Apologies for the delay posting the update for April, which should have gone up last Sunday; I was basking in the glow of success for so long that I forgot that I actually needed to do an update, not just rely on people seeing various Facebook/Twitter comments!
But yes, last Sunday was a resounding success, despite last-minute panic over how to actually cook the prawns. You plan, you plan and you plan, and then brain-freeze.
So as I said in my night-before blog post, the cheesecake and aubergine dish were made the night before. As many of you will know, Indian dishes often taste better the day after you prepare them, as the spices have a chance to bed in and really infuse into the dish. You also have the added benefit of not having to do everything on the day, which means less last-minute stress!
Really, I should have also put the prawns in the spice mix the night before, but I prepared it a few hours before people arrived, so there was still time for a good mixing.
One thing to remember when cooking spices (be they Indian or from anywhere): don’t turn up the heat too much when starting them off, otherwise they’ll burn. I remembered this lesson the hard way on Sunday morning when making the Bombay potatoes and had to start again after burning the mustard and cumin seeds, chilli powder, turmeric and curry leaves. Unfortunately this meant I ran out of curry leaves, but I don’t think the dish suffered for it, and my brother, who’s eaten the dish a million times before, didn’t notice the difference. Phew! I actually started cooking the potatoes just before people arrived so that I wouldn’t be tied to the kitchen once people arrived, and then just put them in the oven on a low heat with the aubergines to keep them warm / heat them up, as I knew proper concentration would then be needed for the prawns.
When it came to cooking the prawns, I did have a bit of a panic – when I’ve cooked tandoori prawns in the past, I did them in a wok, all in one go. However as you can see from the pictures, there were far too many to do it this way. Instead I cooked them on a griddle pan in batches until they were all cooked (turning them over once they’d turned pink).
I then fried off the remaining spice mix in a pan on the hob and once cooked, I added a large pot of natural yoghurt. I prefer to use yoghurt that isn’t completely fat-free as it’s less likely to separate, but each to their own. Once this was cooked I poured the mixture over the prawns and then served immediately – just as well as I think my guests were very hungry by this point! What can I say, grilling 1.5kg of prawns took A LOT longer than I’d expected!
As you can see, we had quite a feast to tuck into and I’m glad I went for 1.5kg of king prawns (not bad for less than 14 quid!), rather than just a kilo for 8 people as we just about managed to finish them. I am a true Indian daughter and always worry: if everything’s finished, it means I didn’t cook enough!
[From top to bottom: kuchuba (and limes to squeeze over everything), tandoori prawns, Bombay potatoes and spicy aubergine)
I’d also recommend having finger bowls on hand if you can provide as it can all get a bit messy with the prawns!
On that note, I have found that shellfish is a very sociable food – you can’t be too formal when you’re all digging in and using your hands, which is exactly how I like my dinner parties to be! It also helps to be informal when not everyone knows each other and you’re all getting stuck in together with gusto.
And then onto dessert. I had originally planned to make a rhubarb tart, but my friend Rachel, who has now attended 3 out of 4 of these culinary adventures (and is the photographer of most of the pics for this post) suggested something mango based, which would be more refreshing after the Indian spices. And she was right!
Rachel and I have a shared love of mangos, having together attended the launch party for MADD on Rupert Street in Soho in January, which is all about mango based desserts and treats http://www.wearemadd.com/. I completely endorse such dedication to the mango (I’m going to have to do a separate post on this because I am OBSESSED).
As you can see, the cheesecake went down a treat and mum’s copying the recipe for dad’s birthday next week – hurrah to more mango cheesecake!
I think this was the best shellfish session yet – not only did everyone love the food, but this was also so personal to me because I was cooking the food I’ve grown up on and it was a nod to my mum and countless family meals over the years. Thanks, mum!
Next month’s cook-up is going to be a bit earlier in the month – Sunday 13 May. With all the weddings and hen dos this summer I need to be far more organised than I have been.
And what’s the shellfish? Razor clams. I’m already feeling nervous….
oneshellfishamonth 