Indian Cuisine is difficult. Period.
If you are not cooking for more than 6 years at a stretch, you’d go miserably wrong I guess. Or maybe its me.
Fun part is, when you approach mom or moms for that matter of fact, for a good dope on “how to”, they have a standard answer: “Put a lot of onions and turmeric and chili powder and jeera powder.” Press a little more and they’d add, “ginger-garlic paste, dhaniya {coriander powder}, garam masala”. Press a bit more like you mean it and you’d get, “Khada garam masala paste {Whole garam masala roasted and powdered} and sesame paste.” Now, this is when you know truths coming because you have tasted that beautiful smokey mind blowing sesame flavor in the mutton.
My mom, mom-in-law, my own darn sister- they all need to be taken to a corner and pressed for truth. MIL and Mom not so much, sister- definitely. Thanks to her I cooked a blob of a Thai seasoned stir fry the other day till her maid revealed, “Madam to chicken baad me daalti hain” {Madam adds the chicken later}. So much for food 😉
Anyway! Having been married for about more than a year now and having traveled the entire Konkan belt I have realized that in India, if I must vote for my favorite cuisine it would be a tie between Konkani/Malvani and Bengali. Bengali- because I am born one: the taste is in my heart more than my tongue and Maharashtrian because the taste is in my head. It’s a burst of taste. It’s everything all at the same time.
Strangely though, when i first came to Mumbai, I struggled with food. I practically hated everything I tasted owing to generous helping of coconut in everything. But that’s before I tasted the Maharashtrian home food at Rohan’s. I was sold at the very first ‘vade-mutton’ she prepared for lunch. There in began my love for Konkani food. Today, I vouch for authentic Konkani food and have some recipes up my sleeves as well. This is one of them.
I’d mention three people who would do practically anything to eat this: First, my dear husband who dotes on this and to him its “The s**t”. Next is our dear Georgie aka Orge aka George Kurien aka the anarchist and then our favorite, the calm, poised, never angry good boy whom we lovingly call…ah well, let’s just keep it to Ankur Chugh. He’d switch the cooler and cycle down in a hot summer afternoon just to catch a bite of this.
But like everything, Jawala has its own negatives. Because of its strong smell some of you might not like it. But if you can get yourself used to the smell, this maharastrian delicacy promises you a whole lot of flavor.
Dried prawns/shrimps is cooked in a bed of caramelized onions and garlic with only 2 spice: Chicken Masala and Red chili powder, and is had with Bhakri, which is a ‘roti’ or flatbread made out of rice flour. Tastes nothing like rice but melts in your mouth.
Note: You can substitute dried prawns for fresh prawns too in the same recipe and it would taste just as good. That can be had with a loaf of bread too! Whatever you have it with, this dish brings people close. Precisely why I dedicate this recipe to a wonderful girl and a food blogger I met from Pune- Aditi from Aditicooks who not only went beyond her means to help me with an event but is also a wonderful soul. Aditi, this is for you to judge 🙂
Sukha Jawala Recipe
Dries Prawns: 2 cups, soaked in water. Change water twice and leave it for 30 minutes.
Onions/Shallots (kanda): 3 large, chopped fine
Garlic: 8-10 cloves, chopped
Chicken Masala: 2 tbsp
Red Chili Powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves
Oil: 1 tbsp
Salt and sugar to taste
How to make Sukha jawala
In a pan heat oil. Add in onions and garlic and fry till the onions are translucent.
Add in soaked dry prawns (squeeze dry before adding) and mix well. On low heat, let it sit covered for about 5-7 minutes. You can toss once in between.
Once the prawns catch a bit of color, add chicken masala, red chili, salt and sugar. Mix well, and cover cook for about 7-8 minutes.
The last 2 minutes, cook in high heat and dry it up completely.
Add chopped coriander and cover for 5 before you serve.
kaput!
