Starting this week, we present a recipe shared by winners of The Hindu MetroPlus Cookery Contest 2011 . This week, P. Rajeshwari Sivaprasad shares her recipe of Green Tea Prawn Tikka.
“You don't need to stop eating non-vegetarian food to stay healthy. This recipe is less on oil and high on Omega-3 fatty acids, thanks to the prawns. Combine this with green tea, dry ginger powder, pepper powder, ajwain or tymol seeds, kasuri methi and other ingredients and you get healthy and delicious tikkas, “says Rajeshwari. As an accompaniment, this recipe includes a dip made from custard apple, combined with dates, lemon, dry red chilies and cumin.
Ingredients
Tiger prawns (large): 10-12 pieces, de-shelled and left with tail cleaned and slit from the middle.
Green tea: 2 tsp
Dry ginger powder: to taste
Ajwain (tymol seeds): 1/4 tsp
Black pepper: 4
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste: 1/2 tsp
Kasuri methi: 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Cashew, almond, poppy seeds and melon seeds: 3 tsp
(Soak these for 20 mins in hot water and grind to a smooth paste)
Garam masala powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste
Method
Brew the green tea in one glass of water for 10 minutes. Now add dry ginger powder, ajwain and black pepper powder and brew the decoction for five minutes. Strain the brewed green tea water into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Soak the cleaned and slit prawns into the tea decoction for 15 minutes.
For marination, add lemon juice, ginger garlic paste and salt. Mix it well, add garam masala, kasuri methi, red chili powder, cashew, almond, poppy and melon seeds paste and mix it well.
Now add the tea decoction along with soaked prawns into the marination and rub the masala over it till all the prawns are well coated with the mix. Let the prawns marinate for 2-3 hrs.
After 2 hrs, heat a tawa and fry the prawns over the pan sprinkling very little oil over them. Fry the prawns till they are done on both sides. Serve hot with onion slices and custard apple dip.
For the custard apple dip
Pulp of one ripe custard apple without seeds
Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
Dates: 4, deseeded and finely chopped
Salt: per taste
Curd: 1 cup
Roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed: 1/4 cup
Method
Mix custard apple pulp, dates, red chili powder and salt in a bowl.
Heat a kadai and add this mixed pulp to it and cook for 5 minutes. Let it cool and mix curd and peanut crush into this mixture. Add lemon juice. Mix well, allow it to cool and serve with the prawn tikkas.
