Mustard Prawns the Copycat Version / Garden

This will be my first entry to The Copycat Club's debut!. Have you heard of The Copycat Club? If not, then it is about time you do. The Copycat Club is a club that features copycat recipes from your favourite restaurant, favourite fast-food, famous bakeries, just about anything that can be eaten, as long as it is a copycat! The person behind this is Tia from Buttercream Barbie. For more details about this club and how to join in the fun please do visit Tia's fantastic blog.   My first entry will be Mustard Prawns from the Taj Group of Hotels.

Taj Group of Hotels is famous, right? This recipe is taken from the book, "The Best of Indian Cooking : A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels", edited by John Mitchell.  This book was published in the year 1994, oh gosh, I was just a sweet young twenty something at that time! Boy, time really flies in a blink of an eye! Well, I bought it maybe not in 1994, but certainly not far from that year! And all this while, I have only tried maybe two recipes from this book.

The recipes from this book, according to John Mitchell, was edited with some changes from the original ones, with approval from the chefs, to make the recipes practical for use in the domestic kitchen.  So this is the copycat versions from the originals! Perfect! And to think that I do not have any copycat recipe on hand, it has been sitting on my shelf for years!

This is a very tasty dish. I have not been to any of the Taj Group of Hotels, obviously have not tried any of their food, but this is delicious with plain white rice. (My hubby had second helpings!). This is very simple and easy, just get everything cut and ready before you start cooking. Give it a try. For an authentic Indian style of serving, serve it on a banana leaf, on a plate. 

I'm linking this to Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen and Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen. 


Kaduku Eral (Mustard Prawns)
(adapted from "The Best of Indian Cooking - A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels" edited by John Mitchell)
600gm prawns
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
8 curry leaves
1 heaped tbsp chilli powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves

Shell and de-vein the prawns, then wash under running water, pat dry and set aside.  Chop finely the onion, tomatoes and garlic.  Heat the oil in a pan until very hot, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.  When they start to crackle,  immediately add the onion and garlic and saute until softened.  Next add the tomato and cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the chilli powder and stir well.  Lower the heat and add the prawns.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, then season with salt to taste.  To serve : transfer to a large plate and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

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A little post on my garden...... continuation from last post

Ever seen this flower?  Can you name the plant of this flower?

Cannot guess the name of this plant with this pretty flower?  Not many people do!  These pretty flower belongs to the Curry Leaf Plant!  Are you surprised? The flowers has a light jasmine-like fragrance, it will turn to small round red berry-like fruits, which will eventually changed to black.  According to Wikipedia, the fruits can be eaten but the seeds inside are highly poisonous.  Would you dare to try the fruits? 

Curry leaves are very aromatic and extremely important in curry dishes.  It is used worldwide in various cuisine. Over in our multi-racial Malaysia here, it is used by all races, even the  Chinese restaurants use the leaves for extra aroma in many delicious fried dishes, not necessarily spicy.   But, not many of us have seen or even aware that the ever popular curry leaves has flowers just like any other plant. So the next time when you pick a bunch of these leaves from the store, think about the pretty flower! Hope you have enjoyed reading this little post!