Food talk
Prawns 
the Punjabi way

Pushpesh Pant dishes out tomato-based prawn makhni masala

PRAWNS are quintessentially seafood for most of us who dwell in the hinterland. Lobsters, crabs, squids are much too exotic what to speak of octopus and the rest. Oysters and mollusks are nice to look at but there are few landlubbers who can muster courage enough to suck the tasty morsels.

Even, sea fish is not favoured by those brought up on fresh river produce like rohu. When we were children and had just made acquaintance with crustaceans, what mattered most was the size. Jumbo prawns golden fried in the pretentious Chinese eatery seemed most desirable. The dish was the most expensive one on the menu and this meant that the mouth-watering offering couldn’t be indulged in often. It was saved for special occasions. It was many years later that one could discriminate between shrimps of different ilk. Size doesn’t matter in this case. On the contrary, the smaller, jhingri tastes far better. Even B-grade prawns put to shame the much-touted ‘tigers’. But we digress.

What concerns us here is the recipe. Some prawn lovers insist that to enjoy this fruit of the sea, it is imperative that there is least interference with nature — minimal cooking, and just a whiff of spicing. This is the school of thought that is happiest with shrimp cocktail, seafood salad etc. Those who are addicted to chilly vinegar-laced Govan balchao can come to blows when asked to concur with such blasphemy. We have come across myriad delicacies, subtle and robust, based on prawns from refreshingly light peppery to cheesy tandoori sparklers, classical dab chingri or mild coconut milk gravy based darlings — all equally satisfying. Buttery loabdar prawns have seldom tempted us. It was only recently that a makhni masala — tomato-based recipe served at a friend’s house forced us to reconsider our opinion. Our hostess, an unabashed Punjabi food lover, scoffed at our pretensions and said we were passing off prejudices as reasoned opinions. The guests all slurped and burped. No one touched the healthier grilled chicken or baked fish that was on the table. So here it is dear friends prawn masala Punjabi.

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