fry some finely chopped garlic in the butter.

Once it crisps up, add some chipotle flakes (chilli flakes can be used, but the chipotle has a sweet smoky flavour, not just heat)

The flakes burn quickly and scallops cook quickly, so you need to move fast.

On high heat, sear the scallops on both sides (a few seconds), then lower the heat and cook gently till they are done (2-4 minutes depending on thickness).

Look for the scallops to  just about turn opaque. If you overcook them, they will become tough.

Take the scallops out of the pan, cook the remaining liquid in the pan until it thickens to a sauce like consistency and pour it over the scallops.

Serve fresh and hot.

Options:

You can make this recipe with fresh prawns or any light fish

Recipe: Healthily Twisted Fish Meunière

A friend who came over for lunch today is currently eating extremely healthily and running marathons, so I planned a light healthy summery menu : A healthy twist on the Fish Meuniere, Roasted Chicken with Duxelles Stuffing, Pasta in a Chargrilled Red Pepper Sauce and Stir Fried Sesame Veggies. Dessert was freshly cut chilled Mangoes. The Badamis that I found in the market were quite tasty and sweet (or so the hubby said - I'm not a fruit person & I only eat raw mangoes not ripe ones)

The fish that I cooked today was a mix of inspirations from a classic Meuniere (Fish dredged in flour and fried - served with a butter, lemon and parsley sauce - French Origin - Meunière=Millers Wife) and a Gremolata (Parsley + Garlic + Lemon - Italian/Milanese in origin) I did change the entire methodology of these classics, but the inspiration came from both these flavour combinations and it worked very well.

Its quick to prep and also to cook. If you use frozen fish, it will take a little longer to cook, because the fish will let out water, but exercise a little patience, it will be worth it.

Ingredients:
750 gms of Firm White Fish - I used Basa Fillets - Clean & Dry

1 tsp olive oil (since Basa is a non fatty fish)
Zest and juice of 2 small limes (Indian limes are really tiny - smaller than a table tennis ball - so adjust to taste)
handful of parsely leaves - chopped fine
5-6 garlic cloves - chopped fine (I didn't chop mine too fine, because we like the taste of fried garlic)
salt to taste
a dash of freshly ground pepper - to season

Method:
Lightly pound together the parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.
Make an emulsion with the olive oil, lemon juice and grated zest

Marinate the fish in this (I left it overnight, but 15-30 minutes should be good too)

Fry gently on both sides in a hot pan and serve hot.
There is no need to add any oil in the pan, since there is oil in the marinade.
How long you fry each side depends on the thickness of your fish slices.
Watch the colour and texture of the fish in the pan - it is the best indication of  whether it is ready to be served or not.

I served this as an appetiser today and so I cut the fish into smaller pieces. You can slice a fillet in half and serve it as a main course too.

Kim's tips:
If you want to serve a sauce with the fish - add a little butter to the pan you fried the fish in, just before it turns brown, add some parsley and lemon juice and take it off the fire. Serve as a dressing with the fish.

Next Time I make this, I'm going to add some capers to the marinade too. I think the sharp salty flavours of capers will go excellently with this dish.

And this is what today's lunch looked like.

Pasta in a chargrilled red pepper sauce
Roasted Chicken with Duxelle stuffing
Healthily twisted fish meuniere
Stir fried sesame veggies

Recipe: Manglorean Prawn Masala

I'd defrosted some prawns today, and wanted to make something quick, dryish (not a curry, but with a bit of masala clinging to it) and spicy. I didn't want to fry them as I normally do as I wnated them to be an accompaniment to the rice and rotis and not an appetiser. So I revisited an old favourite. If you have cleaned prawns and meetmirsang on hand, it literally can be ready in 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients:
200gms cleaned prawns (weight after cleaning should be 200gms)
1 tsp vinegar
pinch of salt
2 pinches of turmeric powder
1 tsp coconut oil (you can use regular oil, if coconut isn't available)
1 sprig curry leaves
1 medium sized tomato
1-2 green chillis - optional (add only if you like your food spicy)
1 tbsp meetmirsang masala

Method:
Clean the prawns and lightly toss in a mixture of vinegar, salt and turmeric powder (to get rid of the fishy smell)
Chop the tomatoes and green chillies if using.
Heat the oil in a pan and temper with the curry leaves.
Add chopped tomatoes and green chillies.
When tomatoes are semi cooked, add the meetmirsang and fry until tomatoes are fully cooked.
Now add the prawns.
Stir fry on high heat for 2-5 minutes, depending on size of prawns.
When done, take it off the fire and serve hot with steaming hot rice and saar.

Note:
This dish can also be served as an appetiser, but you may want to decrease the spice by omitting the green chillies.

Recipe: Meetmirsang Bazalli Eeson - Seer Fish Steaks with onion salsa

This dish is soul food for me and normally the dish I always ask for on my first meal, when I go home to my mum's. This and bimbli saar with red rice (Bimblis are a sour fruit, hardly available outside of Mangalore) and maybe galmbi (tiny dried shrimp) chutney made by grandma or mum, is food heaven for me.

When I make the fish in my home, I serve it with white rice and dhal.

Ingredients:
2 slices Seer Fish
1 tsp Meet Mirsang (You can adjust for taste)
Oil to Fry (coconut is most authentic, mustard adds a level of spice, but any cooking oil will do)

Onion Salsa Ingredients:
1 medium onion chopped
1-2 green chillies chopped (adjust to taste)
few sprigs of corriander (cilantro) leaves chopped
salt to taste
vinegar or lemon juice to taste
Mix all ingredients and keep aside before you start to fry the fish, so the vinegar can infuse the onions.

Method:
Apply the Meet Mirsang on the fish and marinate for at least 15 minutes or even overnight.
Warm a tsp or so of oil in a pan.
Shallow fry the fish in this oil, turning over once.
Drain the oil and place it on a serving plate.
Sprinkle the onion salsa on the fish when the fish is still hot and serve.

Recipe: Bengali inspired Mustard fish in Banana Leaves

When I picked up fish from INA market the other day, I thought I would try my luck to check if the veggie guys stocked banana leaves (I'm still considering a traditional banana leaf plated dinner for our harvest festival on the 8th of September). They produced some leaves from their inner chamber and I decided to buy one and try steaming fish in banana leaves for the first time.

I did slip up a bit, but this recipe contains the corrections and pointers on what to watch out for.

I did not follow any recipe, just went with what I felt like I wanted in there, but it did taste quite good.

Ingredients:
1-2 Banana Leaves
1 kilo of boneless fish fillets - cut into equal sizes
(the fish has to be cut into equal pieces so that they cook at a uniform rate, my slightly thinner pieces dried out a bit)
Couple of tablespoons kasundi - (Bengali mustard paste available readymade in some markets)
Finely chopped or ground green chillies to taste
1-2 tbsp mustard oil 
salt to taste
I used some pinches of sumac to increase sourness of the marinade, you can add aamchoor or vinegar if you like, but dont make the marinade too watery.

Method:
Mix all ingredients for the marinade and form an emulsion.

Leave the fish in the marinade for at least half an hour.

Prep the Banana Leaves
Then wrap fish pieces individually in strips of banana leaves and form little parcels.

Steam the parcels for 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish fillets.
You can also microwave them for 7-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish fillets.
If microwaving them, use more marinade as the microwave tends to dehydrate the fish while cooking.

Serve hot with rice and dhal. Husband loved it with rotis and dhal.

I also had a few pieces of fish left over, once the plaintain leaves were used up. I just sauteed them on a medium flame and this too, tasted awesome.

Recipe: Butter Pepper Garlic Prawns

The prawns at INA market are incredibly fresh and don't need heavy masalas to bring out their flavour. They taste awesome just sauteed in a little butter.

I love garlic and pepper and these 2 flavourings contrast really well with the sweet taste of fresh prawns.

So I combined all of this to make a lovely light, quick and easy dish - Butter Pepper Garlic Prawns

Ingredients:
15 medium sized prawns
1 tbsp salted butter
12-15 cloves of garlic chopped fine
12-15 black peppercorns coarsely pounded
1/2 a lime

Method:
Clean prawns (I marinate seafood in a mix of salt, turmeric powder and vinegar to eliminate some of the smell) Leave the tails on for a fancier presentation.
In a hot pan, add the butter. Add a few drops of olive oil to prevent the milk solids in the butter from burning.
Toss in the cracked/pounded peppercorns.
When they are roasted, add the garlic and saute for awhile until cooked (they don't need to turn brown, they just need to lose their raw taste)
Add prawns and saute quickly, turning once if necessary.
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the prawns.
Serve hot with pasta or hot bread with the juices running.
You can garnish with parsley if you like. But I prefer these basic flavours. (sweet prawn flesh, sour lemon, spicy pepper and salty butter with awesome garlic)

This can also be served as an appetiser or snack with drinks.
This time I just served it with a simple Spaghetti Aglio e Olio e Peperoncino

Note:
My camera is temporarily off to rehab, so pictures are being taken on a phone camera. Hence the colours are not as bright and natural.

Recipe: Stuffed Squid/Calamari

Squid/Calamari  is one of our favourite sea food items. For the last few years, I have only been able to buy it already chopped into rings. So when I saw fresh squid at the INA market, I jumped at the chance to stuff them.

The fish market guys cleaned the calamari for me, so that saved me a lot of hassle and messing around with the squid ink. (not something we use in Manglorean cooking, but some European countries do need the ink specifically in their recipes). If you have to clean it yourself, About.com has accurate instructions on How to Clean Squid.

I bought 1 kilo of squid but this was the weight pre-cleaning. It turned out to be 12 tubes of squid after cleaning (I forgot to ask them to give me the tentacles too, so they discarded them, while I was purchasing other fish at the shop)

Ingredients:
6-8 calamari.squids
3 medium onions finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes finely chopped

3-4 green chillies finely chopped
15-20 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2" ginger finely chopped
2 tsps meet mirsang
a few tbsps chopped corriander
oil to fry
3-6 tbsps of rawa/semolina/semid
salt to taste

Method:
Clean Squid.
I always marinate my sea food in a salt, turmeric powder (haldi) vinegar mix for at least 15 minutes to eliminate the stronger smells.
Turn the squid inside out. This accomplishes 2 things - you can remove all the extra tissue from the inside & the opening of the squid tends to rollup outwards when cooking, if its inside out, it will turn inwards and your stuffing will be safe. I use a technique similar to turning socks inside out.
Keep squid aside until stuffing is ready.

 All the cuttings should be chopped really fine.
Saute the onions in a bit of oil, until they sweat.
Add tomatoes, saute till they start to dry up.
Add chopped garlic, chillies and ginger.
Add meet mirsang and mix well.
Fry till the stuffing is almost dry.
Add chopped tentacles, (I used 2-3 squid tubes which had torn, were too thin and in danger of bursting when stuffing, you can also use baby shrimp or chopped shrimp)

Fry till almost dry. You want just a hint of moisture, else liquid will come oozing out when you fry the stuffed squid.

Add the chopped corriander and give it a quick stir.
Turn off the gas and let the stuffing cool a little before assembling.
Add salt to taste (the meet mirsang already has salt)
You can add a little lime juice, if you like the stuffing sour.


Stuff the squid tubes with the mixture.
Pin it shut with a toothpick (I soak my toothpicks in water for a short while (same principle as bamboo skewers)

Roll the stuffed squid in rawa and shallow fry, turning once

Serve hot.
Garnish with chopped corriander if you like.

Husbands verdict: The taste is awesome, but can you do anything about the look?
Response: I'm sorry dear, squid only come in one shape. LOL

Recipe: Prema's Kurlyanche Sukkhe - Crab Fry

Sorry for not posting for over a month. I've just been busy travelling and hosting dinners at home. so more cooking and eating than blogging. The good news is that I did manage to take pictures of a lot of the stuff that I cooked, so I should be able to upload them all shortly.

This recipe was given to me by my friend Prema when I was looking for a fast way to make a dry crab dish (grinding - that is a pre-requisite for most Manglorean dishes - is optional)



So while you could grind the ingredients for the original Manglorean recipe, using chopped ingredients and powders works just as well (I finally succumbed and ground the stuff)

About 1/2 kg crabs .
Spinkle-1/2tsp salt and keep aside till you get the masala ready. (Kim's note: I normally add turmeric powder, salt and vinegar to sea food after washing and while getting the masala ready)

I grind (you can use powders/paste)
1tsp peppercorns,
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds - jeera
1 inch Ginger
4 cloves Garlic
1 inch - cinnamon stick
2 cloves.

Heat a little ghee.
Saute 1 chopped onion till translucent.
Add the ground masala and fry a little.
Add 1 chopped tomato & fry.


Wash the crabs lightly and then add to the pan.



Add a little water and cover and cook for about 10 min.

Voila done!

When crabs were cooked in large quantities at home, I remember my uncles stripping to their baniyans/vests, covering the dining table with newspaper and then proceeding to feast on just crabs. The crabs were the one and only course that they wanted to eat.

This dish however can be served with puris, rotis, or rice and dhal. Its flavours are strong, so compliment it with milder flavours, rather than have it compete with another strongly spiced dish.

Some of the other suggestions I was given for a dry fried crab dish are given below.
They were all good and I want to preserve them here to try at a later date.

Shilme had 2 options:
1. Salt + turmeric = deep fry or
2. Garlic, onion, chilli powder, tomato sauce, salt, sugar = stir fry.

Mohua suggested:
garlic and salt, whole pepper (loads ) and crabs...in butter......yummm...!!!

Zulekha suggested:
red chilli pwd +garlic +vinegar.cooked together,then shallow fry in oil

Mussels Masala Fry

Tip 1: Fresh Mussels, obviously taste better than the frozen variety

Tip 2: They need to be cooked as lightly as prawns.

Marinate the meat of mussels in meet mirsang - a mix of chilli, turmeric, cumin and vinegar. (This is a standard paste thats ground in large quantities and stored in most Manglorean houses) but you can use powders, just create a paste with the vinegar. Adjust chillies to your liking, turmeric and jeera are intended to have just a hint of a flavour, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar if you prefer to make it fresh.

Heat some coconut oil in a pan (this gives it a very South Indian flavour, you can use regular oil) temper with curry leaves (there's really no substitute, Sorry)

Saute thinly sliced onions (50 gms onions for 200 gms shelled mussels) in the tempered oil
Then mix in the marinated mussels with the marinade.
Stir fry at high heat, so juices get trapped inside.

Serve hot with rice and dhal or rice and rasam.

Variant:
I use a similar recipe for prawns and I pop some potatoes in there for contrasting texture. Also the flavour of prawns seems to blend well with potatoes. I myself wouldnt use a mussels-potato combo.

Recipe : Squid / Calamari Chilly Fry

Don't get scared by the name. You can make this dish without the chillies too.

I had some squid in the refrigerator and was feeling very homesick and wanted to eat something that reminded me of home

Not the regular ubiquitous batter fried squid that is available in sea food restaurants in Egypt

So I searched online for some rough guidelines and liked the feel of the Kanava Thoran on NDTV cooks. As a Kerala speciality, I knew it would be very similar to food cooked in my home town.

The coconut in the recipe sealed the deal as I had some extra grated coconut that I had frozen from a few days ago and wanted to use up.

As usual, I modified the recipe to my own convenience.

I firmly believe that squid/calamari should not be cooked for more than 2-3 minutes, else it turns rubbery and tough.

A good squid recipe allows for the extra water that pours out of the squid to be absorbed (like this dish where the coconut absorbs the excess liquid) or it is deep fried (the sudden intense heat seals the liquid inside the squid pieces themselves) If you are trying to make a dry dish, then steam the squid first and then put the squid pieces into the cooked flavorings.

No such problem with this recipe. If you are looking for precise directions, follow this recipe

My version does not have exact amounts and I try to cook everything in one dish and make some shortcuts.

Ingredients :
About half kilo squid cleaned and cut into pieces of your shape and size
1 largish onion - chopped
Some curry leaves
some green chillies
a handful of grated coconut
some pureed tamarind
some dried red chillies
mustard seeds
oil
little garlic
some ground ginger

Heat the oil, when it is hot, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry chillies. this is the tempering. (If you prefer you can do this in a seperate vessel at the end and then pour it over the prepared squid. In the interest of less washing up, I have tempered it right in the beginning in the main vessel)
Add garlic, semi fry it a bit, then add the chopped onions, ground ginger and green chillies. Fry for a while, remember the onions need to be crunchy (not soft, not browned, but crunchy)to the taste at the end of the preparation.

Add the grated coconut and tamarind paste/puree and salt. You can use lemon juice instead of tamarind paste, but the tamarind paste is more authentic and earthy in this dish.

Let this cook for a while and dry up a bit. The add the squid pieces and quickly saute for 2-3 minutes.

If the squid was frozen, it may not absorb much flavour, so the rest of the ingredients need to soak into the coconut and compensate for the flavor.

You can top off with some fresh cilantro/corriander/dhaniya if you like.

Eat with hot rice and dhal.

I won, I won! :)

Remember the recipe I posted a short while ago for Prawn Pakodas for Rushina's pakoda contest?

Many of you loved the recipe, do let me know if you tried it and what changes you made or felt you needed to make (other than reducing the chillies that is) :)

I was one of the 3 winners of the contest. So I guess Rushina and her judges (family) liked it :)

Here's the link to the announcement and links to the recipes of other winners and participants.
http://a-perfect-bite.blogspot.com/2008/08/results-of-hot-and-spicy-pakora-contest.html

Recipe : Prawn Bajjes (Pakodas/Fritters)

Rushina from A perfect bite... is having a Hot and Spicy Pakora contest! This is my first entry for the same. :)

Coming from a Coastal town, Prawn bajjes were an evening treat we relished. They weren't made very often because of the high price of prawns & financial prudence dictated that they were better suited for a curry that would go a longer way especially with potatoes and green mangoes added to the mix.

My sister is visiting and I had promised her some prawn pakodas when she arrived, plus Rushina's contest had me frying some up this evening. It may be monsoon and pakoda time in Coastal India, but its peak summer in Egypt and I don't have airconditioning in my kitchen. Hence this turned out to be evening dinner (I only cook once the sun sets)

Ingredients:
500gms shelled prawns (any size) cleaned & deveined
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
half a lemon (or 1 teaspoon vinegar)
1 medium size onion
4-5 green chillies
10-14 sprigs corriander (cilantro) leaves
250gms besan (chickpea flour) - moderate the quantity as needed.
1 tsp finely chopped ginger (or 1/2 tsp ginger paste)
pinch of soda bicarbonate
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Clean and devein the prawns thoroughly. Coat them with the turmeric powder and juice from half a lemon and keep for a while. This helps get rid of the strong fishy smell. Add some salt to the prawns to flavour them.

Small sized prawns are best for this dish. I have used larger ones for ease of cleaning. My mum sometimes chops up the prawns if they are too large so the pakodas can be made in smaller bite-sized pieces.

Finely chop the onions, chillies, ginger and coriander leaves. You can use less or more chillies depending on your love for spice.

In the picture above, you can see that my stock of Indian chillies has started to dehydrate, so I was forced to use some of the larger less spicy chillies that are available in Egypt.


Mix all these chopped ingredients into the prawns and mix well.

Slowly add spoons of besan to the prawn mixture and moderate the water to get a batter of dropping consistency.
Add a pinch of soda bicarb to give the pakodas a bit of crispness.
You can add some salt at this stage too, in case you haven't added too much salt to the prawns.

Heat oil in a pan (at least 1 inch of oil in the pan). Since the oil is going to be constantly heated at a high temperature, use an oil which does not go bad on long exposure to high heat.
Corn oil or sunflower oil are good options.

Form the mixture into balls with your hand. (For those not familiar with this Indian technique, you can use the 2 spoons technique used for choux pastry: Take a tablespoon of the mixture, and using another tablespoons, spoon it from one to the other to tighten the ingredients and drop it in the hot oil)
Fry them for a minute or so before turning them over.
Fry on the other side for a minute so till they turn deep brown.
Take them out of the pan with a slotted spoon and drain them.

Serve hot with a spicy and sour green chutney.
Green mango Chutney
Mint Chutney
Coriander Chutney
are all good options.

You can even serve them with tomato sauce, but they won't taste as good.

Serves 3 hungry people :)
Makes about 40 pakodas

Tip: Sometimes there may be a bit of batter and chopped non-prawn stuff left in your vessel. Cut a slice of bread diagonally in half. Dip the bread into that batter and deep fry in the same oil.

Recipe : Perizaad Zorabian's mothers recipe for Prawn Pilaf (Pulao)

Found this recipe floating in cyberspace and tried it out, it was quite good.

1kg basmati rice
pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp red color
juice of 1 lemon
8 tbsp oil
3 large onions
8 cloves
8 flakes garlic
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp corriander+ jeera powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 green chillies
1 kg prawns shelled
3 large tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp brown vinegar
salt to taste
4 tbsp ghee
a handful of freshly chopped corriander for garnish
4 halved hard boiled eggs, halved
onion slices to serve

Parboil the rice in salted water, drain and set aside.
Add saffron, colour and lemon juice to the rice.
Heat oil in a large pan.
Grind the cloves and garlic to a paste.
Add chopped onion, cloves garlic paste, jeera, chilli powder, dhania-jeera powder, turmeric powder and sliced green chillies. Fry till cooked.
Add washed and lightly squeezed prawns and fry for 5 minutes
Add chopped tomato, sugar, vinegar and salt and simmer till prawns are cooked.

To assemble the pilau, grease a degchi (broad based heavy pan) with the ghee.
Add a layer of rice, a layer of the prawn mix and another layer of rice on top.
Melt the remaining ghee and pour over the rice.
Cover the degchi and let the pilau cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
Garnish with chopped corriander and boiled eggs.
Serve with sliced onions.