Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Prawns Rawa Fry
Prawns Rawa Fry (Crumb-Fried Prawns with Tamarind and Chilli)

Prawns Rawa Fry

Crumb-Fried Prawns with Tamarind and Chilli
Non-vegetarian

Prawns are coated in a tangy tamarind, ginger and chilli paste, then rolled in semolina and rice flour and shallow-fried until crisp. They come out crunchy outside with juicy, spicy-sour prawn meat.

Marinade spices

1.5 gStirred into the ginger-garlic-tamarind paste (step 3)
Mix with salt, then coat the prawns in the paste.

Coating chilli

0.3 gMixed into the semolina and rice flour coating (step 5)
Stir into the coating until evenly coloured.

Everything else

01
Tiger prawn · Jhingaraw, shelled, tails left on
480–600 g12–15 prawns
seafood
02
6 g1½ cm
aromatic
03
9 g3 cloves
aromatic
04
6 g1 teaspoon
souring agent
05
Vegetable oil · Telfor shallow-frying
to taste
oil/fat
06
to taste
salt
07
42 g4 tablespoons
grain
08
20 g2 tablespoons
flour

Method

  1. Slit 480–600 g raw shelled tiger prawns along the back, keeping the tails on, and open them flat. Set aside.
  2. Blend 6 g fresh ginger, 9 g garlic, 6 g tamarind paste and about 30 ml water to a smooth thick paste.
  3. Scrape the paste into a bowl, then stir in the marinade spices and salt to taste.
  4. Add the prawns and turn to coat; leave them in the paste while you make the coating.
  5. Mix 42 g coarse semolina, 19.8 g rice flour and the coating chilli in a shallow dish until evenly combined.
  6. Roll each prawn in the coating, pressing gently so it sticks in an even layer.
  7. Heat a shallow layer of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
  8. Fry half the prawns, in batches if needed, for 1½ minutes on each side, until pink and cooked through.
  9. Fry the remaining prawns the same way.
  10. Drain on kitchen paper.

Don't have something?

Tiger prawn
  • King prawn

    Use the same weight; cook 2–3 minutes until just pink. Same sweetness and bite.

  • Large prawn

    Use the same weight; slightly less sweet, so cook 1 minute less.

  • Small prawn

    Use the same weight; they cook in 1–2 minutes, so add them later.

Fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use equal weight. Sauté in hot fat until the raw allium smell disappears; slightly wetter, but provides identical warmth and pungency.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% to 25% of the weight (1 g for every 4 to 5 g fresh). Stir into the gravy; adds peppery heat and warmth, though it misses the crisp, zesty kick of raw root.

Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Tamarind paste
  • Tamarind pulp

    Use 120–150% of the weight and strain; pulp is less concentrated, so simmer a little longer to thicken.

  • Tamarind extract

    Use 150–200% of the weight and reduce gently; extract is already diluted.

  • Lime juice

    Use 60–70% of the weight with a pinch of jaggery; sharper, so add near the end off the heat.

Kashmiri chilli powder or mild paprika
  • Kashmiri chilli powder

    Use the same weight; this is the first half of the book's option and gives the best red colour with mild heat.

  • Mild paprika

    Use the same weight; add a pinch of cayenne pepper for warmth. Slightly less colour.

  • Paprika

    Use the same weight and add cayenne pepper to taste; works but is less aromatic.

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Coarse semolina
  • Semolina

    Use the same weight; it is finer, so add liquid gradually and soak for less time.

  • Fine semolina

    Use the same weight; it absorbs faster and gives a smoother, less grainy texture.

  • Cream of wheat

    Use the same weight; toast it first if the recipe calls for roasting, and watch the liquid.

Rice flour
  • Cornflour

    Use about 60–70% of the weight for thickening; for coatings use the same weight but the crust is denser.

  • Plain flour

    Use the same weight for coatings; contains gluten, browns faster and is less crisp.

  • Fine semolina

    Use the same weight for crisp coatings; coarser texture and needs a short rest.

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Parsi Prawns Patia tastes savoury, gently sweet-sour and mildly spicy from tomato, vinegar and jaggery, while this dish tastes tangy from tamarind and hotter from chilli with a crisp semolina coating.
  • Same: Parsi Prawns Patia shares tiger prawns, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder, garlic and vegetable oil with this dish.
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Recheado Jhinge
Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind tastes hotter, more sour and lightly sweet with warm clove-cinnamon notes and vinegar-fish sauce savouriness, while this dish tastes tangy, spicy and sour with a crisp semolina crust and no sugar or vinegar.
  • Same: Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind and this dish both use 480 g tiger prawns, tamarind paste, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chilli and salt.
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