Prawn Masala Fry and Prawn Rice ...... cooking a meal under thirty minutes

Yesterday I made a post on my instagram feed on one of my current knitting projects, as I was getting a lot of messages to share my works in progress. 
And I wrote about how this year has been for all of us. 
And could not help contemplating on it the whole day. 

I realised what I had written was just the tip of the iceberg. Given insta's limited word allowance per post, I am not always satisfied with writing there. Which is why I have almost stopped writing a good post. The hurried feel does not suit me. 

I like to write in a way that the reader gets the essence and the feel of not only the photo but also the setting , the prelude as well as the interlude and conclusion. 

So while I did mention how we all found out some hobby to hold on to for comfort in this difficult year, I felt a there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. 
Like how we learnt to manage our days and to divide time among work and family and chores in a more balanced way.

How we learnt the real meaning of division of labour. 

And how to make the division of chores interesting .... focussing not only on the jobs getting done but also on  how to give the other person a break too. 

And the most important thing we learnt was how to manage the kitchen in the shortest possible time, how to cook up a nutritious meal for the family without getting exhausted and above all, how to come up with quick cooking ideas with the most basics of ingredients. 
And at the same time ensure that it is tasty to please every palate sitting at the dining table. 

No mean feat I must say. 

For me, it has been a long, difficult year when it comes to eating restaurant kind of food. 

Not that we used to eat out regularly. But I had a surgery last year towards the fag end of August and was on monitored food for almost 6 months. And just as we started to eat out a little .... we must have eaten out for exactly three times .... lockdown happened. 

And now it has been 8 months that I have been craving for some good Chinese food. Or a good Vada Pao. And Phuchka too. 

I have made every one of these at home too. And even more like baking breads, pavs, focaccia , cakes .... and so on. But it requires big work. Lots of effort. And at the end I feel so exhausted that actually enjoying the food becomes an effort too. 

So I have turned to cooking some spicy and masaledar food for myself recently. 

Any change to the tastebuds is welcome now. 

Recently, my fishmonger got me some very fresh and good sized prawns. 

They were so fresh that I wanted to keep the sweet taste with just a smattering of spices. 

And so made this beautiful fry. The coating was of spices and the inside held the juicy, sweet meat that was so good when bitten into. 

For the Masala Prwan Fry : 
 
Need : 

Prawns - 6 to 8 pieces, cleaned and deveined 

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp 
Jeera powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Rice flour - 2 tbsp 

Salt - to taste 
Oil - to stir fry 

How to : 

Marinate the prawns with the rest of the ingredients except for the oil. 

Keep aside for 15 minutes. 

Heat oil. 

Let in the prawns one by one and fry till done. 

Serve immediately. 

For  the Prawn Rice : 

Need : 

Leftover Rice 
Whole garam masalas 
Chopped green chillies 
Salt to taste 

How to : 

In the same oil that the prawns have been fried, add the garam masalas
and the green chillies. 

Let in the rice and toss well. 

Add salt and adjust the rest of the seasonings. 

Remove and serve hot. 

Enjoy!! 


Here is my link to the post on Instagram where the write up is even better. 
I am going crazy trying to keep track and coordinate my writings at both places. 
Hope to sort out the time management soon so that I can write the same post and thoughts in both places as well as share the links too. 

Masala Pomfret - two different recipes, one post

It has been a whole month now since I made a post last.
 One fact is I was away, visiting home. One week was spent on preparation for the travel, read shopping, planning and packing ... yes, I am an organiser and need to be packed and ready at least two days before the actual journey date. Else I get all flustered and the heebie  jeebies.
The other fact is, ever since I have returned, I cannot muster up enough energy or the enthusiasm to actually sit down and type something ... anything ... that can be passed off as a decent post.
I have been cooking ... yes.
My camera is full of pictures, waiting to be uploaded and edited.
But I am stuck. With a god knows what block.
All I do now is keep calling up home ... Bapi was not well when I left ... and hang on to the sounds of familiar voices and noises from home. 

Or spend unending time on FB ... which of course results in wonderful culinary experiences.
Every time I give a shout out, expert friends jump in with helpful tips and recipes. Like this particular time, when I had brought home two good sized pomfrets.

I had seen them beautifully scored in one of Kalyan's posts and wanted to try my hand at that. While Kalyan's fish was expertly scored att he fish market, I think I did a pretty good job of doing so by myself.
I did end up with a cut finger but the way the fish looked, especially after cooking ,was worth all.

I asked for a suggestion as to what masala should I use to cook it with. I had already marinated it with some ginger paste, garlic paste and lots of lemon juice.
Kalyan suggested plain jeera and red chilli powder . This sounded perfect as I did not want too much of masalas or a gravy.
I have had tandoori pomfret earlier and have always loved the pomfret dryish and crispy fried.

Then Rhea of Euphorhea suggested that a malvani or a koli masala would be great too.
Now I was really tempted to try that too ... but unfortunately did not have any malvani masala. But I did have the Goda masala in my kitchen.
So it was decided .... one fish will have the jeera+chilli coating and the other will have the Goda masala and a dash of agal.
The discussion is here.


The fish is pan fried in minimum oil in both recipes. And I have the rice flour to give the coating an extra crispiness.  Both turned out to be the most wonderful pomfret recipes I have ever tried!
And I have already made them twice after this.

And these are phone photographs .... remember you guys had encouraged me saying it is the recipe that matters ... so there. :-) 

Need :

Pomfret fish - 2, cleaned and scored as shown
Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 6 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Goda masala - 2 tbsp
Roasted jeera powder - 1 tbsp
Agal / Kokum juice - 2 tbsp
( If you don;t have Agal, then you can use a teaspoonful of tamarind pulp too )
Oil - 2 tbsp, for two fishes
Rice flour - 4 tbsp 

How to :

Marinate both fishes with a spoonful of ginger + garlic paste, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, the rice flour  and a sprinkle of salt, each.


Add the roasted jeera powder + red chilli powder + r2 tbsp of rice flour to one fish.
Add the Goda masala + the Agal + 2 tbsp rice flour to the other fish.

Keep aside for at least 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a flat pan.

Add one fish and cover. Cook till one side is brownish and crisp.
Flip and cook the other side too.

The pomfret is a very delicate fish and cooks very fast. Make sure you do not over cook it.

Remove and serve hot.

I had some marinade left, so tossed some onion rings in it and stir fried them in the same pan with the minimum residual oil.
Loved the sizzle and the slightly charred rings.
Were perfect with the fish.

The photograph on top is the one with the Goda masala marinade.

The one below is the one with the jeera powder.

Both tasted awesome! Super awesome!
I have made these for guests too.
You can use the tandoori masala and make Tandoori Pomfret in exactly this same way. Just add a little sour curd and a pinch of besan to the marinade.

Make sure to serve hot.
Enjoy!!

I have a few other recipes that have resulted from discussing food with my friends on FB.
One is a wonderfully simple yet flavourful dish made from prawns / shrimps.
Coming up soon.

Stay tuned.