Prawns Sukka

I first tasted a Sukka dish a few years ago, when I was invited to judge a cooking competition held by the Kannada Club in Bahrain. Sukka is a traditional Mangalorean dry dish made with coconut and spices. That day they were quite a few Chicken Sukka dishes and I really enjoyed the flavours.

However I had to leave the competition before the winners were announced and so I didn't get a chance to interact with the participants and ask about their dishes.

Now, if I may, let me tell you how I feel about cooking competitions. It’s very difficult for me to “critique” anything in general (I’m sure Jose will not agree with this statement nor will my parents, but then they’re my “exceptions” to everything).

So when it comes to “critiquing” or “judging” food it’s tough for me. As long as I don't have to cook and someone else has taken effort to feed me, I’m very grateful and appreciate the efforts.

Except for the fact that I don't eat certain things, am not at all fussy about the taste and the combinations. I even eat Chapathi / Upma / Puttu with Cabbage Thoran, if that’s all there is. I guess I started becoming more appreciative of others cooking, especially after I started cooking ;)

I always feel the taste and feel of the dish, varies for each and everyone. I do agree there is a standard procedure and a taste associated with every dish, but at the end of the day, it all comes to your own taste buds.

For instance, I like my food to be well cooked, I don't even mind it being over cooked a bit but undercooked doesn't sit well with me. Whenever we travel outside I’ve this problem with eggs, meat and fish. I try to make it very clear I want my eggs to be very very well done and without fail I get an eye roll from the server most of the time. Forget about the meat… I want my meat to be brown inside out  and I’m almost scared to say it out loud when we order steak or something. But Jose likes it medium rare, so I guess it all depends on how “you” like it.

Anyways, now coming back to our recipe, Prawns Sukka… I wanted to try a new Prawns recipe for rice. I wanted something different from the usual Kerala style and look where I landed. After all, the fruit doesn't fall far from its tree right ;)

As I’ve already said Sukka is a traditional Mangalorean dish made with coconut and spices. I guess the one common factor of Kerala and Mangalorean cuisine is “coconut” . Like us, Mangaloreans also use a lot of coconut in daily cooking.

Though coconut and spices are used in this dish, the flavour is different from the Kerala style. May be the combination of spices used with coconut and the fact that coconut is not roasted gives the distinct flavour to this dish. It was a new and different flavour and we enjoyed it very much. Hope you get to try this and like it too.

Here is the recipe…

Dry roast all the ingredients from dried red chilli (4) to fenugreek seeds, for 4-5 mins on low flame. Grind this coarsely…

Add coconut and tamarind pulp to this and grind again, till you get a coarse coconut paste. Keep it aside…

Heat oil in a deep and wide pan. Crackle mustard seeds (1/4 tsp). Add chopped onion & curry leaves. Cook till it becomes soft…

Add crushed ginger & garlic, green chilli & dried red chilli (1). Cook for 3-4 mins…

Add chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and cook till tomatoes become soft. Add a little water (1-2 tbsp) to bring the masala together…

Add Kashmiri chilli powder and cook for 2 mins…

Add cleaned prawns and mix well…

Add 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Simmer and cook for 6-7 mins, until it becomes thick or reaches a semi dry consistency…

Add coconut paste and mix well. Continue to cook on low flame for 4-5 mins, till the coconut paste is coated well over the prawns. Drizzle some oil if required…

Recipe from here