Rice Paper Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

These rice paper spring rolls are also called as Vietnamese spring rolls. These taste amazing with the peanut sauce. I make these spring rolls all the time as my family loves them. Usually we can add any filling of our choice. These spring rolls are a refreshing change from the regular fried ones. They are a perfect appetizer for any occasion and will be a hit among family and friend. These are so delicious, easy to make and healthy.

These spring rolls are so easy to make that you just have to gather all the ingredients and there is no need of cooking except the shrimp that you can cook long before making these rolls. We can fry these spring rolls in oil but it wont be healthy.

I highly recommend to consume these spring rolls within several hours of making them. If they are refrigerated they will become hard and difficult to chew. Try this recipe and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Rice Paper- 12 numbers
2. Shrimp- 20-25
3. Pickled Carrots - 1 Cup
4. Lettuce Leaves- 2 Cups
5. Rice Noodles- 2 ounces
6. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
7. Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
8. salt- as required
9. Oil- 1 tbsp

Method for marinated shrimp:

• Mix the shrimp along with salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and fry in the 1 tbsp of oil till done. Remove on a kitchen towel and keep it aside.

1. Meanwhile boil water and cook the rice noodles till al dente. Drain, rinse them under cool water and drain again.
2. Heat water in a pan and when it becomes warm switch off the flame and place the rice paper in the warm water and let it rest for 20 sec. Wait till the rice paper is pliable but not super floppy. Carefully lay it flat on a towel.
3. Place a few pieces of sliced carrots, lettuce, rice noodles one on top of the other and fold it tightly, now line the shrimp about 1 1/2 inches below the toip edge of the rice paper. By leaving a gap between the shrimp and the vegetables, the shrimp will look vibrant in the final roll. 
4. Grab the lower edge of the rice paper with thumb and pointer finger, lift and roll up the spring roll. Use the other fingers to hold the filling. Fold the left and right edge and finish the rolling. It now looks like a rolled envelope.
5. Repeat the same with the remaining.

Peanut sauce

1. Peanut Butter- 1/2 Cup
2. Soy sauce- 2 tbsp
3. Vinegar- 2 tbsp
4. Sesame oil- 1 tbsp
5. Garlic- 2 tbsp
6. Water- as needed

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except water in a small bowl till combined and if the dip is too thick add 1 tbsp of water. The sauce should be creamy and dip-able.
• Enjoy the spring rolls with peanut sauce.

Chef Pillai's Coconut Milk Prawns Fry (Venad Paal Konch)

Last week I was  going through my instagram feeds and I stumbled upon Chef Pillai's Prawns fry recipe. This is also called as "Venad Paal Knoch". I love all his recipes and the way he explains his recipes are so amazing and crisp and clear. As we all love prawns in our house, I thought of trying this dish as soon as he posted it. The next day I tried and it was a huge hit in my house.

I know that it’s been a month since I posted a recipe, am so sorry. I am becoming very lazy or it might be because of my busy schedule but I will make sure that I will try to post once in a week. But Please try this dish as it is a guaranteed delicious which any seafood lover will love. 

This is a perfect dish/ appetizer for gatherings. The prawns that is fried in coconut milk is an absolutely dish to try for. I never fried prawns in coconut milk, but I know that when coconut milk is reduced it tastes yumm.. 

Today I am here with the recipe which will be a super hit among friends and family. The ingredients for this recipe is easily available in your pantry. Any variety of prawns can be used for this recipe. This dish is filled with flavors with basic spices. Here in US we always get frozen prawns but once in a while we get the best fresh prawns and this tastes amazing with fresh prawns. Hope you will try and please let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Prawns- 15- 20 numbers
2. Red Chili Flakes- 2 tbsp
3. Pepper Powder- 1/2 tbsp
4. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
5. Salt- 1 tbsp
6. Crushed Garlic- 8-10 cloves
7. Crushed Ginger- 1 "
8. Green Chillies- 3 numbers
9. Coconut Milk- 1/2 Cup

Method:

1. Devein and clean the prawns and marinate with salt, pepper, red chili flakes and turmeric powder.
2. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of oil and spread the marinated prawns and let it cook on both the sides for about 5 minutes. 
3. Pour the coconut milk little by little till it gets over and spread the  crushed garlic, ginger and green chillies.
4. Stir well till everything gets well mixed and the mixture becomes dry. Serve this prawns fry along with hot steaming rice.

Prawns Idli

As Ramadan month is going on, some days I will get some ideas of trying variety dishes for us to eat during breaking fast. In US as the sunset is at 8 pm, we eat  dinner as soon as we break the fast (after prayer). We prefer to eat some breakfast item, rather than rice during that time as by drinking a cup of water itself, we will be full.

As my daughter who is fasting along with us, I have to think of different ideas for her to eat. As she is a big prawn lover, I decide to try making idli filled with prawns. When I searched in google, there are not many blogs with this dish, so I decided to give it a try and prepared the prawns roast like how I usually make and added a tbsp of the roast to the idli batter in each mold. This was a super hit at my place and so a new dish is formed. As prawns take less than 3 minutes to cook, it is really easy to make. Try this out and please let me know how it turned. For the idli batter recipe, follow my dosa post. The preparation for the idli and dosa batter are same only the consistency varies.

Ingredients:

• Idli Batter

Prawns Roast:

1. Prawns- 2 cups
2. Onions (Chopped)- 1 no
3. Tomatoes (chopped)- 1 no
4. Chopped Green Chillies- 2 nos
5. Ginger- garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
6. Red Chili Powder- 1/2 tbsp
7. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
8. Tamarind Extract- 1 tbsp
9. Oil- 1tbsp
10. Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
11. Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
12. Salt- as required

Method for Prawns Roast:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, when the splutter, add the chopped onions, stir well.
2. When they turn translucent add the ginger- garlic paste,  chopped tomatoes, stir well. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix for a minute. Add the chopped prawns along with tamarind extract. Mix well and close with a lid and let it cook for 2- 3 minutes.
3. Switch off the flame.

Method for Prawns Idli:

• Oil the idli plates and pour a ladle full of idli batter, top with a tbsp of the prawns roast and repeat till done on all the idli molds.
• Steam the idlis till done and enjoy with sambar or chutney.

Mummy's Kerala Prawns Pickle

Making a finger licking, mouth watering pickle is an art. Over the years, I think I have excelled in this. Before I used store bought pickle masala for making the pickles. This is my mother-in-law's recipe which she used to make often when we were in India. Now when she was here, we were lucky to get small shrimp from Costco. This pickle tastes better with small shrimp. She made this and stored in an airtight glass jar. I hid it from my husband and daughter and give them once in a while or else they would finish off within a day. This tastes amazingly delicious along with hot steaming rice. This will be loved by all the seafood lovers.

Pickling is a process of preserving food. Indian pickles can be made with almost every vegetable and also with fish, chicken, prawns and so on. I will make sure that one rack in my refrigerator is always filled with different varieties of pickle bottles. If you want more pickle recipes then you can check here.

In this, the prawns are marinated with the required amount of spices and fried in oil till done. Prepare the pickle by adding garlic, ginger and all the spices and mix along with fried prawns. The flavors of the spices and the slight tanginess from kokum are well incorporated in the pickle and a finger-licking deliciousness will be ready which can be enjoyed anytime with anything.

Ingredients:
Marination:

1. Shrimp- 2 lbs
2. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tbsp
3. Salt- as required
4. Turmeric Powder- 2 Tsp
5. Sesame Oil- 1/4 Cup

For the pickle:

1. Ginger (grated)- 2 tbsp
2. Garlic Cloves- 10- 15nos
3. Red Chilies- 5 nos
4. Salt- as required
5. Mustard Seeds- 1 tbsp
6. Curry Leaves- few
7. Red Chili Powder- 1 tbsp
8. Fenugreek powder- 1/2 Tsp
9. Turmeric Powder- 1 Tsp
10. Kokum- 2- 3 pieces (optional)

Method:

1. Mix everything for marination except oil, keep this aside for about 3- 4 hours or overnight, so that everything will get blended well.
2. Heat oil in a pan,  fry the marinated prawns till the water gets evaporated this will take about 10- 15 minutes. Once the prawns are fried well, keep them aside.
3. Meanwhile, in the same oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add the grated ginger, garlic cloves, red chilies and curry leaves. When the raw smell disappears, lower the flame, add the red chili powder, turmeric powder and fenugreek powder. 
4. Stir for a minute, add the kokum along with marinated prawns, Mix well and switch off the flame.
5. Tasty and yummy prawn pickle is ready to store in airtight jars and enjoy.

P.S: Instead of kokum you can also add 2 tbsp of vinegar.

Chemmeen Puttu/ Steamed rice Cakes layered with Prawns Masala

It’s time for MFB challenge. This time it is “Ramadan Memories”. As the Ramadan fasting is going on, we will spend most of our time in prayers and by evening, we will be cooking a different variety of dishes.

A lot of memories are associated with iftar. Mom used to prepare mouth watering dishes. As a kid, even though I was not fasting, I used to sit with her and break the fast when it is time. But as I grew up, during fasting, we all, me, my parents and my brothers used to sit together for iftar and enjoyed the food she made. We used to have so much fun. Feeling very nostalgic. Missing those golden days.

Mom used to make lots of fried food and mostly she used to make Kerala dishes a lot. Whatever she makes, they taste heavenly.

Among that, I like to eat “erachi puttu”. As I like chicken a lot, she prepares the puttu using minced chicken. She makes a dry masala using minced chicken and then layers the masala in the rice flour then steamed in a cylinder shaped puttu maker. This can be served as a breakfast item also.

This time for the MFB challenge, I thought of making my all time favorite, my mom’s erachi puttu. But as I didn’t have chicken, I used prawns which are equally delicious.

In this, I made the prawns masala and rice crumbs, then layered them together and steamed to perfection. They turned out amazing. Usually, I will make normal puttu with grated coconut and some side dish to go with it for breakfast. But this prawns puttu doesn’t require any side dish as it already has the moisture of the gravy layered. Hope you all might like this.

Ingredients:

1. Rice Flour- 2 Cups
2. Water- as required
3. Salt- as required

For the Masala

1. Prawns- 250 gms
2. Onions (chopped)- 2 nos
3. Tomatoes (chopped)- 1 no
4. Green chilies ( slit)- 3 nos
5. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
6. Curry Leaves- few
7. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
8. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
9. Garam Masala- 1 tsp
10. Tamarind Pulp- 1 tbsp
11. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Mix the rice flour along with salt in a bowl. Sprinkle water little by little to form small crumbs till it resembles a sand texture. When held together tightly, it should form a ball and then when we crumble, it will be powdered. Keep it covered till the masala gets ready.
2. Wash the prawns well and keep this aside.
3. Heat a pan add the chopped onions and salt, when they turn translucent, add the green chilies and curry leaves.
4. When they turn light brown in color, add the ginger and garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell disappears.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, mix till they turn mushy. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder, and garam masala powder.
6. On a low flame drop the cleaned prawns, add a little water. Mix and close it with a lid.
7. When they start boiling add the tamarind pulp. Saute for a couple of minutes, when they turn little dry, switch off the flame.
8. To make the puttu, take the puttu maker, add 2 tbsp of the rice crumbs, over this spread the prawns gravy and fill the puttu maker with more rice crumbs and steam this for about 10 minutes.
9. Make puttu using the remaining prawns gravy and the rice crumbs.
10. Enjoy hot steaming puttu.

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Prawns Sukka/ Prawns dry masala with Coconut

Prawns Sukka is a popular coastal seafood delicacy from Mangalore. I made Chicken sukka before, which is more similar to this dish. But this prawn sukka is a very simple and a less time-consuming dish.

I usually try to prepare a different variety of dishes using prawns and so one day I tried this, which is a very delicious and I am sure that those who love prawns will sure like this.

Sukka means a dry preparation, which will be a perfect side dish for rice. In this, the prawns are well incorporated with the spices and the dryness is achieved by adding the grated coconut. The tanginess of the lemon juice will enhance the flavors of the dish.

Ingredients:

1. Prawns- 500 gms
2. Onions( chopped)- 3nos
3. Tomatoes(chopped)- 2 nos
4. Ginger and Garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
5. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tbsp
6. Coriander Powder- 1 tsp
7. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
8. Garam Masala- ½ tbsp
9. Lemon Juice- 2 tbsp
10. Grated Coconut- ¼ Cups
11. Salt- as required
12. Curry Leaves- few
13. Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
14. Oil- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok, splutter mustard seeds, add chopped onions. When they turn translucent add ginger and garlic paste.
2. Stir well, add the chopped tomatoes. When they turn mushy add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder.
3. Mix till all blends together. Add the washed and drained prawns. Add salt and stir well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the grated coconut and garam masala powder, mix and adjust the salt add curry leaves and at last sprinkle some lemon juice. Switch off the flame. Serve along with steaming hot rice.

Goan Prawns Curry with Coconut Milk

I am sure that whoever loves seafood will definitely love prawns and you all might know from my previous posts that I am a big fan of prawns. I love to eat prawns in any form. Now my daughter has become a big prawns lover. She is very crazy about prawns. For her I will be trying different varieties of prawn dishes and this is one such which has become one of our favorite comfort meal.

From the regular prawn curry this is something different which will be loved by all and will be a hit among guests.

Instead of adding kokum we can also use tamarind paste or raw mango pieces that are sour. But we Keralites love any seafood dish using kokum, as it contains souring unique smoked flavour that goes along with any seafood dish.

Once I have prepared a Goan fish dish using reshad masala. I loved it and so as I got this recipe, I gave a try. In this the spices  are well blended with the coconut milk makes an excellent combination with prawns. Just try this out and let me know...

Adapted from Flavors of Mumbai:

Ingredients:

1. Onion- ½ no (chopped)
2. Prawns- 250 gms (deveined and cleaned)
3. Oil- 2 tbsp
4. Kokum/ Tamarind paste- 2 tbsp
5. Coconut Milk- 1 Cup
6. Curry Leaves- few
7. Salt- as required

For Paste:

1. Dried Kashmiri Red Chillies- 6- 7nos
2. Coriander Seeds- 1 tbsp
3. Garlic Cloves- 5 nos
4. Ginger- 1” Piece
5. Black Peppers- 2 tbsp
6. Grated Coconut- ¼ Cup
7. Onion- ½ no
8. Water- required to grind

Method:

1. Wash, drain and keep the prawns aside till the gravy is prepared.
2. Meanwhile grind all the ingredients to make a paste and keep this aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions, curry leaves and when they turn translucent add the ground paste, kokum, slitted green chillies and little salt.
4. Mix and then add the drained prawns, cook for 3- 4 min. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 2 min and switch off the flame.
5. Do not boil the curry after adding the coconut milk or else it will curdle.
6. Serve this amazing prawns curry along with hot steaming rice.