Prawn thokku

Recipe adapted from here

Prawns- 250-300 gms

Onion- 1/2 cup, roughly chopped (use shallots for enhanced taste)
Garlic- 4 pods, peeled and roughly chopped
Green chillies- 2, chopped (add more for more heat)
Ginger- 1 1/2 inch piece, peeled and roughly chopped
Tomato- 1 big, roughly sliced
Black peppercorns- 1 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut- 1 1/2 tbsp
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cloves- 4
Curry leaves- 2 to 3 sprigs (the more the better)
Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
Kashmiri chilly powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Water- 1/4 cup
Oil- 4 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Coconut oil- 1 tsp (optional)
Lemon/ lime juice- approx. 1 tsp
Coriander leaves- to garnish 

Place a pan over low-medium heat and add around 1 tbsp of oil.

Once hot, throw in the onion, garlic, green chillies and ginger and sauté till they turn golden brown, but not crisp brown. Keep stirring in between to avoid the onions getting burnt, which would affect the overall taste of the thokku.

Add the chopped tomato and continue cooking till they turn soft.

In goes the peppercorns, fennel seeds and grated coconut. Stirring continuously, cook the mix for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the contents into a bowl and leave aside to cool sufficiently.

Once cool, use a blender/ grinder to make a smooth paste. Try and avoid adding water, but if necessary a tsp or so wont do any harm.

Place the same frying pan back on medium heat and add the remaining oil.

Once hot, throw in the cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves. Stir for a couple of seconds till you get than nice aroma of spices.

At this stage tip in the ground ingredients and cook for a few minutes. It might splutter a bit in the beginning, so be careful.

Add the coriander, chilly, turmeric powders and salt, mix it all into the ground paste and cook, stirring on and off till the oil starts to surface.

This step is important and it needs to be done on medium heat. The masala must turn a deep red.

Throw in the prawns and mix well, so its all coated in the masala.

Pour the 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer till the prawns are cooked and the water has all been absorbed. 

At this stage, you can drizzle the coconut oil (if using) and roast the prawns for a couple more minutes, or till the masala becomes dark and completely dry. 

Stir in the coriander leaves, and just before serving squeeze some lemon juice over it and serve with some chilled beer or hot rice.

Notes: Add more green chillies to make this dish really spicy. Honestly, its much tastier with a bit of heat.

Make sure you dont overcook the prawns. 

Prawn thokku/ roast- A guest post for The Captain's Kitchenette; and the Andy Bates American Street Feasts Show

There are so many wonderful food blogs out there, that I find it difficult to browse through all the yummy recipes they post. I still manage to run through a few once in a while, and eventually end up with tonnes of recipes bookmarked. Serah's beautiful blog, The Captains Kitchenette, certainly falls into this category and its her simple, easy-to-follow recipes that makes me a fan. I landed up on her blog after her sister (we were hostel mates in Chennai) posted a link to a recipe on FB. I was immediately hooked. We then exchanged a couple of emails, became friends on FB and the rest is history. She's now more of a friend than a random food blogger and I hope some day I get to meet her and her lovely family she cooks for. I also have to appreciate her for taking time to cook, photograph and blog in spite of having a toddler to tend to. Like I was telling her the other day, I complain if I have to continuously cook for a week ;)

Since Serah was taking some time off to tend to other commitments, she asked me if I could do a guest post for her blog and I truly obliged. She gave me full leverage on what I could whip up and since she said she preferred sea food, I thought I'd make this prawn thokku for her. I came across the recipe on one of my recipe search sessions on the internet and immediately wrote it down (yes believe it or not, I actually wrote it down). Completely forgot to bookmark the page and so apologies to the person who originally posted it. I did try searching for it again, but since this was written down ages back, I really had no luck.

Thokku, loosely translated means paste, and I presume this is more a TN preparation as opposed to the mallu (Kerala) way of making prawn roast. The use of fennel seeds make this dish quite unique, and of course something with grated coconut can never go wrong. This is a favourite prawn recipe of ours and has made its appearance on quite a few occasions. Although it goes well with some warm rice, dal and pappad, my favourite way to have it is as a starter with some chilled beer. just thread it onto small skewers, sprinkle the masala on top, and serve. It's a crowd pleaser, trust me!

So without wasting more time, head on over to Serah's kitchenette for the recipe and while you are there dont forget to take a peek around and drool. I have bookmarked a whole lot of recipes from her blog and seriously, dont forget to check out the authentic Coorgi recipes she's put up. Absolutely droolworthy!

Thanks a bunch for having me over Serah :)

On another note, here's something street food lovers might be interested in. Food Network is hosting a brand new series documenting the vibrant street food scene in the US called American Street Feasts and is hosted by the charming Andy Bates (yes, the blue-eyed Pie-Man with a delicious Brit accent). I have caught bits and pieces of his show here and is quite an eye-opener, especially because street food is seriously catching on and we have just started exploring some of the places.

The show basically follows Andy on a street food odyssey across the US, visiting the most vibrant food destinations and discovering the stories behind the recipes. He uses them as inspiration to create his own recipes, some of them being the Braised pork belly and Waldorf salad in a pretzel wrap and the Crawfish ball and Jambalaya. The show is aired every weekday at 12.30pm and 6.30 pm on Food Network and if you haven't been able to catch the previous episodes, visit Andy's collection page and give it a go. You can also use the interactive 'Street Food Map' to find out where to get the best street food in UK and while you are at it, go on and submit your suggestions on what to feature and so on. For the fans out there, Andy Bates' new cookbook is out in the market, so go on and grab you copy from any of the leading book stores or Amazon.

With thanks to Food Network for a copy of the cookbook