A Prawn Cocktail for the New Millennium
I remember the reverence with which we used to treat avocados - they were so expensive that one had to be shared between the four of us. Dad used to make peppery scrambled eggs with finely chopped herbs to fill their hollows. Gradually they became more accessible, but buying enough for a guacamole was still wildly extravagant, and it was always padded out into a strange pale and creamy green with Philadephia cream cheese. (I’m sure that’s where they got the exact colour of those bathroom suites from… ) It wasn’t until years later that I got wise to Guacamole made without loads of dairy-based padding, and based on the possibility of cheap and plentiful quantities of avocados, limes, chillis and coriander… But that’s for another day. Today is the day to write about this dish I just made. It is one of the things I make which my father likes best – a signature dish, perhaps? I can’t remember where I first got the idea from, but I think it was a page torn out of a magazine. The combination of tropical fruit and crustaceans seems just right, and absolutely the taste of summer. Whenever I ask my family what they want on the Christmas menu (which in Australia is in summer, of course) (and yes, I know, Christmas isn’t very Indian, but we’re Indian-ish, remember?), this always ends up being the starter. (But I guess unless Prawn fishing gets more sustainable in the very near future, it will soon be a thing of Christmas past…)
Ingredients
A variable quantity, depending on your budget of:
Prawns or Crayfish tails (raw or cooked)
Mangos
Avocados
Melons (Honeydew, Canteloupe, Charantais, even Papaya would work)
(Today I used about 500g of prawns (shell on weight), 2 small mangos, 2 small avocados and no melon for a very greedy 2 of us)
Lemons and/or limes
Mayonnaise in a jar
Chilli sauce or chilli oil
Tomato Ketchup
Bland oil (or olive oil if you like)
Wine vinegar (red, white, cider or sherry, but definitely not balsamic)
Salt
Pepper
Iceberg lettuce and Coriander to garnish (optional)
Directions
Cook, cool, peel and de-vein the prawns. If they are large, cut them into halves. Put them into a bowl. Make a small amount of homemade vinaigrette (I use 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and shake it all in an empty jar. Any leftover and I put it in the fridge.) Squeeze half a lemon and half a lime (you can mix them). Pour some lemon and lime juice and some of the vinaigrette over the prawns and let them sit. While they are sitting, peel and chop into large bite-size pieces the mangos and avocados. The melon should be a bit smaller and not too vast in quantity as it tends to swamp the dish. Put all the fruit into a large bowl. Drain the vinaigrette and citrus juices off the prawns into a small bowl or jug. There should be at least 3 tablespoons of liquid. Mix with quite a lot of Mayonnaise – say 4 tablespoons. Add a teaspoon of chilli sauce, a squirt of ketchup and stir well. Taste and if necessary add salt and pepper. You should have a very generous quantity of sauce, so if there is not enough, add a bit more mayonnaise and other ingredients to increase the volume of sauce. It should be about the consistency of low fat yogurt. Mix the fruit, prawns and sauce together. Line one large or several individual bowls with whole lettuce leaves and put a little shredded lettuce at the bottom of each one and put the mixture on top. Garnish sparingly with whole coriander leaves. Delicious!
Ingredients
A variable quantity, depending on your budget of:
Prawns or Crayfish tails (raw or cooked)
Mangos
Avocados
Melons (Honeydew, Canteloupe, Charantais, even Papaya would work)
(Today I used about 500g of prawns (shell on weight), 2 small mangos, 2 small avocados and no melon for a very greedy 2 of us)
Lemons and/or limes
Mayonnaise in a jar
Chilli sauce or chilli oil
Tomato Ketchup
Bland oil (or olive oil if you like)
Wine vinegar (red, white, cider or sherry, but definitely not balsamic)
Salt
Pepper
Iceberg lettuce and Coriander to garnish (optional)
Directions
Cook, cool, peel and de-vein the prawns. If they are large, cut them into halves. Put them into a bowl. Make a small amount of homemade vinaigrette (I use 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and shake it all in an empty jar. Any leftover and I put it in the fridge.) Squeeze half a lemon and half a lime (you can mix them). Pour some lemon and lime juice and some of the vinaigrette over the prawns and let them sit. While they are sitting, peel and chop into large bite-size pieces the mangos and avocados. The melon should be a bit smaller and not too vast in quantity as it tends to swamp the dish. Put all the fruit into a large bowl. Drain the vinaigrette and citrus juices off the prawns into a small bowl or jug. There should be at least 3 tablespoons of liquid. Mix with quite a lot of Mayonnaise – say 4 tablespoons. Add a teaspoon of chilli sauce, a squirt of ketchup and stir well. Taste and if necessary add salt and pepper. You should have a very generous quantity of sauce, so if there is not enough, add a bit more mayonnaise and other ingredients to increase the volume of sauce. It should be about the consistency of low fat yogurt. Mix the fruit, prawns and sauce together. Line one large or several individual bowls with whole lettuce leaves and put a little shredded lettuce at the bottom of each one and put the mixture on top. Garnish sparingly with whole coriander leaves. Delicious!
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