Prawns(Shrimp)

I have been trying different dishes with prawns. Previously I have posted two of my mothers dishes, sungta upkari and sungta khoLu(in the recipe, replace bangda with prawn). Both taste heavenly. (Click on the ‘prawns/shrimps’ in the category and you can see a whole lot of prawns recipes).
Recently, I got this recipe from Gowri. I have heard about this recipe a lot, but had never tried it. When I got this again from Gowri, I felt it is time to try it and it tasted fantastic. In her mail, she says ” I am sending one of my favorite recipe called sungta panna upkari. If you use byadgi chilly it taste much better as it give rich red color. Very simple but very tasty and all my friends likes it. You can make this by mixing chilly powder and tamarind pulp. But it tastes better if you grind it together”. Thanks Gowri for the recipe.

Small shrimps are used in the authentic recipe. Since I could not find the small shrimps here, I used the big ones easily available in all grocery stores.

Ingredients:
Prawns 1/2 lb
Onion ( finely chopped) 1/2 cup
Garlic cloves(finely chopped) 1 big
Red chilies (hotter the better) 6-7
Tamarind Small lemon size
Oil
Salt

Method:
Fry onions in oil till they become almost brown then add garlic fry for another one minute.
Make paste of tamarind and red chillies and add this to onion mixture.
Add very little water(but gravy should be thick). Now add shrimp and salt and boil till the
shrimps are cooked.
Serve hot.

Serves : 2
Preparation time : 10mins

Deepa sent me this delicious recipe. It is one of the tastiest prawn dishes I ever had. I thank her a lot for sendng me this. I prepared this dish for a small house party, all the dishes I prepared were Goan. Needless to say, everyone liked this dish and it got over within 2mins :D.

Following is some information sent by her :
Balchaun is pronounced as Bal- as in hair in hindi, chaun- As in “Chow” pronounced nasally, like a Chinese dish.

This recipe has Portuguese antecedents but is commonly made on special occasions in many hindu homes. We usually use slightly bigger prawns. As children we would clamor for it very often but becoz it was so time consuming to make, my mother would oblige our requests, only on special occasions. It goes very well with any pulao but we particularly enjoyed eating it with “paav”, which is a crusty, lumpy looking bread usually found in small bakeries in Goa. It is used to sop up all types of curries from “tondak” ( any legumes-coconut based curry) to “shakuti”( chicken and coconut masala). I think you get this particular bread all along the Konkan coast. The origin of this recipe is Portuguese and it’s usually the forte of Catholic cuisine but one of the rare Portuguese dishes also enjoyed by Goan hindus. Goan hindus usually turn up their noses at the use of vinegar in food preparation but for some reason are more forgiving when it comes to “Balchaun”. I must add though that the best “Balchaun” is likely to be found in a Catholic home in Goa :).

PS: Remember to add vinegar sparingly, slowly and to taste, becoz for persons not used to the acidic sharpness of this additive it can be a jolt. And try and use big prawns. In Goa we try and use Tiger prawns but they are probably either expensive here or not available easily. If you want to omit vinegar, go ahead but the authentic recipe does call for it.

Ingredients:
Prawns 2 cups
Tomatos(medium) 1 cup
Coriander leaves 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder 1 tea spn
Peppercorns 10
Garlics 8 cloves
Cumin seeds 1 tea spn
Oil 1/2 cup
Onions(medium) 1 cup
Coriander seeds 1 tbl spn
Red chillies 8
Cloves 6
Cinnamon stick 2 1/2 cm
Ginger 2 cm.
Tomato ketchup 1 cup
White vinegar 2 tea spns
Salt

Method:
Apply tumeric powder and salt to to prawns and keep aside. Grind coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon peppercorn, garlic, ginger to a fine paste.
Heat oil in a skillet and deep fry the prawns till brown. Keep aside.
Cut onions fine and fry in the same oil till they become soft. Add ground masala paste and fry until the mixture begins to give off a strong aroma. Cut tomatos into small pieces, add to the mixture in the pan and fry for only a few seconds. Add salt and fried prawns. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Then add tomato ketchup, mix slowly and well. Add white vinegar and mix well and cook for some time.
Granish with coriander leaves.

Serves : 6
Preparation time : 45min

I shallow fried the prawns instead of deep frying to suite my guest’s request to avoid deep fried items. Still the taste was great.

I got this recipe from Aruna Naresh. Have a look at what she has to say about it
“Tried this new recipe last night for dinner. It turned out really good. This recipe is a combination of 2 recipes, one from a recipe book that I read and the other, the Cheesy Wrap available at Pizza Hut. I dont know what to name it…..how about Prawn Cheesy Wraps….”.

I tried it and it was delicious. I have done very minor modifications(Whatever is mentioned as ‘optional’ in the ingredients).

Ingredients:
Chapathis (or medium sized tortillas) 2
Prawns 10-12
Chilli powder 1/2 tea spn
Onion 1
Garlic 2
Ginger 1″
Turmeric Powder ½ tsp
Egg 1
Garam masala(optional) 1/2 tea spn
Coriander leaves(optional) 2-3 strands
Grated Cheese(Mozzarella / Cheddar Cheese)

Method:
Chop onion, garlic and ginger. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions, garlic, ginger and fry till the onions become soft. Add the prawns, turmeric powder and salt and cook till the prawns are done. Add all the masala and fry for a minute. Allow this to cool.

Add the egg and mix well.

Heat the Chapati on the tava and spread the above mixture on the chapati.

Roll the chapathi. Make a cut diagonally in the centre of the roll.
It takes great when it is hot. But I guess its ideal to be taken in a lunch box.

Serves : 2
Praparation time : 20min