South Indian
Prawn Thokku
Prawn Thokku is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb shrimp
- 1 onion
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1.5 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp tamarind pulp
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 12 curry leaves
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 3/4 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Peel and devein the shrimp if not already done.
- Heat the oil in a pan, let the mustard seeds pop, then add the curry leaves and onion and cook until golden, about 6 minutes.
- Stir in the ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chili powder, and ground coriander, then add the chopped tomatoes and tamarind pulp and cook down until thick and jammy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and salt and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are just pink and the masala clings thickly to them, about 5 minutes.
- Finish with cilantro and serve hot with rice.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Prawn Thokku, read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Prawn Thokku carries shellfish. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- High
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Meat or fish and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Prawn Thokku takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on shrimp, tomato, and onion.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.