Chilli Sesame Prawns

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! One of the first things that came to my mind when I was moving back home to India from the UK was, 'What do I do with all my cooking ingredients?'. Sure, I thought of how many suitcases I'd need to pack my things in and how much excess baggage I'd have to pay for, but neither of these worried me nearly as much as what I would do with the pressure cooker that served me faithfully for over 3 years! I mean, this little guy moved with me from India to Northern Ireland and then to England. I saw more of my pressure cooker than I did my family! In the end, I left it in the possession of my TWM who promised to love him and raise him like his own (and also attempt to cook dal in it). With my pressure cooker cared for, I was now faced with the problem of finishing off all the perishables in the fridge. I had chicken and fish and prawns and a bunch of veggies that would have to be chucked away if my roommate and I didn't finish them on time. The problem? With only a few days left to go, my roommate (Ms. Popularity herself) had dinner invites almost every day and even with my enviable appetite, finishing off all the food seemed a near impossible task. So I inquired about Ms. Popularity's availability and food preference as I chalked up a mental list of dishes to cook. She wanted chicken biryani, I wanted prawns. The only logical thing to do was cook the prawns as starters and the biryani as a main course. The upside (apart from getting to eat some of my favourite food) was using up twice as much stuff in one go. 

The biryani was the easy part. It takes time and effort to make but I have a preferred recipe so there wasn't a question around how I intended to make it. The prawns on the other hand, posed a dilemma. How do I cook these buggers? I love prawns. You could stick them in a curry, fry them, grill them, even toss them in a seafood stew and I'd eat them with relish. There are innumerable recipes with prawns as appetizers and to pick one is no easy task! That's when I remembered, when I was little, we'd frequent one of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Poona, a place called Chinese Room. It was here that I had chilli sesame prawns for the first time and every other time after that. The odd thing is, despite how much I loved them, it never occurred to me to actually cook them and I (almost always) opted instead to cook (the equally delicious) butter garlic prawns. With nothing to lose and ingredients to use, I decided to put my childhood memories on the line and cook chilli sesame prawns. If you're wondering why I would cook Chinese starters with an Indian main, I'm guessing you haven't ever been faced with the sorrow of bidding your kitchen goodbye and the overwhelming urge to cook as many new things as you possibly can in the short time you have left together. So I cooked them. I loved them, my roommate loved them even more and I added another recipe to my ever expanding repertoire.

If you are a prawn lover like I am, this is a dish you really must try out!

For my Chilli Sesame Prawns, you will need the following:

King prawns                    300 gms (De-shelled and de-veined.)
Dried red chillies             10
Ginger                             2" piece
Garlic                              6-8 cloves
Cayenne pepper              1 tsp (I use this for some extra bite. Not a deal breaker.)
Butter                              big knob
Oil                                   splash
Sesame seeds (white)      handful
Salt                                 to taste

Prep:

1. Cut the dried red chillies into 3 or 4 pieces each.
2. Julienne the ginger. (Basically just cut it into straws.)
3. Mince the garlic.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Pop in the butter.
5. Watch the butter melt into a golden pool and mix in with the oil.
6. Toss in the chopped chillies.
7. Pop in the garlic.
8. Slide in the ginger.
9. Mix and move around until the ginger and garlic are cooked. (Keep it moving or else your chillies will burn.)
10. Throw in the prawns.
11. Add salt to taste.
12. Sprinkle on the cayenne pepper.
13. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes until the prawns are done. (They'll go a nice pink. Do not overcook them; if you do they'll become hard and rubbery. If they roll into a tight ball, they're overdone.)
14. While the prawns are cooking, turn on another burner and bung a smaller pan on.
15. Bounce in the sesame seeds and toast them until they are a nice pleasant brown.
16. Turn both burners off.
17. Top the cooked prawns with the toasted sesame seeds.
18. Mix and serve.
19. Stuff face.
20. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Prawns cook very quickly so keep an eye on them at all times. Channel your inner teppanyaki chef and toss the contents of your pan at regular intervals.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!