Three delicious prawn recipes from their families to yours (Picture: Getty)
Whether you’re preparing a starter, main course or something to share, these prawn recipes – passed down through the generations – have it covered.
Ranji Thangiah, also known as Tooting Mama, is a food blogger and photographer who shares the recipes her parents bought over from Sri Lanka.
‘Being a Sri Lankan I love seafood,’ she says. ‘This prawn recipe is so quick to make, and it’s incredibly easy.
‘The thing about any devilled dish is getting the balance right between the heat, the sweetness and the sourness. There’s a sweet spot that makes this recipe sing – once you hit that note, you’re going to be addicted.
‘I’ve tried a number of variations of this recipe, to get my devilled prawns the way my dad would make them. And, I think I may have cracked it.
‘For the best results, use fresh prawns. And if you can try and find either king prawns or tiger prawns. I’ll leave it to you to decide if you want heads and shells on or off – I guess it just depends on how messy you want to get.’
Ranji Thangiah shares a recipe her parents bought over from Sri Lanka (Ranji Thangiah)
Sri Lankan devilled prawns (Picture: Tooting Mama / Ranji Thangiah)
Sri Lankan devilled prawns (serves four)
Ingredients:
2 tbs coconut oil / vegetable oil
1 large red onion (sliced into half moons)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled and finely chopped)
2 cm of ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
1 red chili, cut lengthways (deseeded if you want to reduce the heat)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
5 cherry tomatoes
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1 tbs of apple cider vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs Worcester sauce
1 tsp sugar
500g of prawns, ideally fresh with heads and legs taken off
salt
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan
2. Add the onions and start to cook them, when they soften add the garlic, ginger and chili.
3. Now add the dry spices with the tomatoes and quickly stir these into the onions allow the onions to cook down well but they should not burn. If you think the ingredients are looking like they’re drying out, add a splash of water.
4. In quick succession add the vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sugar, followed by the prawns
5. Stir fry the prawns until they are cooked, and the onions are looking caramelised. Any liquid should be cooked down until a sticky sauce coats the prawns, add a little salt to lift the flavour.
6. Serve hot – with rice, or simply as an appetiser.
This is perfect with a bottle of Sri Lankan Lion Beer
Vittoria Veltri loves Spaghetti with prawns because it was a recipe prepared by her grandmother (Picture: Supplied)
Tiger prawn spaghetti (Picture: Vittoria Veltri)
Vittoria Veltri is an Italian chef living in south-west London. She owns Pasta’n Play, organising pasta-making courses and cooking workshops for kids and adults.
‘I love spaghetti with prawns as it was the recipe my grandma would prepare for me on a Friday evening,’ she says. ‘Every Friday a little van would arrive in our mountain town from the seaside to bring fresh fish. I make tiger prawn spaghetti following the recipe of my Calabrian grandmother.’
Note: you’ll need to make the stock ahead of time – it takes about 30 minutes…
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Tiger prawn spaghetti (serves four)
Ingredients
380g spaghetti
16 tiger prawns
15 cherry tomatoes (halved)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper
olive oil
one onion, peeled and cut in half
a carrot, peeled
one large tomato
a bunch of parsley
half a glass of dry white wine
Method
To make the stock:
1. Remove the heads from the prawns, peel and de-vein, reserving heads and shells for stock. Set prawns to one side.
2. For the stock: In a saucepan, sauté the prawn shells and heads in oil with onion, the large tomato, carrot, garlic and parsley stalks for 5min. Add 300ml water, bring to boil then let simmer for 30min.
To make the sauce:
3. Sauté the cherry tomatoes in olive oil and garlic for 10 minutes, then add 100ml of your stock liquid. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Add 300ml water, bring to boil then let simmer for 30min.
4. Put your spaghetti on to boil, following the package instructions.
5. While the pasta cooks, remove the cherry tomato sauce from the pan and set to one side while you fry garlic in the pan with olive oil.
6. Add the prawns and sauté for 2 minutes. Pour in half a glass of white wine. Cook for 5 minutes more. Turning off the heat, mix the tomato sauce with the prawns. Season with parsley, salt and pepper.
7. Drain the cooked pasta, add to the sauce, along with 1tbsp of the stock and sauté for a further 2 minutes.
8. Enjoy!
Reshmi Bennett’s recipe for Bengali prawn curry is usually made for special occasions in India (Credits: HENRY HARRISON)
Bengali Prawn Malai Curry (Picture: Reshmi Bennett)
Reshmi Bennett runs London cake heaven Anges de Sucre, specialising in the French recipes she learnt in Michelin-starred kitchens, but at home she makes the dishes that have been passed down in her family for generations.
‘I trained in classic French cuisine in Paris, but my heritage is Indian and my parents are from Kolkata,’ she says. ‘Bengali prawn curry is a much celebrated dish that is made for very special occasions such as weddings, baby showers, and festivals. While it is a fancy dish, it is very simple and quick to make. The sauce is mild (there are no chillies used), rich and luxurious made with puréed fried onions, cumin, ginger, whole spices such as cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and coconut milk.’
Bengali Prawn Malai Curry (serves four)
2 onions, sliced
250g king prawns
2 tbsp ginger purée/paste
2 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pod
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 can of coconut milk
1. Marinate prawns in a pinch of salt. Mix the ginger paste with a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of sugar and ground cumin and set aside.
2. Heat a tbsp of ghee/butter over medium heat in a pan and caramelise onions till golden. Purée onions in a blender.
3. Lightly fry prawns until just coloured and set aside.
4. Heat a tbsp of ghee/butter and a teaspoon of any cooking oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom and roast for a few minutes. Add the ginger-cumin mix and sauté for a few mins before adding in the onion paste.
5. Add the prawns and cook for a few minutes. Pour in a can of coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Serve with steamed rice or naan.
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Yum.