Monday, October 4, 2010

Mustard Prawns the Copycat Version / Garden

This will be my first entry to The Copycat Club's debut!. Have you heard of The Copycat Club? If not, then it is about time you do. The Copycat Club is a club that features copycat recipes from your favourite restaurant, favourite fast-food, famous bakeries, just about anything that can be eaten, as long as it is a copycat! The person behind this is Tia from Buttercream Barbie. For more details about this club and how to join in the fun please do visit Tia's fantastic blog.   My first entry will be Mustard Prawns from the Taj Group of Hotels.

Taj Group of Hotels is famous, right? This recipe is taken from the book, "The Best of Indian Cooking : A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels", edited by John Mitchell.  This book was published in the year 1994, oh gosh, I was just a sweet young twenty something at that time! Boy, time really flies in a blink of an eye! Well, I bought it maybe not in 1994, but certainly not far from that year! And all this while, I have only tried maybe two recipes from this book.

The recipes from this book, according to John Mitchell, was edited with some changes from the original ones, with approval from the chefs, to make the recipes practical for use in the domestic kitchen.  So this is the copycat versions from the originals! Perfect! And to think that I do not have any copycat recipe on hand, it has been sitting on my shelf for years!

This is a very tasty dish. I have not been to any of the Taj Group of Hotels, obviously have not tried any of their food, but this is delicious with plain white rice. (My hubby had second helpings!). This is very simple and easy, just get everything cut and ready before you start cooking. Give it a try. For an authentic Indian style of serving, serve it on a banana leaf, on a plate. 






I'm linking this to Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen and Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen. 


Kaduku Eral (Mustard Prawns)
(adapted from "The Best of Indian Cooking - A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels" edited by John Mitchell)
600gm prawns
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
8 curry leaves
1 heaped tbsp chilli powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves

Shell and de-vein the prawns, then wash under running water, pat dry and set aside.  Chop finely the onion, tomatoes and garlic.  Heat the oil in a pan until very hot, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.  When they start to crackle,  immediately add the onion and garlic and saute until softened.  Next add the tomato and cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the chilli powder and stir well.  Lower the heat and add the prawns.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, then season with salt to taste.  To serve : transfer to a large plate and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

*******************************
A little post on my garden...... continuation from last post


Ever seen this flower?  Can you name the plant of this flower?


Cannot guess the name of this plant with this pretty flower?  Not many people do!  These pretty flower belongs to the Curry Leaf Plant!  Are you surprised? The flowers has a light jasmine-like fragrance, it will turn to small round red berry-like fruits, which will eventually changed to black.  According to Wikipedia, the fruits can be eaten but the seeds inside are highly poisonous.  Would you dare to try the fruits? 





Curry leaves are very aromatic and extremely important in curry dishes.  It is used worldwide in various cuisine. Over in our multi-racial Malaysia here, it is used by all races, even the  Chinese restaurants use the leaves for extra aroma in many delicious fried dishes, not necessarily spicy.   But, not many of us have seen or even aware that the ever popular curry leaves has flowers just like any other plant. So the next time when you pick a bunch of these leaves from the store, think about the pretty flower! Hope you have enjoyed reading this little post!


25 comments:

  1. WOW, kadugu iral is really tempting ya! I've stopped eating prawns lately, therefore I shall take the gravy alone...yumm! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. sedapnya this mustard prawns! more rice pls! curry plant also got flower? another wonderful discovery!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I learn something new today. I did try to figure out those flowers and even went through my book on plant names. Btw, those lotus are pink. They would do better in a pond. With limited space, only one flower bloom each time, so I get only a few seeds to offer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, a new prawn dish to try out-looks really delicious! The curry flowers looks beautiful too,ya another wonderful discovery from beautiful nature.....

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't believe you have a curry leaf plant right in your garden - that is so cool! This dish looks SO good!!! I would have had second helpings too. :o) Thank you for linking this to Cookbook Sundays!

    ReplyDelete
  6. oohh la la! can almost taste the succulent prawns and the nice aroma of the curry leaves. What pretty flowers..i've seen the seeds but not the flowers..hmmm interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mustard prawns look fab..new to me...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ummm! Those prawns look delicious. What a yummy dish! That's amazing with the curry plant. I would've never guessed that. It's very pretty and bet it has a wonderful aroma since it's jasmine-like. Very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. A very tempting prawn dish! I can just find the dried curry leaves here...never saw the fresh one.
    p.s I did some cornflake cookies in mini paper cups before, so I am very sure yours are great too. :-))
    Angie

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG I love prawns and this look absolutely yumy! love it! gloria

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your prawns look plumb and juicy! I love the idea of the copycat club!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your prawns- I bet they are delicious! I'm not familiar with the curry plant- I'll have to look for the dried leaves here. The flowers of it are pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love anything with curry. I have never cooked with the leaves and had no idea what the plant looked like. Thank you for the information. I will try the shrimp. I think I should be able to get the leaves at the Indian Market.

    ReplyDelete
  14. These flavors are ideal to me! I love curry and mustard...and of course, I love prawns. What a spicy, delicious dish. And I loved seeing pictures of that curry plant...how cool! I'm glad that I stumbled on your blog tonight. Excellent post!

    ReplyDelete
  15. these look and sound fantastic! and I"m STILL in awe of your garden. I will definitely include them in The Copycat Club this month. I'm so excited! THanks for participating, I appreciate it :) Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Love2Cook,
    You will have to add on the ingredients for more gravy, this is a fairly dry dish! Yummy!

    Hi petite nyonya,
    I always cook more rice than usual when dishes like this is on the table! Two bowls? No problem! Yeah, a pretty discovery!

    Hi One,
    Actually, this photo is from my gardening blog! At least you have the chance to use your book! No worries about the lotus seed. Not planning to plant(actually really love to)as I do not have the space! Thanks for being so thoughtful!

    Hi eatgreek.net,
    Thank you!

    Hi taikachea,
    Yes, mother nature is indeed wonderful!

    Hi Brenda,
    Curry plant can be found very commonly in Malaysia. We can lucky! Glad to link to Cookbook Sundays.

    Hi What's Baking,
    Yum, yum, barter trade? Mustard prawns for your chicken and baby spinach curry??? When??

    Hi Vrinda,
    Thank you for stopping by! Have a nice day!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Pam,
    Thank you!

    Hi Angie,
    I have never seen dried curry leaves being sold here. The fresh ones are sold in markets and they are rather cheap. Yup, the cornflakes cookies are a delight!

    Hi Satya,
    Thank you. Have a nice day!

    Hi Gloria,
    Thank you for visiting and nice of you to follow. Really appreciate it! Hope to see you here often. Have a nice day!

    Hi Reeni,
    Thank you. Come join in The Copycat Club when you can!

    Hi scrambledhenfruit,
    Yes, the flowers are very pretty! The curry leaves gives a wonderful aroma to this dish. Have a lovely day!

    Hi Kate,
    Hope you enjoy trying out this dish. Have a great day!

    Hi Monet,
    Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad to see you. Hope you will visit again. Have a lovely day!

    Hi Tia,
    Thanks for stopping. Yes, I'm excited too, looking forward to the 7th! Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  18. That looks like a very tasty dish, very good on cool nights. I did not know the curry leaf plant produces such lovely flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is a great idea! I would love to replicate the tastes I've tried out and about but I don't think my culinary skills would be up to it honestly. I can't wait to see what YOU come up with though. This dish looks so authentic.

    Also, thank you for the Nigella chocolate cake recommendation! If it's a nigella recipe then I think I have to be intereseted in trying it!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Biren,
    Yes, not many people know about the flower of curry leaf plant. Thanks for dropping by.

    Hi Brittany,
    You can try anything as long as it is a copycat version, you don't need super culinary skills for this, I don't too. Great, let us know about the cake!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This dish sounds and looks amazing...Love prawns this way :) Wow, love the look of the curry leaf plant, great info...The Copycat theme sounds fun, I will take a peak...
    P.S. Thank you...Hugs, Alisha

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Magic of Spice,
    Thank you. Hope you can join in the fun at The Copycat Club! Have a lovely day!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This dish looks so mouth-watering! I'm going to copy it! ;-)

    ReplyDelete