Prawns Jeeraen Meeri

Prawns Jeeraen Meeri Curry (Pic by June Carvalho)

JEERAEN Meeri in Konkani literally means cumin (jeera)-pepper, so there are no prizes for guessing that the masala for this prawn curry employs both these spices alongside red chillies. However, I cannot fathom for the life of me as to why this curry is named after jeera and pepper, considering the minuscule quantities of both in comparison to the red chillies, but that's how it has been and no one seems to have felt the need to question that.

For those who don't like coconut in their food for health or taste reasons, this is a good option. The onion, garlic and tamarind ground together with the spices yield a fairly thick gravy.

When cooking prawns in a red curry, we generally use them in combination with any one vegetable such as diced vegetable marrow (called Mangalore cucumber or vellarikai), potatoes, bhindi (okra), or bottle gourd (lauki). Here I have used bhindi. Peas, potatoes and cauliflower team up well with prawns when cooked in a yellow or green curry.

What you need for 1/2 kg prawns:

12 Byadgi (dry red) chillies
1 tsp cumin seed
6 peppercorns
1 onions
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A lime-sized ball of tamarind
12 bhindi
2 onions, sliced and fried golden
1 tbsp  oil 

Wash well, shell and devein prawns. Wash and wipe dry the bhindi and cut into 2" pieces. Lightly fry in a tablespoon of oil till they're no longer sticky.

Grind the first six ingredients (colour-coded red) with a little water to a fine paste. Put the paste into a cooking pan with two cups of water. Add salt to taste and drop the lightly fried bhindi in. Cook for about two minutes, then slide in the prawns. Bring to a boil and when the prawns are cooked, sprinkle the golden fried onion. Stir. Allow to simmer on slow flame for 5 minutes before serving with rice.