Cast Iron

Kismur - a dry shrimp salad.

July 31, 2018
5
1 Ratings
Photo by Anurag Mehrotra
  • Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

I have always been fascinated by dried fish/prawns but for some reason never enjoyed them. Then I ate Kismur and my love affair with dried prawns began. Here is my preparation of Kismur! —Anurag Mehrotra

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Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup Dry prawns (preferably larger ones)
  • 1/2 cup Freshly grated coconut (using a coconut scraper)
  • 1 Large onion, chopped finely
  • 1/2 teaspoon Tamarind paste
  • 1 teaspoon Oil (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
Directions
  1. Clean the dry prawns by taking off the head, legs and tails.
  2. Roast the prawns on a medium flame on a cast iron griddle or frying pan.
  3. Keep stirring and when they are toasted and light brown, take off the fire (if required you may add the oil while roasting the prawns). They will get crisp/crunchy/toasty after a little while.
  4. Mix together the coconut, cayenne and turmeric powders, tamarind paste and salt thoroughly.
  5. Just before serving/eating add the prawn pieces and chopped onion and mix well once again.
  6. Do not add prawns before hand as they will get soft.
  7. Enjoy as a side with Dal/Rice or Fish Curry/Rice.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

3 Reviews

mikedalena November 25, 2018
When you say to clean the prawns by removing the head, tails, and legs what is left? If all these parts are discarded I am confused by what is supposed to be left to cook. The image appears to have the tails but these were “cleaned” away from the prawn so are we to assume that you mean to break the prawns up and use all those parts or are we to discard the heads and legs and actually save the tails? The instructions are unclear as to what cleaning means in this context.
Anurag M. November 25, 2018
Hope this video is helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgrokEuuz0o
mikedalena November 25, 2018
Ah ha! That makes so much more sense! I was imagining a far more destructive process that one would pursue with a larger shrimp. I cannot wait to try this. It sounds amazing! 🦐