My Tryst With Food And Travel: Masala Prawn Popcorn Recipe

It's the weekend and my time with little D. We do are Mummy daughter things mostly on the weekends. But this weekend my little darling is down with a nasty cold. To make things worse, the anti histamine syrup prescribed by her doctor is making her drowsy and grumpy. My poor darling has lost her priceless smile as she is tucked away under her favourite tinker bell blanket, clinging to her tinker bell doll, as if almost hoping that this fairy doll will sprinkle some magical powder on her which will make her feel better. For a mother nothing can be more heart wrenching than seeing her little one unwell, even if it's just a common cold.

I must do something to bring in some cheer on that angel face . It's sad that I cannot even call up little D's besties with the fear of spreading the infection. So I have to think of something which she will love to do, but within the confines of her room. Just like me and Mr. S, little D loves going to the Movies and a mix of caramel and cheese popcorn are her favourite munchies at the movies. So it will be a wonderful idea to play a movie right now, one which she had missed last year. After going through the newly bought DVD's I zeroed on the film Baribie in Rock 'N Royals. She had missed this film as I and Mr. S were travelling when the movie was realised.

Now for the Popcorn part, I didn't want to give her the regular cheese and caramel mix popcorns she so fondly ate at the movies. I wanted to make for her something which would pep up her taste buds which were practically rendered inactive by the bad cold. I remembered this tongue tickling recipe from Chef Kunal Kapoor Masala Prawn Popcorns. These popcorns are real tongue ticklers and would be done in a jiffy, so I wouldn't have to leave little D by herself for too long. The rest of the family away on a social get together, it was left totally up to me, what I could do to make her feel better. So I rushed to the kitchen and cleaned and marinated the prawns.

While the prawns were marinating, I got the remaining ingredients assembled on the working table. I came back to my little one's room and told her about my plan. For the first time in the entire day I saw a twinkle in her eyes and a smile just starting at the corner of her lips. So I played the movie and went back to the kitchen and was back with the Masala Prawn Popcorns in less than 10 minutes. As I handed over the packet filled with the popcorns, her smile widened and she sat up on the couch and put a couple of the popcorns in her mouth one after the other.

As she looked towards me with happiness, my heart did melt away as it always does to see the love of my life happy.

Recipe Source :

Chef Kunal Kapoor

MASALA PRAWN POPCORN RECIPE ~

SERVES : 4 / Makes 28 ~ 30 POPCORN APPROXIMATELY

CUISINE : INTERNATIONAL / FUSION

TYPE : APPETIZER / SNACK

TIME : 15 MINUTES PREPARATION + 10 MINUTES COOKING + 20~30 MINUTES MARINATION TIME

INGREDIENTS :

1) 14 ~ 15 Small Prawns ( Head & shell removed, deveined and cut into 1 inch pieces approximately)

2) 1 Tsp ginger paste

3) 2 Tsp garlic paste

4) 1 Tsp Red chili powder

5) 1 1/2 Tsp Kasuri Methi Powder/Dried Fenugreek Powder

6) 1 Tsp Coriander powder

7) 1 or 2 Lemons

8) 1 Tbsp fresh Coriander leaves

9) 250 Gms Maida / Refined Flour

10) 250 Gms Suji / Semolina

11) 2 Eggs

12) 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

13) Oil for deep frying

14) Salt to taste

THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE MASALA PRAWN POPCORNS ~

1) Clean the prawns, remove the head and shell and devein them. Wash the prawns thoroughly and drain the water. Place them in a bowl.

Cut the prawns into 1 inch pieces and transfer them into a large bowl for marination.
To the prawns in the bowl, add ginger paste, garlic paste, kasuri methi powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and squeeze the juice of the lemons over them.
Mix the spices nicely coating each prawn completely with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20 ~ 30 minutes or until ready to fry.

2) In a bowl whisk the two eggs after adding ground pepper to them.

Once the eggs are whisked properly keep them ready to use.

3) Assemble all the ingredients on your working platform. Take the prawns out from the refrigerator and place them first in the line. Next place the plate of refined flour. Next to that place the bowl with the whisked eggs. Last in the line place the plate with semolina on it. Sprinkle coriander leaves on the semolina. Now you are ready to begin the process of coating the prawn.

4) First coat the prawns with the refined flour.

Coat each prawn nicely and evenly.
Next dip the refined flour coated prawns in the whisked eggs.
Coat the prawns evenly.
Now coat the prawns with the semolina.
After coating the prawns with the semolina, the prawns should now look like popcorn.
Place all the coated prawns on plates ready to fry.

5) Heat oil in a wok till it smokes. Keep the plate with the masala and batter coated prawns at hands reach.

Once the oil starts smoking, reduce the heat, wait for a few seconds and then put the prawns in the oil to fry.
Fry the prawns on medium heat for a few seconds. The marinated prawns cook very fast and should not take more than 30 seconds to cook completely.
Once the prawns are cooked increase the heat to give the golden colour to the outer coating of your prawn popcorn.
Take them out of the oil with a perforated spatula to drain out the excess oil.
Next place the masala prawn popcorn on a metal strainer covered with paper kitchen napkins to absorb all the extra oil.

Your delicious Masala Prawn Popcorn is ready. Serve them with a dash of lime.

STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE TO MAKE MASALA PRAWN POPCORN WITH PICTURES ~

1) Clean the prawns, remove the head and shell and devein them. Wash the prawns thoroughly and drain the water. Place them in a bowl.

Cut the prawns into 1 inch pieces and transfer them into a large bowl for marination.

To the prawns in the bowl, add ginger paste, garlic paste, kasuri methi powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and sqeeze the juice of the lemons over them.