vishu 2010

OH what a start I had to my month! From the horrible cold in the first week (don’t blame me it was the ice cream ! ) to celebrating our first Vishu after marriage. To all those folks who don’t know what Vishu is then..... Vishu is the astronomical new year for keralites.It is also known as the harvest festival.We start the day by watching the Vishu kani (see pic above) and then having a sadhya/feast.

As usual I was full of anxiety & could not sleep the night before Vishu. I have always watched food network challenges and could not believe that this was my food challenge in reality! Normally the Vishu feast /sadhya is a vegetarian feast which consists of 24 dishes served on banana/plantain leaf.My grandma used to say that overall the sadhya should have something from sweet to sour in taste.So keeping the same principle i also prepared a small Sadhya with lesser dishes & yes i also managed to get plantain leaf from an oriental store! Lucky me.. :) My day was tiring but at the end there was a feeling of fulfillment, i guess thts why i enjoy cooking.A very remarkable way to start a new year for both of us!

Spicy Tempura Prawns

TGIF ....! Fridays is party day and that's when mostly friends come over or we go to their place. So all the new dishes and experiments are also on Fridays! After all it’s good to cook with company :) for bad or for worse! & all credit to my friend for going creative on the plate and taking the pic for this recipe. Thx D! Will miss you :(

Now coming back to the recipe, I love this dish not only because it’s very easy to make but also retains the prawn flavour. What I essentially meant is that the coating does not overpower the prawn flavour. It just took me approximately 20 minutes to prepare this amazingly simple starter!

Ingredients:

• Large prawns - 25o gms (Clean and devein )
• Plain four - 150 gms
• 2 tbsp corn four
• 1 egg
• salt - as per taste
• pepper - as per taste
• ice cold water - 1 cup ( or 2 -3 cubes of ice )
• Oil - for deep frying

Method:

• Beat the egg , to this slowly sift in the flour and cold water and keep this batter aside for 15 minutes ( the batter will set properly and get the right consistency)
• To this add salt & pepper as per taste
• Now dip the prawns in the mixture and deep fry them until golden brown in colour
• Drain them well and serve with any sauce you like.

Enjoy!