Lemon Butter Prawns Spaghetti

The “lemon butter” in the name attracted me to prepare this recipe. I had never used lemon zest in any kind of culinary exploits till now. And it did turn out too good!

Ingredients:
Lemon Zest ½ tsp Red Chilli Flakes ½ tsp

50 gms Salted Butter (Amul)

8 medium sized Prawns

100 gms Spaghetti (Bambino)
Salt, Pepper, Lemon juice to taste

Method:
For the Prawns:

Add Lemon Zest & Chilli Flakes to the butter, mix well with a spoon, and keep it overnight. This will help infuse both the lemony and the chilli flavour into the butter.

Heat butter in a pan, and add the prawns, and sauté on low heat, turning them once, for 2 mins. Add salt n pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 3 mins and the prawns are done.

For the Spaghetti:
Add Spaghetti to boiling water, stir once in a while, add a spoonful of salt and cook for 10 to 12 mins.
Remove the Spaghetti once done, into a plate, and squeeze juice of half a lemon into it.

Now gently add the prawns and the lemon sauce to the Spaghetti, and enjoy it while it is still hot!

Note: take care while adding the salt, the butter is salted, and the Spaghetti too has been cooked in Salted boiling water.
Lemon Zest: Grate the lemon surface gently on a smallest size grater, and one lemon gives you half a tsp of zest.

Mutton Sukka

Mutton Sukka

Ingredients:

400 gms boneless mutton, into medium sized pieces

2 onions finely chopped, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3 tbsp oil, 15-20 curry leaves, 2 tsp mutton masala powder

1 tsp coriander powder,  ½ tsp turmeric powder,

1 tsp raw papaya paste (tenderizer), black pepper powder, salt & lemon to taste

Method:

Clean mutton pieces, apply ½ tsp turmeric powder, and 1 tsp raw papaya paste(tenderizer), and keep in the fridge for 8 hrs, to marinate.

Heat oil in a pan, and saute chopped onions till tender & translucent.

Add curry leaves, and ginger-garlic paste, and sauté for 3-4 mins on medium heat till onions turn brown.

Add the mutton pieces, and sauté on high heat for 5 mins. Mutton will release moisture. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 mins or till the water dries out. 

Add masala powder and saute for 2 mins. 

Then add 2 cups of hot water to the pan, mix well, cover and cook on low heat for half an hour.

Add salt and pepper to taste, add half a cup of water, and cover and keep for 10 mins.

Remove cover, and sauté for 5-7 mins on medium heat till the water dries out completely and the mutton pieces are almost dry. Squeeze juice of one lemon, stir well, and serve hot.

These spicy and tender pieces of meat can be best enjoyed with chilled beer, or rasam rice, and even curd rice, and plain dal rice!

Masala Drumsticks

Drumsticks are my favourite, and carry a unique and distinct flavour. They take Sambar, Kadhi, and even the maharashtrian Pithle to a level higher! In most recipes, they are cut into 2 inch pieces and added to whatever recipe being made. I have tried to make them in a different way, and they tasted superb, I am sure drumsticks fans will relish this preparation.

Ingredients:

8 drumsticks, please select the tender ones. Cut them lengthwise into half (pl refer picture)

1 small onion (chopped fine lengthwise) , 1 small tomato (cut into medium size pieces), 8-10 curry leaves, 4 dried red chillies broken into pieces.

½ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp urad dal, ½ tsp asafoetida powder, 1 tsp sambar powder.

1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt to taste

Method:

With a spoon, remove the pulp/flesh from the drumsticks, scrape each drumstick hard to remove all flesh. Once done, you will have a bowlful of drumstick flesh. Throw away the skin.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, and red chilly, let them crackle for a minute.

Add chopped onions, and sauté for 2-3 mins on medium flame till onions are light brown. 

Add tomato pieces, sambar powder, and sauté for a minute, cover and cook for 2 mins till tomatoes are a bit tender.

Add the drumstick pulp, sauté for a minute, mix well, cover and cook for 5 mins. If a little bit thin gravy is desired add half a cup of water. Add salt,  mix well, cover and cook for a further minute. Add salt to taste and the lemon juice.

Once done, this goes extremely well with curd rice, or plain dal rice! The asafoetida, red chillies, and urad dal lend a nice flavour to the drumsticks!