Monday, March 25, 2013

Prawns with Courgettes (Jhinga aur ghia) & Exciting News

Prawns with Courgettes 2

Most of you already know that one of my favourite places to play is at I Heart Cooking Clubs, a cooking club which chooses a different chef to feature every six months.  During that time, we explore the recipes and techniques of our chosen chef according to a different theme each week.  We learn a lot about our chef during that time, and a lot about each other as well through our regular posts.  A strong community has developed and I have loved being a part of it.  So I'm very, very excited and feel very honoured that I am about to become a co-host of this group along with the lovely Kim of Stirring the Pot and the lovely Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

You probably also know that our chosen chef for the last six months has been Madhur Jaffrey, and I am submitting this (a little late - but better that than never) for our theme of One Pot Wonders.  Strictly speaking, this is not a one pot wonder insofar as I did cook rice in a separate pot, but hey it's near enough.  This dish is nice and flavourful, but certainly not spicy, and was great for a quick "toss everything in the pan", work-day dinner - definitely one I would make again.  Total cooking time about 10 minutes.  And now we come to our last week of cooking with Madhur, so do come back later in the week for my "farewell to Madhur" dish.

Now for more exciting news.  If you've been reading my posts for a while, you will know that one of my absolute favourite chefs is Yotam Ottolenghi, and every one of his books in my collection have been cooked from over and over again - not something I can say about some of the other cookbooks I own.  I also happen to know that a lot of you are big Ottolenghi fans too, so I'm very excited to tell you that our next chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs is indeed going to be Yottam Ottolenghi.  So, my Ottolenghi-loving friends, if you haven't played along at IHCC before maybe you'll feel inspired to join in the fun.  At the very least, why not pop over here and see what's coming up - our forthcoming themes and how to join in. 

In the meantime, you might like to try this ...

Prawns with Courgettes (Jhinga aur ghia) Recipe
Adapted (barely) from recipe by Madhur Jaffrey from
Makes 4 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x medium-sized courgettes (about 300g - 10 oz)
flaky sea salt
3-4 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
6x cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
large handful of coriander, roughly chopped, keeping leaves & stems separate
1x red chilli, finely chopped (with or without seeds)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3x large fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1x tin tomatoes
2.5cm (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, grated
juice of 1 lemon
425g (15 oz) prawns, shelled and deveined

Cut courgettes into thin batons, approximately 6 cm (2.5 in) long x .5 cm (1/4 in) thick.  Place in a colander, sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt, and toss thoroughly.  Set aside for an hour to allow surplus liquid to drain out of the courgettes.  Remove from colander to a clean tea towel and pat dry.

Prawns with Courgettes 1

Heat the oil in a medium sized pot or frying pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute.  As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, add the chilli, coriander stems (save the leaves for later), turmeric, cumin, tomatoes, ginger, lemon juice and another pinch of flaky sea salt.  (Add a pinch of cayenne pepper here too if you like a little more heat).  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently until the tomatoes have broken down and become "saucy".

Stir in the prawns and continue to simmer until the prawns are just cooked through and coated in a thick sauce.

Stir through the chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.

I served this with some steamed basmati rice, but you could just as easily serve it with nothing more than a bit of flat bread on the side to scoop it up with.

If you would like to get to know Madhur a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

IHeartCookingClubsMadhurJaffrey

... or check out Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and many of Madhur's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

          Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery

I'm sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

See Ya in The Gumbo Badge

18 comments:

  1. Looks nice and easy ^_^ Do you still have courgettes from the garden this late?

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    1. Thanks, Sasa. Yes, courgettes are still growing like crazy in my garden.

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  2. Sue -We are equally as excited and honored to have you! It's going to be so much fun cooking up Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes together.

    This recipe is right up my alley. I love all the ingredients, right down to the copious amount of garlic used. It looks lovely!

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    1. Thanks so much, Kim. I knew that you would love this recipe :-)

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  3. Looks and sounds absolutely delicious. Can't wait to try, thanks for sharing :)

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  4. Hi Sue,
    That is one vibrant delicious looking prawn dish! You are making me drool just looking at the photo!
    Congratulations for being the new co-host of this lovely cooking club! I have heard of YO but have not tried any of his recipes before. Definitely looking forward to it!

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    1. Thanks, Joyce. This is a very delicious dish, but very quick and simple. I'm sure you're going to love cooking with Ottolenghi.

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  5. Gorgeous Sue! So bright and colorful and I love it on top of the rice--a perfect one bowl meal to enjoy.

    We are so happy to have you as a co-host at IHCC! This will be a fun six months with Ottolenghi. ;-)

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    1. Thanks, Deb. Was great on rice - think it would also be pretty good on noodles. It's going to be an awesome six months with Ottolenghi.

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  6. I'm so excited that you will be co-hosting IHCC, Sue!
    This dish is so vibrant and beautiful. Thank you for sharing with my potluck!

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    1. Thanks, Michelle - I'm really looking forward to co-hosting at IHCC.

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  7. Congratulations on becoming a co-host! With your passion for great food and vino we will all be in good hands. I am so excited to Ottolenghi to be the next chosen chef as with your previous recommendation of his recipes, has taken my slightly 'stuck in a rut' cooking to something really special that really surprises my family. Well done Sue :-)

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    1. Thanks, Becks. I know how much you love Ottolenghi, so I'm sure you're going to enjoy the next 6 months of recipes. I hadn't thought of it that way, but you only have to flick through one of Ottolenghi's books to immediately feel inspired out of those "cooking ruts" that we all fall into from time to time.
      xo

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  8. Congratulation on becoming the new co host Sue! and this recipe just wonderful I will soon try this, i just adore the combination of courgettes and prawns!

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    1. Thanks, Ananda. I'm really looking forward to hosting over at IHCC. Hope you enjoy the dish.

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  9. I just tried it tonight - quick and scrumptious!!!!
    Jen

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    1. Hi Jen, pleased you enjoyed it. It's definitely a great dish for a quick, mid-week dinner. Hope all is well with you.
      xo

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