Double Skewered Grilled Prawns

Cleaning prawns are messy and unless I buy jumbo prawns, I usually avoid this fast food in the market.  Every once in a while I do buy some and make the quickest, simplest recipe to compensate for the time I spend cleaning them.  This is the time I take out my sauces and powders and mix and stir and grill them to luscious perfection.

The Recipe:

50 large prawns, shelled,washed and deveined; 1/2 tsp chilli powder; 1 tsp light soya sauce; 1/4 tsp jeera powder; 1 tsp tomato sauce; 1 tbsp olive oil;salt and pepper to taste.

20 wooden skewers

Drain the prawns thoroughly.   Mix the oil, powders, sauces and salt together.  Marinade the prawns overnight in this mixture.  Soak the skewers in water for 1 hour.  This is to prevent them from burning on the grill.  Next day, take on of the skewers,and poke it through the side of the prawn.  Take another skewer and poke it through the opposite side of the prawn as in the photograph.  Similarly skewer 5 prawns per set of skewers.  Repeat with rest of the prawns and skewers.  Grill on an open grill on high heat for 5 minutes on each side or in a preheated  oven at highest setting for 5 minutes on each side.  Serve hot as an appetiser.

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Simply Scrumptious Butter Crabs

Malaysian Butter Crab

If there is one recipe that is truly Malaysian, this has to be it.  Malaysia is truly a food paradise and the vast array of food left me gasping for breath when we first arrived two decades ago.   We all enjoyed trying out various cuisines and soon had our favourites.  This recipe was given to me by a  friend after we ooohed and aaahed over it after dinner one day.    Best eaten at home with your fingers as you will want to lick up every single drop of the delicious sauce.

3 large crabs, cleaned, cut, washed and drained;  1 can evaporated milk; 3 tbsp. butter; 3 sprigs curry leaves;  ½ tbsp. minced green chillies (optional); 1/4 tsp brown sugar.

3 slices bread:   Heat oil in a medium sized wok and when very hot deep fry the bread till brown and crisp on both sides. .  Takes less than a minute.  Drain and keep aside.

Heat the butter in a large wok.  Lower heat to medium and saute the curry leaves for a minute or two until crisp.  Add the crabs, chillies, sugar and evaporated milk and cover and cook until the crabs change colour.  This takes about 5 minutes.  Serve with deep fried bread.  Simply Scrumptious and don't worry about making a mess at the table.  This is one dish you will thoroughly enjoy.

Spicy Fish Vindaloo

Pomfret Vindaloo

This is a recipe I got from my Mum's collection of recipes, painstakingly written down  when she went for cookery classes soon after her graduation.  I was frantically copying every thing down as we were leaving Bangalore for Malaysia.  Soon after I was going through my recipe book and came across this one.  The best joke is that when I made it for my Mum she said, " this is a nice .  Could you give me the recipe?!!!"  That being said, let me get on with the recipe.

The Recipe:

1, medium sized pomfret, sliced, washed and drained; 3 tbsp oil; a few coriander leaves; 1/2 a medium sized onion, sliced; salt to taste.

 Grind to a smooth paste:  1 tsp chilli powder; 1/4 tsp haldi; 2 pods cardamom, seeds only; 6 flakes garlic; 1 tsp jeera seeds;  3 tsp vinegar.        

Heat the oil in  a shallow non stick pan and fry the coriander leaves and sliced onion for a few minutes until onion is glazed.  Lower flame and fry the masala (ground paste) until thick.  Add 1 cup water, the sliced fish and salt to taste.  Cover and cook on a medium low flame till done.  This goes well with white rice and is one of the tastiest curries I have cooked.

Gourmet Garlic Chilli Prawns

Once In A Bluemoon Garlic Chilli Prawns

It's a real advantage to have great cooks around you at party time.  Everything gets done in a jiffy and all we have to do is wait for the guests to arrive.  In our house too many cooks do not spoil the broth, they merely enhance it.  We had guests last week and so each of us took on one dish. The result was a meal fit for a king.

The Recipe:

1 kg prawns, shelled, deveined, washed and drained - retaining the tails; 1 1/2 bulb of garlic, minced; 1 inch piece ginger minced; a small bunch of spring onions, cut very fine; chilli flakes to taste (depends on how spicy you want it); 1/2 tsp pepper corns, crushed coarsely ; 1 cup chicken stock; coriander leaves to garnish; 1/2 cup cream; salt to taste and 2 tbsp oil.  

Heat oil in a non stick wok.  When very hot saute the garlic and ginger till golden brown.  Throw in the spring onions and stir for a minute.  Add the prawns and fry on high heat until they change colour.  Lower heat and add the pepper powder, chilli flakes to taste and the stock.  Cover and cook till the stock is reduced to half the quantity.  Add the cream, salt to taste, mix well and remove from fire.  Serve as an accompaniment to the main course or as a soup.  The flavour is amazing and and it tastes as good as it looks.