Tandoori Prawns

Here is a quick and easy to make prawn appetizer / starter. It takes less than 5 minutes to put everything together and marinate for 20 minutes and then bake in the oven until crispy and have a nice char. These are spicy, sweet and tastes delicious. Serve it with red onion slices and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and serve hot.  I used fresh prawns today, however you can use frozen prawns too. This one is definitely a crowd pleaser !  Serve it with mint cilantro chutney or your favourite dip.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Prawns
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon plain natural yogurt / curd
• 1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon red chilli flakes
• a pinch of turmeric powder
• a big pinch of cumin powder
• a pinch of Italian seasoning
• a big pinch of garlic powder
• Salt to taste
• Juice of half lemon
• 1 small red onion for serving
• 1 Lemon cut into wedges for serving
• 1 Teaspoon chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Remove prawn shell, head and tail and devein the prawns
2. In a large mixing bowl, add prawns. Add vegetable oil, yogurt, ground black pepper, red chilli powder, red chilli flakes, turmeric powder, cumin powder, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt to taste and toss gently to coat all prawns with the spice mix. Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes
3. After 20 minutes, grease a baking tray / cookie sheet with generous spray of oil
4. Transfer the prawns to the cookie sheet and spread them with little space
5. Bake at 200 C in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven, If there is any water in the pan, drain the water using a scoop / laddle
6. Flip the prawns so that the other side also gets cooked. Return the tray to the oven and bake at 200 C for 5 more minutes until all water evaporates and prawn is cooked through
7. Now change the oven to grill mode  / broiler and cook it for a quick 2 minutes until the prawns have a nice char on them
8. Remove the prawns from the baking tray. Squeeze juice of half lemon and toss
9. Serve with red onion slices and lemon wedges. And serve immediately