April 14, 2008

Prawns (Shrimp) Chilly fry


I happened across a recipe for prawns chilly fry on the Kerala tourism website. I was a bit confused after reading the recipe but decided to try it anyways. I experimented with the recipe and derived one that seemed good for our tastes. I should say that I was very pleased with the result. I ended up with a pretty HOT chilly prawns (even by Indian standards). The recipe below is my version with the exact amount of spices that I used. It would serve well for those with a bit of tolerance for spicy food. Others need not worry, just adjust the chillies to your tolerance level. I am pretty sure that you too will enjoy the adapted version of prawns chilly fry. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Prawns/Shrimp - 12 oz, shelled, deveined and tail-on (cooked)
Green chilli - 1, julienned
Garlic - 4 cloves, julienned
Ginger - 1/2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Red onion - 2 cups
Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
Salt - taste
Coconut oil - 4 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2, spilt lengthwise
Roma tomato - 1, sliced
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Garam masala - half a pinch

Method:

Wash the shrimp and drain.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.

To the prawns, add julienned green chillies, garlic, ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilly powder, 1 tbsp coconut oil, salt and curry leaves.

Cook for about a minute. Keep aside.

Saute the onions in the remaining oil until light brown.

Add the remaining chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and saute for a few minutes, until the spices are cooked.

Stir often to prevent the spices from burning.

Pour the water and allow it come to a boil.

Saute well until most of the water is evaporated and the onions are tender.

Add the cooked shrimp, split green chillies, tomatoes and curry leaves.

Stir fry until well incorporated.

Shut off the flame, add lime juice and sprinkle garam masala.

Serve hot with rice.


Tips:
  1. I used vegetable oil instead of coconut oil. For the authentic kerala taste, use coconut oil.
  2. Use curry leaves, if available. If not, omit that.
  3. The above recipe makes a HOT prawn chilly fry. Adjust the amount of green chillies and/or chilli powder according to personal preference.
  4. A suggestion is to reduce heat is to omit the julienned green chillies, use 1 split chilly and reduce the amount of red chilly powder to 2 tsp.
  5. The actual recipe called for 40g of prawns! I think its an error, it must be 400g. I found that the recipe works well for 12 oz of shrimp.
  6. If using uncooked shrimp, add the raw shrimp to the onion gravy and cook until done.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This recipe looks awesome. I wasn't hungry when I was referred to this site but now I am salivating over this. Can you send some of this to Seattle?

@the_whisk_affair said...

thanks, anonymous! why dont you try the recipe out and let me know.

SS said...

Today I looked in my regrigerator and all I had was packed of shrimp and few other basic stuff like ginger,garlic,onions and 1 small tomato.Looke dup ur recipe and tried it. Sice I did not have green chillie used the last jalapeno pepper I had and added some ketchup to make up for lack of tomato.Didn't use as much chilly powder as recommended,but dish has come out well and I am sure it will compliment the spinach rice I have already made. More details after husband and kids actually try it.
Thanks for recipe..

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks a lot Sonia. I hope J & the kids loved it ! Try out more from the blog, I'm sure you'll enjoy preparing them :-)