Mom’s dish inspires chef

It has been 23 years for me in the hospitality industry. My biggest inspiration for who I am today and what I do is credited to my mother. I grew up seeing her plating delicious food, every day. Seeing her entering the kitchen tireless after work gave a different kind of energy.

I started helping her in the kitchen doing little things like peeling, cutting and chopping, during my school days. This helped me learn the basics of cooking.

Since both my parents were working, this came in handy, as I had to do a couple of things myself after I reached home from school. Most of the times, I used to make snack items like pakodas or desserts like ice creams, puddings and custard. My mother used to be pleasantly surprised but she always had an idea about my interest in cooking. The biggest surprise was for my father.

My mother is from Kerala but she was born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh. I still remember she made this chicken dish which was like a chicken roast. The chicken is first cooked in the masalas in a pressure cooker and then sauteed in onions and made it dry. My mom learned it from her grandmother and I have picked it up from her. This is one recipe that I used to look forward to and has remained close to my heart.

My favourite cuisine has been South Indian. I love the variety that Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu cuisines have. Fresh seafood like fish fry or fish curry which I generally have with rice and dal is my comfort food. For me, ginger is one of my most favourite ingredients. I play around a lot with ginger while making both South Indian dishes and Western cuisines. I love the flavour and fragrance of this ingredient. It gives a unique twist of aroma to a dish.

I am sharing the recipe for Butter Garlic Prawns. Being grown up in a family where seafood was readily available anytime this dish reminds me of olden times. There is not much ingredients or masalas in it so it brings out the flavour and the freshness of the prawns with the butter and garlic.

Chef Daniel Koshy
Executive Chef, JW Marriott Hotel

Butter Garlic Prawns
Ingredients
Prawns - 300 gms (6 numbers)
Egg - 1
Salt - 5 gms
White Pepper - 5 gms
Corn flour - 5 gms
Garlic oil - 5 ml
Chopped garlic - 15 gms
Butter - 15 gms
Olives - 5gms
Cherry tomato - 5 gms’
Broth powder - 5 gms
Lemon - 1
Fried garlic - 10 gms
Caper - 15 gms’
Oil for deep frying

Procedure
Marinate prawns with salt, white pepper, broth powder, egg and corn flour.
Deep fry in oil.
Season the wok, pour garlic oil, add chopped garlic and butter. Add the fried prawns and lemon juice. And toss.
Add in fried garlic, cherry tomato and fried capers.
Place the prawns in a plate with fried garlic and capers and serve hot.