Spicy grilled prawns – Flavours from the coast!
Keralas spicy grilled prawns is an excellent dish made with prawns cooked in a tangy freshly ground Kerala masala. Simple and lip-smacking!
When I think about Kochi my home town in kerala, India, the first image that conjures up in the mind is that of the Chinese fishing nets. These nets are over 500 years old and were first introduced by Chinese emperor Zheng He. Located at Fort Kochi, these cantilevered fishing accessories have over the years become a popular tourist attraction. Just like any other tourist, I was most excited about seeing this unique process of fishing with these Chinese fishing nets.
Listed below are a few facts about the Chinese fishing nets.
*These fishing nets are permanently fixed on-shore installations that are set up on bamboo and teak poles and work on the principle of balance
- They droop towards the water like over-sized hammocks and are counterbalanced by stones
- The fishermen open the nets at a particular time keeping in mind the state of the tides
- A team of six or more fishermen operates each installation at a time. Two people walk on the beam so that the net descends into the water while one person opens the net and leaves it in the water for about four to five minutes.
- The remaining three pull the ropes thereafter so that the net comes back up and they can finally see how much fish they have managed to catch
- Once they are done fishing, they carefully tie the net to the pole and head out to sell their fresh catch of the day.
It was amazing to see these fishermen complete their task so effortlessly. They not only enjoyed the entire process but also made it super fun for people who were watching them. One of their best catch is the prawns, were I would like to share keralas spicy grilled prawns.
Keralas spicy grilled prawns- Instructions to prepare.
preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4 as a starter
For the masala:
- Hot red chillies – 2 nos
- Cloves garlic – 2 nos
- A thumb-sized lump of fresh ginger, peeled
- Black peppercorns, coarsely ground – 6 nos
- cumin seed – 2 teaspoons
- ground turmeric – ½ teaspoon
- coriander seeds, crushed – 1 teaspoon
- creamed coconut – 50 gms
- water or natural yoghurt to mix
- 500g large, juicy prawns (shelled)
- To serve – a little chopped coriander leaves and some wedges of lime
Method to prepare keralas spicy grilled prawns.
- Slice the chillies in half, scraping out the seeds if you want a milder spice mixture.
- Put the chillies into a blender or food processor with the garlic, the ginger thinly sliced, the peppercorns, cumin seed, turmeric, coriander seed and creamed coconut.
- Blitz to a thick mush, adding a little water or yoghurt until you have a loose paste.
- Scrape into a medium sized bowl.
- Rinse and dry the prawns then toss them in the masala paste and set aside for an hour or so.
- During this time the prawns will take up some of the flavours from the masala.
- Get an overhead grill hot.
- Thread the prawns, three or four at a time, onto skewers, a bit messy this, but it makes the prawns much easier to turn.
- Cook them under the grill (or on a griddle) for a couple of minutes until they are sizzling and fully opaque.
- Serve keralas spicy grilled prawns, with a little chopped coriander leaves and lime juice.
More seafood recipes:
- Konju fry
- Spicy grilled prawns
- Smoked salmon stuffed curd rice
- Kallu shappu fish curry recipe
- Kerala spiced grilled prawns
- Pan fried sardines
- Tandoori salmon recipe
- Prawn salad Indian style
- Kallumakkaya fry recipe
- Sea bass fish Indian recipes
- Nadan fish curry Kerala style
- How to make crab masala
- Indian seafood spaghetti
Spicy grilled prawns
Ingredients
Ingredients to prepare Keralas spicy grilled prawns
- 500 gms prawns
- 1/4 cup water or natural yoghurt to mix
- 2 red chillies chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger chopped
- 6 black peppercorns coarsely grounded
- 2 tsp cumin seeds coarsely grounded
- 1 tsp coriander seeds coarsely grounded
- 50 gms coconut cream
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
- 1 lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
Method to prepare keralas spicy grilled prawns.
- Slice the chillies in half, scraping out the seeds if you want a milder spice mixture.
- Put the chillies into a blender or food processor with the garlic, the ginger thinly sliced, the peppercorns, cumin seed, turmeric, coriander seed and creamed coconut. Blitz to a thick mush, adding a little water or yoghurt until you have a loose paste. Scrape into a medium sized bowl.
- Rinse and dry the prawns then toss them in the masala paste and set aside for an hour or so. During this time the prawns will take up some of the flavours from the masala.
- Get an overhead grill hot. Thread the prawns, three or four at a time, onto skewers, a bit messy this, but it makes the prawns much easier to turn.
- Cook them under the grill (or on a griddle) for a couple of minutes until they are sizzling and fully opaque.
- Serve keralas spicy grilled prawns, with a little chopped coriander leaves and lime juice.
Great post. I like the story and the prawns look very tasty.
Thank you Sophie for your valuable comment.
Great post Sumith?
Thank you sumit.
That looks really, really good! Yum
Thanks you. Myra
Wow!!!!! I want!! ?
Thanks for the compliment, Payeljit
Very nice, looks delicious my friend!
Thank you Ian:)
This is so loveley
Thank you food and olives!!
Wow lovely write up and I am drooling over these fat juicy prawns, so tempting.
Thank you Soma.