Prawns Ghee Roast - Mangalorean Spicy Prawns Masala

Prawns Ghee Roast -Mangalorean Spicy Prawns Masala

Today's recipe is an aromatic and extremely flavorful Prawns ghee roast. It is a popular seafood delicacy of Mangalore. If you love indulging in spicy exotic food, then you don't want to miss on this yummy prawns masala. It is lip-smacking delicious with the right balance of heat and flavor. The magic ingredients are the earthy spices and flavorful ghee or clarified butter.

Mangalore is a food lovers paradise. It is a port city and the melting pot of several cultures and unique cuisines. I had been to Udupi and Mangalore and experienced a unique, diverse culture. Their spicy seafood delicacies will make you crave for more. We had hearty meals and the food was excellent. It got me intrigued by this cuisine and I wanted to recreate some at home. I have already posted recipes like Chicken ghee roast and Mangalore fish curry.

The cuisine of coastal regions like Mangalore has fish as an indispensable part of an everyday meal. There are so many seafood recipes and one may wonder how they transform each dish to have a taste of its own. Prawns ghee roast is one such dish, it's got a class of its own! The ground masala used in this recipe is a fragrant ghee masala paste with a kick of chilly peppers and a tangy taste from tamarind. Spicy or Not spicy-you can make this your own. Experiment a little and find a flavor combo that makes your taste buds happy! This is a great side dish for biryani, ghee rice or just with steamed rice. Get your ingredients together and give this recipe a try, you will surely love it!

The spice powder mix is primarily chilies, peppercorn, cumin, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and coriander. The chilly used in the authentic recipe is a regional variety. But for this recipe, I have used regular chilly and Kashmiri chilly which is less spicy and gives a good color to the prawns roast. You can soak the chilly and make a paste or dry roast it along with the other spices and make a fine powder.

The masala is slightly tangy. There are two ingredients for the tangy taste- tamarind and yogurt. If the yogurt is sour then you can use a slightly lesser amount of tamarind for a balanced taste.

Ghee gives this recipe its authentic flavor. So as the name suggests try cooking the masala with ghee. I have used homemade ghee or clarified butter in this recipe. Ghee combined with spices and prawns brings out the depth of flavors that makes this dish irresistible.

Cooking the prawns- This is an optional step, but it enhances the taste of the curry. Marinate the prawns for half an hour and shallow fry it before adding to the masala. If you add the raw prawns directly to the ghee roast masala it will release lots of water and will change the texture of the recipe. Do not overcook prawns. It will attain a rubbery texture.

Batch cooking/ Freezer cooking-You can make this masala and store it in the refrigerator. It freezes like a charm, so make a big batch. Store it in individual portion size freezer-safe bags or containers. You can use this masala to cook chicken, prawns, potatoes or mixed vegetables.

How to make Mangalore Prawns Ghee Roast

Cooking time- 15 minutes
Recipe type- side dish
Cuisine- Mangalore

Ingredients
Prawns- 1 lb
Onion- finely chopped- 2 tbs(optional)
Garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Yogurt- 2 tbs
Tamarind pulp-small lemon sized ball
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Hing- asafoetida- a pinch
Ghee-3 tsp
salt to taste
To roast
Dry red chilly- 2
Kashmiri Red Chilly- 4-5
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp

Preparing the masala

The first step is to dry roast the masala. Heat a pan and start by dry roasting the chilies. Roast on low flame for three to for minutes or till it changes color. Set this aside.

In the same pan add the rest of the ingredients- pepper, cumin, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and coriander seeds and dry roast till it changes color and you can hear the mustard splutter.

Remove from the pan and allow it to cool down. Make a fine powder.

Mix this powder with garlic paste and tamarind water and set aside

Making the prawns masala

Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, salt, and yogurt and set aside for 10 minutes. Fry prawns until it is slightly golden on both sides. Drain and set aside.

In the same pan add half of the ghee. Add asafoetida , onion and curry leaves and fry for two minutes. Next, add the paste and cook in medium flame for about two to three minutes. Add the prawns and mix well. Add the rest of the ghee and roast on low flame till the masala gets coated to the prawns and the ghee separates. Serve warm with ghee rice, rice roti or with steamed rice.