SPICY BUTTERMILK PRAWNS and Masala Chaas!

Firstly, Apologies! I know, I have been absconding since couple of days  and have been leaving all your comments unattended...but I swear, the week’s been terribly hectic, I was travelling, I could not access the internet for a couple of days and I just can’t find enough time to finish my “to do list”!! L That’s probably my first sad smiley in the blog J hehehe....but genuinely, thank you, all you lovely people who take time out to comment on my posts...you are the best and this signature recipe from MJ’s kitchen is dedicated to all of you!!! N please forgive me if I haven’t replied to your comments. I will, once I have plenty of time in hand, that I promise J

I am giving you a bonus recipe within this recipe for a spicy buttermilk drink that is so popular in India. It’s called ‘Masala Chaas’ in the north and ‘sambaram’ in the south. Actually, there are numerous names, if I start mentioning because we have so many languages and butter milk is a popular thirst quencher all over the country.

Getting down to the dish, it’s simple and delicious. We are going to marinate prawns in buttermilk and sauté it without oil. I used small prawns but it should come out fine with any size. Just make sure you have plenty of marinade. For accompaniments, it’s a great combination with plain rice.

Happy cooking J

Ingredients: (serves 4)

De-shelled and cleaned Prawns - ½ kg

Ginger - ½ tablespoon very finely chopped

Green chillies- 2 slit finely chopped

Red chilli - 1, seeds removed and sliced into thin strips

Coconut oil- 1 teaspoon

Marinade/sauce/ buttermilk drink:

Buttermilk- 1 ½ cups

Ginger- ½ inch piece

Green chilli- 1

Lime juice- 1 teaspoon, increase to 1 tablespoon if buttermilk is not tangy at all

Curry leaves- 6 to 7 leaves only

Salt to taste

Method:

1.       Grind the ingredients for marinade in the mixer till ingredients fully blend into buttermilk.

2.       Now soak prawns in the mixture and refrigerate for an hour. Check the salt once more before refrigerating and add if necessary.

3.       Heat a sauce pan to medium. Drain the excess liquid from the prawn mixture into the pan. Drain fully as the prawns will let out water while cooking.

4.       Add finely chopped ginger and green chilli and boil stirring continuously till a thick consistency is obtained. Amount of sauce should have reduced to less than half.

5.       Reduce the heat to minimum and add the prawns, mix properly. Take care to scoop in all the sauce sticking to the walls of the pan while mixing.

6.       Cook with lid on for 2mins. Then open and cook on high heat till prawns are done and consistency of sauce is back to what we had achieved before adding the prawns. Don’t overcook the prawns or they will harden.

7.       Once ready remove to serving dish.

8.       In the same sauce pan, heat the coconut oil to medium, switch off the heat and add sliced red chilli. Pour immediately over prawns.

9.       Serve with rice and enjoy a tangy hot lunchJ.

Tips n Tricks:

·         For the buttermilk drink, grind mixture in marinade list, add ice and serve cold. It can be seasoned with a pinch of cumin powder for the added flavour.

·         While seasoning the red chilli, be careful not to overheat the pan or your red chilli will turn brown and spoil the pretty face of your dish. I had to waste 3 red chillies before I got my texture right. So you gota be careful there.

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