Nadan Prawns Masala Roast ~ Kerala Style Shrimp Masala Roast

Calling all seafood lovers to this taste party where the star of the party, succulent shrimp, is cooked with a melody of spices that enhances the flavors of it in ways you cannot imagine, in this Kerala Style Shrimp Masala Roast / Nadan Prawns Masala Roast.

“So, you are a vegetarian?” Yes. “ And you cook meat / seafood?” Yes. “How?” I don’t know. I just love cooking and seeing what happens with different ingredients when I put them together and develop all those flavors.

This is a conversation snippet that happens in my life more times than you can imagine.

It was not easy for me at first to know how to cook meat and seafood, as I have always been a vegetarian, all my life. So, AJ was my helper. He helped me understand how different meat taste, salt content, texture, how it absorbs flavors etc. I slowly learned and once you understand how any ingredient works, then to develop new flavor combinations is easy. That is how most of my meat recipes here come from. And of course, there are inspirations from around the web, friends and family.I always get very excited to cook with fresh food, especially if it is fish or meat for AJ. I try to cook as soon as I get it and tryas much as possible not to freeze them. But that sometimes ends up happening too as you can't keep them out for too long in the refrigerator. Since I knew that I will have some time during the long holiday weekend, I got some beautiful Gulf Coast shrimp. I was all ready with the recipe and other ingredients to cook the shrimp with.  The recipe I used is modified from the one that I had bookmarked years ago from Varsha's blog, Will O the Wisp. I finally got around making it and AJ loved it too. So all in all it was a well planned weekend, cooking wise at least 🙂

Nadan Prawns Masala Roast ~ Kerala Style Shrimp Masala Roast - The Recipe

• Gulf Coast Shrimp (use any kind, this is what I had), cleaned and deveined- about 2 lbs
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
• Cloves - ¾
• Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
• Green cardamom pods - 2
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - ¼ tsp
• Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Dried Coconut Slices / Copra, broken into small bite sized pieces - ¼ cup
• Pearl Onions, peeled and sliced - 1 cup ( if it feels like a lot to peel , substitute shallots for about half of it)
• Crushed Garlic - 1 tsp
• Grated Ginger - ½ tsp
• Green Chillies, slit lengthwise - 2
• Tomatoes - 2, sliced
• Fish Masala - 1 tsp
• Chopped Cilantro , to garnish
• Salt, to taste

To mix to a paste - 1 teaspoon chilli powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon powdered black pepper, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon water

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Once they become slightly fragrant, add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Now add the fenugreek seeds (do not add the fenugreek seeds earlier and let them burn, they taste bitter and nasty) and the dried red chillies along with the curry leaves. Add the dried coconut pieces now. Sauté till they turn to light golden color. Now add the onions to the pan. Add the crushed ginger and garlic and the green chillies too. Sauté till the onions become a little translucent.

Add the chopped tomatoes to this mix, along with some salt and the spice paste (the red chilli powder, black pepper, coriander powder and turmeric powder mixed in vinegar and water) and sauté till the tomatoes become soft and the oil rises from the sides. The shrimp can be added to the pan now. Give it quick mix and keep the pan closed to cook the shrimp. Remember to keep the heat to medium low at this point.  Once cooked well, switch off the heat and top with the fish masala, give one quick stir and add some chopped cilantro for garnish.

Your Prawns / Shrimp Roast is ready to be served with some rice for a yummy meal! 🙂