More or Less, Spicy Prawn Fry Masala

#2 Rice side dish recipe

As the name suggests, this dish can be just spicy or can be made too spicy.

Masala is nothing but a spice mix when you can’t name everything, every spice at one short; we would just call it as MASALA.

In General, there is a belief that Indians love to eat spicy food. It’s a myth. Agree that Indian dishes involve varieties of spices, but that does not mean the dish will turn out to be spicy.

I believe people hailing from Myanmar, Japan, and Indonesia have a high tolerance for the spicy level, and they prefer chilies in their dishes. One of my Myanmar national friends mentioned that her 5-year-old daughter could eat the red chili (Red Savina Habanero Pepper) as it is, something I wouldn’t dare.

I guess these spices were traditionally introduced in Indian dishes by our ancestors for a few reasons I could think of, such as its healing power, its antiseptic effects, to bring some flavors and to dissolve the raw taste.

One thing I am still not so sure why should we mix so many spices to make some dishes, especially when we cook meat and fish. I am just following the steps mentioned. However, I do alter the spices based on what I think, Such that changed spices may bring out some hidden flavor.

I want to explore the hidden flavors; Neha Cougnery has provided an excellent insight into Indian Spices, not all of them but basic ones.

In this recipe, I used tiger prawns, any prawns are good, and some prefer to cook with its shells. Tiger prawns are easy to clean and typically cut them its 3–4 pieces as we don’t like its shells and oversized pieces.

I did add Garcinia Cambogia, aka fish tamarind, in this recipe to avoid the fishy smell as well as to bring some sour flavor.

Ingredients

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes, Cooking Time: 25 Minutes

To Marinate Prawn

200 grams Fresh and cleaned prawns

1 Tablespoon Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon crushed fennels

1 Garcinia Cambogia cut into 4 pieces (Fish tamarind, It’s a souring agent, You may use tamarind if Garcinia Cambogia is not available)

1 Tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon salt

To make Masala

Handful shallots thinly sliced

1 big Onion thinly sliced ( same size as shallots)

1/2 ripped tomato chopped

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

2–3 green chilies slited

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon coriander powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper powder

few curry leaves

salt to adjust taste

2–3 tablespoon Cooking oil

Preparation

1. Marinate prawns and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, you may prepare all the ingredients mentioned to make the Masala.
3. Fry marinated prawn together with Garcinia Cambogia (tamarind) with a little oil for around 3–5 minutes, not more than that as we do not want the pieces to be too hard.
4. Set aside the fried prawns in the same bowl used for marination. It’s essential as we do not want to lose the flavor by using kitchen paper or a towel.
5. On the same pan, add a little more oil, then saute onion, shallots, ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, and green chilies with salt if needed.
6. When the onions turned translucent, add all the spice powders, chili, turmeric, coriander, and pepper. Fry for around 1 minute to kill the raw taste.
7. Add tomatoes, let it cook until it becomes soft and mushy by closing the lid. Don’t worry about sticking the spices into the bottom of the pan, as it generates water when cooking the tomatoes and cooks on low-medium flame not to burn it.
8. Add fried prawn with Garcinia Cambogia, combine it well. Cook the dish by closing the lid for around 3–5 minutes.
9. Open the lid and let it cook for another 2–3 minutes.
10. Serve with rice.