Pickled Pink! Parsi Prawn Pickle

I had been planning to make a batch of Prawn Pickle for a while..a few months, in fact. I've also been meaning to get back to writing this blog again. So here I am today, fulfilling two goals in one day!

Prawn Pickle by Katy Dalal

This pickle is tangy and sweet and has a nice bite to it too. With vinegar, red chillies and jaggery melding together their distinctive flavours and the prawns showcasing it all, this is one of my favourite pickes.

4 cups Prawns, shelled, deveined, and washed

curry leaves

8 - 10 Green Chillies

2 tsp salt

2 cups Kolah's Sugarcane vinegar

Make a paste in 1/2 cup vinegar with:

16 dried red Kashmiri chillies

2 whole pods Garlic

3 Tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp Methi or Fenugreek seeds

1 tsp turmeric pwd

1/5 tsp Badisaunf

1 & 1/2 cup jaggery

2 cups oil

Take a largeish saucepan and heat 2 cups vinegar. Put in the prawns with the green chillies, curry leaves and salt. Bring to a boil and cook till the prawns are nearly done. Leave aside to cool.

Heat the 2 cups of oil in a large karhai or wok or pot. Make sure you really use two cups...this is a pickle! Once the oil is nice and hot put in the ground masala paste. Stir the paste to mix well into the oil. Be careful here because the masala takes time to separate and meld with the oil. Don't stir too vigorously or you might splatter hot oil on yourself. Mix thoroughly till all the paste is combined and is frying nicely. Once the oil separates and the whole spice mix is giving out its wonderful aroma add the jaggery. You might want to adjust the amount of jaggery according to how sweet you like the pickle to be. Blend it in well.

Ladle the prawns into this mix without the vinegar. Just use a slotted spoon. Stir and mix it all in well. Pour in the vinegar a little at a time, maybe half a cup, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil adding vinegar to make a sufficient amount of 'gravy'. Cook for about five minutes checking that the prawns are cooked.

Your Prawn Pickle is ready!

Cool it really well and decant into clean glass bottles.

This recipe is from my Mom in law's first cook book Jamva Chaloji. I learned to love food and to respect fresh ingredients from her and I also learned to eat well and enjoy good food. She, and hubby introduced me to a world of great food and many different cuisines. I wish she was here cheering me on as I discover more food things every day...