 |
| Plates with a history |
There’s a reason why I chose the plates that you see in the picture for dinner last night
There were prawns in the fridge and K suggested that I make prawn chilli fry.
We first had this dish at a shack just outside Holiday Inn, Goa, towards the end of our honeymoon.
We had taken an ‘all meals included Orange (the grandfather of Vi) package’ at the hotel and didn’t eat outside otherwise.
We decided to go to the small shack-like eatery the day before we left, just to get a taste of Goa. We tried a dish called prawn chilli fry and ordered seconds of it as we liked it so much. And then thirds. And packed some to take back to Mumbai I think. I tried to recreate the dish after we returned to Mumbai and we used to quite enjoy it whenever I made it.
The dinner plates are the last remaining ones from from the time we had first set up house together and I thought that they would be apt to pair with the prawn chilli fry tonight.
The bread was the ‘French bread’ from Bandra’s Hearsch Bakery and brought to us by our neighbour, Erika, the night before. It reminded me of the soft dinner rolls and breads that we used to buy from the Prince of Wales Bakery outside Khar station back in the day.
 |
| The lovely from Gia, Erika’s daughter, and the Japanese souffle that she baked and gave us yesterday |
 |
| From Gia the day before |
The track I asked Alexa to play as I cooked was Bon Jovi… Always, Bed of Roses, It’s my life, I will be there for you, You give love a bad name …
 |
| Prawn chilli fry recipe |
Talking of the reverse of ‘bad name,’ I was in awe of how well the prawns stayed even though they we were in the freezer for two weeks after Poonam from Khar Market had delivered them to us at home. As I said earlier, these were river prawns and not from the sea. The way we Bengalis like it. We take no prisoners when we eat prawns. Even the head and tail is chewed up. Unlike in south east Asia, we prefer our prawns deveined. Poonam does it for us.
Do you want to know how I made the prawn chilli fry last night? I am happy to give you my recipe but before the Goans get riled, let me clarify that I am not making any claim to this being a Goan recipe. Tasted pretty good though.
- Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil
- Add 1 sliced onion and curry leaves
- Then a clove of garlic and 2 green chillies
- Then 1 roughly chopped tomato
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh coconut bits if you have them at home
- Then cubed and parboiled potatoes
- Spices: 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmiri mirch powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper. Plus salt to taste
- Then add in the prawns. Stir gently.
- Once prawns are cooked (they will look white from outside), add a tablespoon each of ketchup and table vinegar
- Add some fresh coriander and slit green chillies at the end and sprinkle some black pepper on the prawns
I was a bit tired before I went to the kitchen to cook and then remembered what chef Marina Balakrishnan had said about the lesson she had learnt from her grandmother as a kid: “remember while cooking that the food will nourish someone.”
That is my kitchen mantra these days and brought the spring back into my step and the results showed on the plate.
Here’s Poonam’s number in case you live in Bandra or Khar in Mumbai and want to order fresh fish: 9867402956
From the #HouseOfCats
From the #FinelyChoppedKitchen
Bed of roses:
Always:
You give love a bad name:
Its my life:
I’ll be there for you:
