love & light

Main dishes

There are more to Diwali food than sweetmeats. Verushka Ramasami shares two of her tried-and-tested recipes.

PRAWN CURRY

This is one dish we always make on special occasions. Even as a kid, we had prawn curry at Diwali, Christmas, Easter and birthdays. It was a real treat, because prawns were expensive, and we added eggs to extend the meal. I only realised a few years ago that the practice of adding boiled eggs stems from the Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. I have been watching this dish lovingly prepared for over 30 years. I did say that my love language is food, right?

• 30 ml (2 tbsp) fish masala
• 5 ml (1 tsp) chilli, ginger and garlic mix (I use Pure Spice’s mix)
• 800 g prawns, peeled and deveined
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) ghee (You can use butter, but ghee is amazing.)
• 3 eggs (1 per person)
• 5 ml (1 tsp) mustard seeds
• 5 ml (1 tsp) cumin seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 1 large onion,• • • • • • • •