Prawn Tempura Recipe | Cook Na Kaho | Simple Prawn Starter

Love prawns? Then you will relish this! A quick starter with minimum ingredients that will leave you wanting for more…do give this a try and thank me later for this simple recipe. And guess the best part about this recipe? You can sip 7Up/Sprite alongside while cooking this 🙂

I remember as a child from a middle class family, whenever we would go out to eat in fancy Chinese restaurants, we would stick to our good old chicken starters/side dishes and would almost never order prawns, for they were too expensive! How many of you can relate to this? Try this at home. Cooking around 15 prawn tempuras will cost you anywhere around Rs.300 to Rs.320 only. 

Ingredients:

• Prawns: 200 grams (clean and veins removed) (I used Super Large Frozen Prawns by ITC Master Chef)
• Flour/Maida: 1/3rd Cup
• Cornflour: 1/3rd Cup
• Egg: 1 (Cold)
• Soda/7up/Sprite: 1/3rd Cup (Chilled)
• Black Pepper Powder: One teaspoon
• Vegetable Oil (deep enough for frying)
• Mayonnaise: Two tablespoons

Take the prawns in a plate and make slits on them. (Originally this recipe is done by pressing the prawns to make their spine straight, but I did not attempt to do so. Prawns are fragile and break easily).

Meanwhile take a kadhai and heat the oil. In another bowl, add flour, cornflour in equal quantities and mix well. Add black pepper. Then add an egg and whisk it well, combining the dry mixture with it. Do not worry if you see lumps in the mixture, it is perfectly fine. Now quickly add in the soda and mix well. 

Dip the prawns in the mix one by one, and fry them in hot oil. Fry them in batches, and make sure that your kadhai is not overcrowded. I fried 5-6 prawns at a time in 3 batches. Fry for around 3 minutes on each side, or till you see the prawns covered as golden brown. Take it out on a serving plate and serve with Mayonnaise sprinkled with black pepper powder or any herb of your choice. 

Things to be kept in mind while preparing Prawn Tempura

• Take large prawns as far as possible for best taste. I did not take a chance and ordered frozen prawn by ITC.
• Avoid adding salt in the batter. Prawn tends to release moisture when mixed with salt, and hence the prawns wont turn crispy. We tried it without salt and it seemed perfect! 
• Maida and Cornflour should be of equal quantity.
• Both the egg and soda should be chilled. 
• After you make the batter, dip the prawns and fry them almost immediately, else the soda will loose its fizz!
• Fry in small batches. Since the oil is hot and the prawns are cold, the oil will start losing its temperature if too many prawns crowd the kadhai.
• Serve hot!  

I hope you are enjoying my culinary journey. Will see you with another Blog Post soon. Till then, bye!