Prawn Patra

A twist to a traditional Parsi dish

• CuisineIndian
• CategorySeafood
• CourseMains

Ingredients

• 500 gmsPrawns, shelled
• 20-30Curry leaves
• Banana leaves
• Aluminium Foil
•  
• Patra Paste
• 4 tbspGarlic
• 4 tbspGinger
• 8 tbspGrated coconut
• 4 bunchesFresh coriander leaves
• 1 bunchMint leaves
• 4Green chillies
• 4 tbspJaggery
• 4 tspCumin seeds
• 4 tbspMalt vinegar
• 4 tbspOil
• 4 tbspLemon juice
• 2 tspChilli powder
• 1 tspTurmeric powder
• 1 tspSalt

Preparation

1. Grind all ingredients for the patra paste in batches adding as little water as possible. Grind coarsely.
2. Pass banana leaves over an open flame to make them more pliable
3. Place a square of aluminium foil
4. Place a piece of banana leaf on top
5. Spray the leaf lightly with oil
6. Put a little over a tablespoon of the patra paste
7. Place 3 to 4 prawns on the paste
8. Add more patra paste on top
9. Add a few curry leaves on top
10. Wrap up the banana leaf
11. Hold banana leaf closed and wrap the foil around it
12. Do the same with the remaining prawns and paste
13. Steam them in batches for 20 minutes each

This dish is traditionally made with fish, usually the pomfret. I use prawns as a variation. When grinding, you may need to add some water. This may make the paste too runny and hard to contain in the packet. For the remaining batches, instead of water, use the runny first batch instead. This way you will end up with a relatively firm paste

Wrapping it in banana leaves is a skill that I haven't yet mastered. So to make things simpler, I wrap it with banana leaves and then with foil. The foil keeps it together and prevents leaks from slits in the leaves. You also have to make the banana leaves more pliable by passing them over an open flame. Keep it on the flame long enough for the colour to change to a brighter green before passing the rest of the leaf over the flame.

It is just not fair to have such a novel dish while leaving the vegetarian guests in the lurch - so I make another batch using partially boiled potatoes and cauliflower instead of the prawns.

Here are the ingredients laid out in a cicle, ready to be made into packets. From the left, clockwise, are the banana leaves, prawns, patra paste, boiled vegetables for the vegetarian version and curry leaves.

Place a square of foil

Cut a square from the softened banana leaf and place over the foil. You can optionally spray some oil on top.

Place some patra paste and put in some prawns or vegetables if it is the vegetarian version.

Add some more patra paste on top and add some curry leaves

Carefully close the banana leaf. Wrap it in the foil so that it does not open up or leak

After being steamed for 20 minutes, open the foil and serve the packets. Open up the packet and you see the cooked prawns in the cooked patra paste.

The vegetarian version looks something like this. On the left, you can see a packet still in foil and one out of foil.