Prawns Masala Curry, Kolambi Masala, Jhinga Masala

I have always loved seafood especially cooked the Goan or Malvani way. After checking a few blogs and trying out a few recipes I still did not get to the taste I wanted. Then recently, I found this recipe here. I did not follow this recipe as is and made a few changes which I was quick to jot down, lest I forget it the next time I want to make it. I added a few ingredients to the marinade and masala powder and left some out later in the recipe. And now, I think I have my perfect Prawn Masala Curry.

 

So this time when I got tiger prawns at the fish vendor I decided I was going to cook my fave recipe - Kolambi / Prawn Masala. The masalas in this curry tend to dominate the curry so use shrimps or medium sized prawns so that its flavor can compete with the spices.

Ingredients
Tiger Prawns / Kolambi / Jhinga - 15-20 peeled, deveined
Onion / Kaanda / Pyaz - 1
Tomato / Tamatar - 1
Red Chilli / Mirchi powder - 1tsp (optional)
Kokum - 1 petal (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander / Dhaniya leaves - 1 tbsp.
Marinade:
Red chili / Mirchi powder - 1tsp
Pepper / Kali miri powder - 1/4tsp
Ginger / Adrak - 1inch
Garlic / Lehsun - 4 cloves
Tamarind / Imli - 1/2tsp
Salt
Masala powder
Coriander / Dhaniya seeds - 1.5tbsp
Cumin / Jeera - 1tsp
Green Cardamom / Chhoti elaichi - 4
Black Cardamom / Badi elaichi - 2
Cloves / Lavang - 5
Cinnamon / Dalchini - 1inch
Star Anise Chakri - 1.5
Fennel / Saunf - 1/2sp
Grind to paste
Coconut / Nariyal grated - 4 tablespoon
Onion / Pyaaz sliced - 1
Oil / Tel- 1tsp

Wash the prawns, pat dry and keep in a bowl. Grind the ingredients for the marinade - ginger, garlic, tamarind, red chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt. Apply the marinade paste to the prawns and keep aside.

Heat a pan and dry roast the whole spices individually. Use only the seeds of the green and black cardamom and discard the peel. Once all spices are roasted, grind them to a powder and keep aside.

Now prepare the paste - Heat 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the onions till soft and translucent. Then add the grated coconut and fry it till light brown. Take it off the stove and once it is cool grind it to a paste with very little water. 

In the same pan add the prawns with the marinade and sear on both sides. Keep aside.

Then heat the remaining oil and fry the onions till soft and light brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry well till the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add the coconut-onion paste and fry for few minutes till you see oil leaving the sides and it becomes one mass.

Add the masala powder to this and fry for a minute or two. Then add the seared prawns to this and sauté for a minute to mix it all. Add half a cup of water and let it boil. Check if a petal of kokum is needed, most likely it may not be needed since the marinade has tamarind. Also check for salt and heat and add if needed. Check if the prawns are done. Garnish with coriander leaves and it is ready to be served. It goes well with both chapati and rice.

Prawns Masala

 

This recipe goes to "Side dish mela", hosted by cooking4allseasons.

Mutton Rara .... my way....

At home, we usually cook mutton the Kerala style - with coriander, peppercorns and coconut. For a change we decided to try something different and I started checking recipes on the internet. From what I read, I liked the recipes of Hyderabad Mutton Korma and Mutton Rara. I then started checking if I had all the ingredients for these recipes. The Hyderabadi Mutton Korma needed grated coconut which I was too lazy to do and thought I could use coconut milk instead. But then realized I did not have cashew nuts and poppy seeds as well. So I narrowed down to Mutton Rara and for that also I did not have black elaichi, javithri and mutton mince. I am not particularly a fan of mince so I did not mind that missing element. As for the black elaichi and javithri, I replaced with green elaichi, star anise and an additional bay leaf. And after all these changes this is how my Mutton Rara looked :

Ingredients:
Mutton cut in curry pieces - 750gms
Onion medium sized sliced - 3
Tomato medium sized chopped - 2
Ginger julienned - 1.5 inches
Garlic julienned - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Turmeric powder
Red Chilli powder
Oil - 3tbsp
Ghee - 1tbsp
Salt as per taste
Sugar - a couple of pinches
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Masala powder:
Cloves (lavang) - 6
Cinnamon (dalchinni) - 1 inch piece
Bay leaf (tej patha) - 2
Coriander seeds (dhaniya) - 1tsp
Black cumin (shahi jeera) - 1tsp
Green cardamom (elaichi) - 1
Star anise (chakri phool) - 1
Nutmeg (jaiphal) pieces - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Dry roast all the ingredients listed under masala powder. When it cools, powder it and keep aside.

Heat the pressure cooker, add oil and when the oil heats up add the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds splutter add the sliced onions and saute for a few minutes till the onions turn pink. Add the ginger and garlic juliennes to the sauteed onions and fry till done. Add the turmeric and red chilli powders and stir well then add chopped tomatoes and saute. When the tomato has softened add salt and sugar and stir well. Add the mutton pieces and stir to coat the meat well. Add the spoon of ghee and cover and cook. Open the cooker and add half the masala powder, mix well. And I then proceeded to add 2 potatoes halved (this is my love for potatoes that made me do this), although no recipe asks for this. Cover the cooker and cook under pressure for 2 whistles but this depends on the toughness of the meat. Open the lide and garnish with coriander leaves.
Tadaaaa! my mutton was done.