Devilled Prawns {Isso Thel Dhala}
Adapted from Charmaine Soloman
Degree of difficulty: very easy
Preparation time: 20 minutes (if you are peeling the prawns, less if they are already peeled)
Cooking time: 10 minutes
- 1kg/2.2lbs raw prawns
- 3-4 tablespoons oil or ghee
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 350g/12.36ozs. cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 teaspoons Maldive fish (or 1cm square cube shrimp paste)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Buyer's tip: Maldive fish can be purchased from Sri Lankan or Indian grocery stores. It comes in a large bag and is also used in making Kerala fish curry.
I went for green banana prawns as I was peeling them myself. Tiger prawns have a harder shell and are a bit painful to peel at times.
Step 1 - Remove heads, peel and devein prawns. I reserved the shells and heads and made a prawn broth in the pressure cooker (it was SO delicious and concentrated!). This will probably take you the longest as the rest of the recipe is very easy. Have all of the other ingredients ready as it doesn't take long once you start.
Step 2 - Heat a frypan on medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the the ghee and fry the onions for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and when translucent add the cherry tomatoes and fry until starting to soften. Add the paprika, salt, chilli and turmeric powder and fry for 1 minute adding more ghee or oil if needed.
Step 3 - Add the Maldive fish and the prawns and fry for 3 minutes. Then add the water, tomato paste and sugar. Serve with rice or Charmaine also suggests putting the prawns on squares of fried bread too for party food.