I don’t do much of prawn dishes at home as my husband is allergic to shell fish. But I love prawns. This recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala is my favorite. More than a decade ago, we were on an Air India flight to Mauritius for our honey moon. They had just served prawn curry for in flight meals and we were just casually talking and eating. He ate the bread and then went on to have a big bite of rice and the curry. Suddenly he started coughing. Coughing really badly and his eyes were all red. He did not realize that it was prawn curry and he told me that he was allergic to prawns. He was suffering. I froze for a minute. That was the first time I was seeing someone react to food allergy. I am severely allergic to pollen etc.. myself and so I carry anti-histamines with me all the time. He had one of those and he kind of became OK after a couple of hours. Poor guy. I love prawns. My son is kind of getting to like prawns nowadays. So I do it at home once in a while when my husband is travelling. Little perks of things when husband is not home. Prawns cook very fast and this Chettinad Prawn Masala is so easy to make. This dish can be put together in less than 20 minutes.
Use only sesame oil for this recipe. Add the curry leaves lavishly. The aroma of curry leaves fried in sesame oil is to die for in this Chettinad Prawn Masala. Heat sesame oil (gingely oil / nallennai ) in a pan and add in the fennel seeds (sombu), cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
Add in the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
Serve Chettinad Prawn Masala with some piping hot rice and a dollop of ghee. yum o yum! This dish can also be served with thengai paal saadam or egg biryani .
Chettinad Prawn Masala is Ready.
Here is a printable recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala.
Main Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 cardamom
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 grams prawns, cleaned and de-veined
- 2 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
Spice Powders
- 1 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
- Add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
- Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Main Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 cardamom
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 grams prawns, cleaned and de-veined
- 2 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
Spice Powders
- 1 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
- Add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
- Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/chettinad-prawn-masala-eral-masala/
Even though ready made sprouted mung bean is easily available, sprouting mung bean is one of the most easiest things to do at home. One does not need any special equipment to do this. This method works well for mung beans – moong beans. Traditionally they would allow the mung to sprout on a tied muslin cloth. I have even made it simpler by eliminating the cloth method. A simple bowl just works fine.
Here is how to do it. Wash the mung beans in lots of water 2-3 times to get rid of the dirt and dust. Soak the mung bean in water for 8-10 hours or over night. After 8 hour soak, the bean would have considerably swollen. Drain the beans and rinse the beans. Set aside.
Set the drained beans in a bowl and cover it with a lid and set aside in a relatively dark place. I kept it inside a kitchen cupboard. Allow it to germinate for the next 24 hours. After about 24 hours, it will look like this picture below. The bean would have started sprouting vigorously. It might take longer time to germinate if the weather is slightly cold. It will germinate fast in hot and humid conditions.
At this stage, use the sprouted bean immediately or store in the refrigerator and use it within the next 2 days.
- 1 Cup Moong Bean / Mung Bean
- Water
- Wash the mung beans in lots of water 2-3 times to get rid of the dirt and dust. Soak the mung bean in water for 8-10 hours or over night. After 8 hour soak, the bean would have considerably swollen. Drain the beans and rinse the beans. Set aside.
- Set the drained beans in a bowl and cover it with a lid and set aside in a relatively dark place. I kept it inside a kitchen cupboard. Allow it to germinate for the next 24 hours. After about 24 hours, it will look like this. The bean would have started sprouting vigorously. It might take longer time to germinate if the weather is slightly cold. It will germinate fast in hot and humid conditions.
- At this stage, use the sprouted bean immediately or store in the refrigerator and use it within the next 2 days.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 48 hours
- Category: Basics
- Cuisine: Indian
