Tandoori prawns

“We love a prawn (shrimp) on the barbie, and what could be better than an Indian spiced prawn cooked inside the tandoor on a skewer, the intense heat from all sides cooking the prawn quickly and keeping all the juices intact. Ajwain has a strong thyme flavour – you’ll find it at Indian stores. Kashmiri chilli is warm rather than hot, and closer to paprika.” Maeve O’Meara, Food Safari Fire

Credit: Toufic Charabati

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) large prawns (shrimps), deveined and shell left intact
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ¼ lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp heaped ajwain (carom seeds), ground
• 60 g (2 oz/¼ cup) Greek-style yoghurt
• squeeze of lemon juice, to serve

Instructions

Light the tandoor, barbecue or charcoal grill and heat to about 200°C (400°F).

Pat the prawns dry on a tea towel.

To make the marinade, whisk together the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, lemon juice, ajwain, yoghurt and some salt to taste.

Dip the prawns into the marinade (leaving the heads out).

Thread three prawns onto each skewer, through the head and then through the tail.

Cook for about 3 minutes in the tandoor or until the prawns turn orangish-red.

Remove from the tandoor and serve hot with a mint and coriander chatni or simply with a squeeze of lemon.

Note

• A simple mint and coriander chatni can be made with a cup each of mint and coriander leaves, a green chilli, and 1 teaspoon each of grated ginger and ground cumin. Blitz and add lemon juice and salt to taste.

Recipe from Food Safari Fire by Maeve O'Meara (Hardie Grant, hbk, $55).  Photography by Toufic Charabati.

Food Safari Fire starts Thursday 7 January 2016 at 8pm on SBS. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.