Chemmeen ‘eerkkili’-yil kuthi varuthatahu - Kerala Style Skewered Prawn Fry

Having difficulty in comprehending the title..? I know it’s a bit strange for my non-Keralite Indian friends and totally clueless for the western tongue. It is a household name for a simple seafood dish prepared and served with a fancy look .......my grandma’s indigenous alternative to store-bought wooden skewers! ‘Eerkkili’ is the tender rib of the coconut leaves and Chemmeen ‘eerkkili’-yil kuthi varuthathu means skewered prawn fry, from Kerala, cooked with its pungent spices, flavorful coconut oil and aromatic fresh herbs. A specialty from my grandma’s kitchen when she expected some special guests or to entertain her sons-in-law .....the fancy prawn dish my mother used to prepare when she got some jumbo prawns, once in a blue moon!! At our place, this is the only “naadan” (an old-fashioned, country side) dish that gets to share the ground with the much elevated chicken wings and personally, I would go for this Kerala style skewered prawn fry anytime over a plate of Kebobs or chicken wings!

Ingredients:

For Frying:

• 5 large prawns/shrimps as in the picture, peeled, deveined and washed thoroughly
• 1 tbsp chilly powder (adjust to your taste and tolerance)
  
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• Around ½ tsp homemade garam masala
• Around ½ tsp freshly ground pepper powder
• 1 ½ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• 2 ½ tbsp oil, preferably coconut oil
• 5 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 4 hours or some ‘pacha- eerkkili’

For Sautéing:

• 1 small size big onion, thinly sliced
• 4 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
• 1 small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 tbsp oil, preferably coconut oil
• Leftover marinade applied on prawns
• Salt to taste

Direction:

• Make a marinade with chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, ground pepper powder, salt and lemon juice and apply it on prawns, and insert each of them onto eerkkili/skewer and leave it in room temperature for around 30 minutes. DO NOT throw away the leftover masala; save it as it is needed for sautéing at a later stage.
• Heat oil in a shallow pan and shallow fry the prawns, flipping each side, at medium heat for around 2 minutes, for each side. Keep the fried prawns aside.(Note: Prawns does not require much time to get cooked; also it loses it flavour and taste if it is fried too much and also it turns very dry and firm.)
• Heat oil in another pan and sauté sliced onions till soft; then add green chillies, garlic and ginger and cook until they turn brown which is the stage beyond the golden colour; do not deep fry and let it turn dark brown. When it turns brown, add the leftover marinade, which is kept aside, after applying on the prawns earlier, and mix well with the onion masala and stir for a minute or till the raw smell goes. At this stage, reduce heat to warm-low and add the shallow-fried prawns to this masala and some crushed curry leaves as well. Mix everything well, adjust the salt and pile up all the masala on the prawns and keep the lid and let it cook , in warm-low flame, for a minute or two or and turn off the stove.
• Serve warm as an appetizer or with rice or chappathi (Indian flat bread )or Palappam (Kerala’s laced pancakes)

Note: While peeling the shells, keep the tail intact, as it adds a touch of fancy look to the dish, especially when it is served as an appetizer. Those who want to use eerkkili./coconut leaf rib can use fresh raw ones to give it a “Naadan” touch. The tail end of the eerkkili or skewer can be wrapped with a small piece of aluminum foil, while frying and sautéing the prawns, to keep that part clean, when you serve this as an appetizer at a party. Since I don’t have access to eerkkili here, I used skewers. You may try the same preparation without skewers too.

Check out my grandma’s signature dish; "Meen Pollichathu: Fish in Banana leaf wraps – A Central Kerala Delicacy"

Luv
Shn

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