Indian cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Prawn Balchao

A Goan shrimp pickle: a hot-and-sour paste of dried chilies, garlic and vinegar, cooked down until thick.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g shrimp (peeled)
• 12 dried red chilies
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1 piece ginger (4 cm)
• 150 ml wine vinegar
• 3 onions
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 6 tbsp oil
• Salt

Instructions

1. Deseed the dried chilies and soak them in 100 ml of the wine vinegar for 20 min.; devein the shrimp, season with salt and pat thoroughly dry.
2. Grind the soaked chilies together with their vinegar, the garlic, ginger, cumin, cloves and the broken cinnamon stick into a smooth, deep red paste.
3. Heat the oil in a wide pot and sear the shrimp over high heat for 1–2 min. until just pink; remove and set aside.
4. Fry the finely diced onions in the same oil over medium heat for 10–12 min. until dark golden brown and fragrantly sweet.
5. Add the spice paste and stir for 8–10 min. until the oil separates red at the edge of the pot, then stir in the remaining vinegar, sugar and salt and cook down thickly for 5 min.
6. Fold in the shrimp, let steep for 2 min. and serve warm or cold with rice or flatbread – sealed in a jar, balchao keeps for two weeks in the fridge.