Jeyaranee's Char Prawn Varuvel

My mum-in-law maintained a simplistic, back-to-basic style of cooking and that is exactly what she dished out with this very dry 6-ingredient prawn dish. The tough part of this dish is patience.

Prawns and squid share the same cooking time and for most dishes, you want to cook it fast and just done. However, when you make masala or varuvel, just done is not done enough because you need the flavours to really get into the seafood and that usually comes with prolonged cooking.

So here's the deal with prawns and squid. You either cook it fast or you overcook it. Anything in between and you get a rubbery texture.

For this dish, we need to really overcook it to get it really dry and to achieve the almost "charred" flavour and look, and therefore I find a well seasoned wok (kuali) works best.

Also, this dish is best cooked with smaller prawns, but if, like me, you are using the larger ones then cut them up into a smaller parts (a large palm size prawn is cut into 3-4 parts).

Ingredients

1kg prawns (shell and devein)

1 large onion chopped

2 medium sized potatoes - cubed (not too small)

5-6 tbsp chilli powder (mine is not spicy enough, so use accordingly to the heat you want)

salt to taste

chopped curry leaves (optional)

3-4 tbsp ghee or coconut oil

Method:

1. Dry the cleaned prawns then marinate with 1 tbsp chilli powder and a pinch of sugar (optional) for at least 2 hours. Separately add 1tsp of chilli powder and a bit of salt to the cubed potatoes and set aside too.

2. Heat the wok and add 2 tbsp oil, and then add the prawns together with the remaining chilli powder and 1/2 tbsp of salt. Cook on medium flame and do not add any water.

3. Stir up occasionally so that it doesn't completely burn.

4. Add more oil to coat the prawns.

5. Keep stirring occasionally until you start achieving a lightly charred look and the prawn should be quite dry by now. Be sure that you continuously also scrap the charred bits into the prawns cause that's where the best flavour is.

6. In a separate pan, deep fry the potatoes and drain. Set aside.

7. When the prawn dish is mostly dry and charred enough (without being burnt) add the chopped onions and fried potatoes and coat together. If you are using the chopped curry leaves, add it now.

8. Fry for a little longer until the onions have completely cooked through and everything looks evenly coated and coloured. Turn off the heat and try to scrap the charred bits sticking to the wok and mix it into the prawns. Leave the dish in the wok for a bit longer before serving.

There you have it. Get why I said you need patience?

Goes great with sambar, thanisar or sothi.