Prawn Thokku | Prawn Thokku Recipe

Spicy and tangy prawn thokku recipe also known as eral thokku is made with gingelly oil, sliced onions, green chillies and tamarind. The thick rich prawn masala taste absolutely delicious with some rice, idli, idiyappam or appam.

Prawn Thokku

Eral Thokku or Prawn thokku is a spicy onion tomato and tamarind based curry made with lots of spices and gingelly oil. The particular dish is made thick and curry like which can be served with rice, idli or dosa.

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About Prawn Thokku

Prawn thokku is a traditional recipe from the south part of india. It is made using indian prawns which are cleaned and deveined. A spicy curry is prepared by sauteing onions, tomatoes and spices in gingelly oil. The prawns are then added in the curry and cooked with tamarind as a result gives a much robust flavours.

Because it is a spicy curry it is best to have them with rice or roti. This particular curry taste delicious with any indian mains.

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Ingredients

Prawns – for making prawn thokku it is better to use small to medium size prawns which cooks faster and clings to the masala better than large prawns. if you are using larger prawns, I will recommend you to chop it into small pieces.

Onions & Tomatoes – sliced onions or shallots and tomatoes form the base of the thokku.

Ginger & Garlic – add freshly ground ginger and garlic paste for flavour and aroma.

Spice Powders – kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, fenugreek, coriander, cumin and garam masala powder is added to maximize the thokku taste.

Tamarind – thokku always means something tangy. In this recipe we use tamarind pulp which goes really well with prawns.

Oil – gingelly oil also known as Indian sesame oil provides the authentic flavour to the dish.

How to Make Eral Thokku

Making eral thokku or prawn thokku at home is very easy. You just need a handful of ingredients which you might already have on hand. Just take your time to cook it because the result is worth the wait.

Pre Preparation – Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 mins. Squeeze and extract the pulp. If using tamarind pulp, mix with water and set aside. Roast spices and powder fine.

Making Prawn Thokku Base – Heat oil in a large kadai. Add in fenugreek seeds, mustard, garlic, dry red chillies, curry leaves and fry them for 2 mins. Add in chopped onions and green chillies. Season with salt and turmeric powder. Saute this for 5 mins or so till it is cooked. Now add in ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves. Add coriander and chilli powder and mix well. Cook the spices for 2 to 3 mins till the raw smell leaves from it. Add in tomato puree and cook that till it softens and gets mushed up. Pour in tamarind and salt, cook until thickened and oil separates.

Adding Prawns – At this point add in prawns and mix well. Cook the prawns for 2 mins in the masala. Now the prawns are cooked, sprinkle the powdered spices, haggery garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Serve.

Prawn Thokku (Step by Step Pictures)

Special Masala

1)Take all the whole spices mentioned below in a dry pan. Toast on medium heat until aromatic. It will take around 3 mins.

• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds 
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp mustard seeds 

2)Once spices are roasted and cooled, take it in a blender and powder slightly coarse. Set this aside.

Make Base

3)heat gingelly oil in a pan. Add in mustard, fenugreek, cumin, dry red chillies, garlic, curry leaves and let them sizzle.

4)Add in chopped onions, green chillies and mix well.

5)Cook until the onions get golden brown in colour.

6)Now add in ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Cook that for couple of mins until aromatic.

7)Add in coriander powder and red chilli powder.

8)Stir fry for few minutes until fragrant.

8)Now add in tomato puree and mix well.

9)Cook until raw smell from tomatoes leaves and the curry thickens.

10)Pour in tamarind water.

11)Season with salt.

12)Cook that until oil separates from the mixture and the thokku thickens.

13)Add in cleaned prawns and stir fry on high for 4 to 5 mins.

14)Now cover the prawns and cook further.

15)Add in garam masala powder, roasted and ground masala, jaggery and mix well.

16)Add in coriander leaves.

17)Serve.

Expert Tips

• Use gingelly oil for making this for best flavour. 
• I don’t prefer using the tail in prawn. But you can use that if you want.
• Take your time to cook the masala. It makes the curry delicious.
• You can add a small amount of jaggery in the curry if needed.

Serving & Storage

Prawn thokku can be cooled and stored in a container in fridge for up to 4 days.

Eral thokku taste delicious with rice. I like to serve it with steamed rice, either red matta rice or regular white rice. but it taste delicious with

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