Prawn Pulao

Who doesn't love a recipe that is fast to prepare, but tastes as though you have put in a whole lot of effort to it. Well, I do. I prepared this simple prawn pulao for our Sunday meal and the entire process took me only 40 minutes. No kidding!! So here we go.

Ingredients:

• Prawns 500gms
•  2 medium sized onions
• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 100 gm curds
• salt to taste
• 4-5 tbsp oil
• coriander leaves to garnish

For the rice:

• 500 gms Basmati rice 
• 1 litre boiling hot water
• 5 tbsp oil
• 5 cloves
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 3 green cardamom, 2 black cardamom

Source: Thangam Philip's book of Modern cookery

Method:

For the prawns:

1. Shell, devein and wash the prawns well. Keep aside.
2. Slice the onions and chop the tomatoes fine.
3. Heat oil in a shallow pan. When hot add the sliced onions and fry till golden brown(quite brown).
4. When done, add the cumin seeds and chopped tomatoes. Fry well till the whole mixture is mushy together(6 to 8 minutes).
5. Add the prawns, coriander, turmeric and chilli powders. Add salt too. Fry the prawns well for 10 to 12 minutes adding the curds slowly at a time.
6. If you wish you can add very little water(I didn't) and simmer till prawns are tender. The gravy should be thick.
7. When done sprinkle with garam masala powder.

For the rice:

1. Wash the rice, strain and keep.
2. In a deep bottomed vessel heat oil. When hot add the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for a minute.
3. Add the rice and fry well for 5 to 8 minutes till you have a nice aroma. Take care as to not to burn the rice.
4. When done add 3/4th litre of the piping hot water. Cover and cook. 
5. If the water has evaporated add the remaining hot water and cook till done.

Assembling:

Once the rice is ready, arrange the rice and prawn with the gravy in layers. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with a cold raitha of your choice.

Notes:

1. The above is my method of preparing the rice. I generally add a little less of the required quantity of water so that the rice doesn't get too mushy. If required I then keep adding little amounts of water till the rice is perfectly cooked.
2. If you have any other method of preparing the pulao rice then by all means go ahead. 
3. While the recipe called for layering the prawn with gravy and rice, I mixed it all well cause that is how we like it.
4. While the rice was cooking I simultaneously prepared the prawns. The process from start to finish took me 35 to 40 minutes.

Mackerel Pickle

Growing up in the coastal town of Mangalore, South India, brown rice and fresh fish curry was our staple diet. Mum's "gandh kadi" with "fresh masli" was something we looked forward to everyday. Monsoons were hard on the food front when fresh fish was replaced by "sukhi masli"(dry fish) and an occasional bikna(jackfruit seeds) curry. While mum enjoyed these delicacies I always waited for the time when the fishermen could venture out into the seas once again.

Post marriage, the firs thing I did was to search for a place where I could buy brown rice along with a fish merchant. I was fortunate to find the very best of fish shops wherever and whenever we moved within Bangalore. The last five years saw me become chaddi dosth with a fish merchant in Jakkasandra, Koramangala. The freshest fish was home delivered to me week after week, month after month for five long years. Friends always asked me whether he ever cheated or sent me rotten fish home. Never!!! Such was my trust in him to provide me with the very fresh. The regret I have of not having been able to properly bid him goodbye..:-) Such are my memories of the fish delicacies I had back home, thanks to him.

On arrival to Deutschland we were in for a rude shock. Having arrived during peak winter, fish was hardly available. The two or three local varieties of fresh water fish that we tried had to be promptly thrown into the bin. It was with dismay that we passed the first few months without our fish delicacies. Once spring arrived, so also familiar fish in the markets. Mackerel was one of them. I still remember the excitement we had to bring the fish home and fry it..:D Over a period of time, we had mussels and squids making a rare appearance. My Indian friend in Switzerland recommended Pangasius which also made for delicious curries. We were content till winter arrived again and the fish slowly stopped in the markets. By then we figured out that fish in winter was simply not available.  By the third winter we decided to give freezing three months of fish supply a shot. It worked like a charm. This year, our fourth and last season of winter I chose to go a step further. Apart from freezing some, I thought I'd make some pickle too, for the cold wintry days. Thus began my search for a simple recipe. Having found one and also hitting a jackpot with the fresh curry leaves, the following was the end result. 

Source:  BBC Food recipes(adapted to suit our palette)

INGREDIENTS:

For the marinade:

• 1 kg oily fish such as king fish or mackerel cut into 1 cm cubes.
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp salt
• sunflower oil for frying

For the pickle base:

• 6 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 5 sprigs curry leaves
• 150 g fresh ginger chopped
• 150 g fresh garlic chopped

For the fish pickle powder:

• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
• a pinch asafoetida
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 ml white vinegar

Method:

1. Place the fish pieces in a bowl. Add the salt, chilli and turmeric powders(for the marinade ingredients). Mix well so that all the pieces are coated evenly with the spice powders. Set aside for an hour.
2. Heat oil in a deep heavy based frying pan. Carefully lower the marinated fish pieces into the hot oil and fry for 3-5 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
3. Prepare the fish pickle powder by mixing all the powders with 1 tbsp water  and NOT the vinegar. Mix well to make a paste.
4. For the pickle base, heat oil in a separate frying pan. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds have popped, add the curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic. Fry over low heat for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the fish pickle paste to the above and stir well until combined. Fry well for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture darkens in colour.
6. Slowly add the fried fish pieces into the above mixture and stir well. Add the vinegar and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from heat . Adjust salt. Set aside to cool.
7. Once the pickle has cooled, transfer it into a vacuum sealed glass jar. Store in the refrigerator for 2 weeks before using.

Note:

1. Since this was my first time preparing fish pickle, I attempted to separate the bones and flesh in the raw state, cut it into 1 cm cubes and then deep fry. It was tiring, cumbersome and I ended up with small bruises on my hands. What I would do the next time would be to cut the fish into 2 or 3 pieces, deep fry them and then separate the flesh into the required size. 
2. I have used a little more of ginger and garlic than what the original recipe called for. 

Prawn pulao

Weekends are always hectic..with the grocery shopping for the weekend and week(you see everything is closed from sat 4:00 and whole of sunday), then the ensemble, followed by an outing with the family gives me very little time to be in the kitchen. As far as possible I try to cook on friday night for the following day so that I can do all of the above....  Since fish of our liking is not available, we bring in prawns on a regular basis which are very good in taste. That also means I have to keep on searching for new recipes to prepare them. I sat with my favourite chef Sanjeev Kapoor's Konkan cookbook and found this recipe...Prawn Pulao. The recipe serves four, but I altered the measures accordingly since I wanted servings for 8. The original recipe is noted ..

You need :-

• 1 cup prawns(cleaned)
• 1 and a half cups basmati rice
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt to taste
• half bunch coriander leaves
• half cup scraped coconut
• 3 green chillies roughly chopped
• 1 inch piece ginger roughly chopped
• 7 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 15 fresh mint leaves
• 3 tbsps oil
• 1 inch stick cinnamon
• 4 black cardamoms
• 2 star anise
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 medium sized onions finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Method :-

1. Soak rice in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
2. Wash prawns, marinate with lemon juice and salt.
3. Grind green chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves and coconut to a fine paste.
4. Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel and add cinnamon, black cardamom, star anise, cloves and cumin seeds. Saute for one minute.
5. Add onions, saute till it turns light golden brown. Add ground masala paste, stir fry for half a minute and add prawns. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add soaked rice, stir gently and then add coconut milk.
7. Add three cups of hot water. Bring it to a boil, stirring once or twice. Cook on medium heat till water has almost dried. Reduce heat, cover and cook till rice is done. 
8. Serve hot with any raitha of your choice.

Spicy Prawn Curry!!

           Growing up in the western coastal belt of India, namely Mangalore, saw me relishing sea food on a daily basis, be it in the form of gravies or fry!!! Fish was never stored in refrigerators but always cooked fresh. Mom or Dad  go to the market on a daily basis to buy fish, at times there are fish mongers getting their catch home. Unlike other places where fish is sold by the kilo, Mangalore fish mongers sell it by portions (or "vante" in konkani). They quote a price and after rounds of bargaining, you finally get your catch!!!! So if you were a newcomer especially a Gulfie on holiday, it would be likely that you would be taken for a ride.

Now what I like about Mom's curries are that she never grinds the curry paste in a mixer but in a stone pestle(pictured below) by hand. To this day she grinds not only gravies also batters by hand(it is a tiring processs) and must I say, the gravies turn out awesome.

When I got married, I swore by the grinder and vowed never to use the mixer to prepare my gravies. One problem though, I did not see myself sitting over a stone pestle day in and out, crushing the spices and coconut to make a paste. Then, there were these tilting wet grinders(pictured below) available in the market which crushed the spices using a stone but which were running on electricity. After having heard me lament about Mom's gravies for six months, Vinay finally decided to get a grinder for me.

I have had the Santha grinder for the past 10 years and I must say, whoever have dined at my house wanted to know the secret of the delicious gravies( be it meat or fish). I would proudly point out to my wet grinder. Now having moved to Germany, I had to leave my grinder behind and have to make do with the Philips Mixer( which I had to buy) for the gravies that I prepare. The thing about mixers is that they fail to grind coconut to a fine paste. I know I can substitute it with coconut milk, but there is nothing like a gravy made out of freshly ground coconut.

                 My children both love prawns very much. I also felt it was high time I prepared my Mangalorean sea food curry. So, I got these frozen tiger prawns from E-centre ( They are also available in Kupsch).  Though prawns fried in oil and spices seem to be everybody's favourite, I decided to make the curry from Sanjeev Kapoor's Konkan CookBook (I am a big fan of his) !!!!

Ingredients :

• 18-20  medium sized                   Prawns( shelled and de-veined)
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup                                          Coconut(scraped)
• 2 medium sized                           Onions( sliced)
• 4                                                Red Chillies (whole)
• 2 tsps                                         Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp                                          Cumin seeds
• 8-10                                           Peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp                                       Fenugreek seeds (methi)
• 1/2 tsp                                       Turmeric powder
• 5 cloves                                      Garlic
• One and a half tbsp                     Tamarind Pulp
• 3 tbsps                                       Oil

Method

1.  Wash prawns thoroughly under running water, drain and pat them dry. Sprinkle salt and keep aside for an hour.
2. Grind scraped coconut, half the sliced onions, whole red chillies, coriander , cumin, fenugreek seeds, peppercorns, turmeric powder, garlic and tamarind pulp to a smooth paste using sufficient water.

     3. Heat oil in a vessel and fry the remaining onions till light brown.

   4. Add the ground paste and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add two cups of water and mix well. When the  mixture comes to a boil add prawns and adjust seasoning. 

    5. Simmer for five minutes or till cooked. Serve hot with rice.

Note :-I have not scraped but cut the coconut due to lack of a scraper and I have also added diced potatoes in the gravy since potatoes cooked in a fish gravy taste yummy!!!