Garlic pepper butter prawns

There are a few things going on here, but the ‘garlic’, ‘pepper’ and ‘butter’ in the title are at the core of it, taking the lead of memorable prawn and crab dishes eaten in Mumbai. Use the largest king prawns you can find – shelled but still raw. The freezer section of Asian supermarkets is a good source. If they’ve not already been deveined and scored, there’s a little bit of work to prepare them but it’s not really that time consuming and is definitely worth it. Excellent as a light meal with flatbreads or rice (to soak up the butter sauce). But arguably better as part of a feast alongside a collection of other dishes – the paneer and its coriander and mint chutney, a dal, rice, breads and pickles. Serves 2 as a light meal, 4–6 as part of a feast

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Use a sharp knife to score the outside curve of each prawn, two thirds of the way through, so there’s more surface area to collect the spices. If not already deveined, use the tip of the knife to pull away the black line. Leave the tails on if they’re still there.

Step 2

Pop the prepped prawns in a bowl, along with the garlic, turmeric and half a tablespoon of the oil. Mix thoroughly, then leave in the fridge for 15 minutes or more.

Step 3

Ensure the rice (or the rest of your feast) is ready before beginning to fry the prawns – they take just 2–3 minutes to cook.

Step 4

Put a wok on as high a heat as possible. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil then the mustard seeds and, when 20 seconds or so later the oil is smoking hot and the mustard seeds are popping, tip in the prawns along with all of their garlicky marinade.

Step 5

Fry for 30 seconds without stirring, then add the butter, crushed peppercorns and chilli flakes. Use a spatula or similar to push and toss the prawns and spices in the rapidly melting butter and cook for barely 90 seconds more, transferring the prawns and the buttery sauce to a serving dish as soon as they’re pink.

Step 6

Ensure all the butter and pepper from the wok is scraped over the top of the prawns, add a squeeze of lime from one of the wedges, leaving the second as optional garnish, along with a generous scattering of coriander.