Alibaag Kolambi Suke Recipe

Hmm...you must be wondering why am I calling it Alibag kolambi (prawns) suke (dry) recipe right? Well we went for a holiday to Alibaag about 15 or so years ago and since then I have searched high and low for this recipe to no avail...Let me start from the beginning. We went on a holiday and one of the days while we were sitting on a beach relaxing, one kolin (fisherwoman) came and asked us if we would like to have home made non-veg food for lunch. My dad asked her how much she would charge and the amount she mentioned seemed too low to all of us but she was making prawns, kokam kadhi, rice and chapaties. How could we resist that kind of food...So we said yes. At the end of the beach she had this hut in which there was hardly more space than 5 ft by 5ft but she had a stove and few grocery items in it. So she sat down and started cooking. Unfortunately by the time we came to see her cooking, she had already started on the kolambi so didn't get the recipe and I was just a child interested in eating not knowing how to make it at the time.

Once the food was ready she packed all of that and got it for us on the beach while we sat down and ate. The best part about this memory is, for three people it only costed us about Rs 100 but my Dad paid her more than Rs 200 just because we all loved the food and we felt she deserved lot more for the same. I mean we would have spent that much if we would have gone to the local restaurant. I always admired the fact that my Dad never hackled with the people who used to work hard to earn money like fish mongers, house helps, grocery people etc and paid them lot more sometimes saying that he grew up working in someone's house as a hired help and knew how if felt.

So back to my recipe, hmm...so after all these years of me pestering my Dad for the recipe for this he managed to catch hold of one of the local fisherwoman and asked her for the same and I so got it from the horses mouth if you know what I mean so enjoy this just like I did. Nothing gived you more pleasure than a perfect taste of a perfect dish like kolambi.

So without further delay here it goes...

Ingredients:

• 15-18 large raw peeled prawns (you can't use cooked prawns for this recipe as it will just spoil the whole taste and recipe, you will see why I am saying this if you read the recipe.)
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 big green chilli (medium hot)
• 2 big onions (the best way to know about this is your chopped onions should be 1 1/2 times the chopped prawns)
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 2-3 tsp red chilli powder ( I use paprika or kashmiri chilli powder which is not hot but gives esxcellent color-obviously you can change the quantity to suit your taste)
• Salt to taste
• Oil 4-5 big spoons
  

Puree ginger, garlic and green chilli in a blender. I usually add a small piece of tomato in this to blend small quantity easily. Now oil in this recipe is important as too little oil will not give the same taste. So heat the oil and add blended ginger-garlic-chilli puree in it and fry for 3 minutes. Now add finely chopped onions to it and fry for about 10-12 minutes and its very important that you fry the onions well for the authentic taste. Onions will become completely transparent and golden from edges. Now add red chilli powder and tomatoes in this and fry for another 4-5minutes or so. I can't emphasise enough on not cutting on the frying time as this is what gives it a unique taste. Now add chopped prawns ( I like to chop my prawns in small pieces so one prawns will have about 8-10 pieces) and cover and cook on low to medium heat for about 25 minutes, yes again please do not cut this time. Every 5-7 minutes, open the lid and turn the mixture around to make sure it doesn't stick to bottom) After 25 minutes of cooking add salt to this. Taste the prawns they should be nicely cooked by now. Now turn the gas on high and keep on turning the mixture till it gets dryish and almost 90% of the water is evaporated. You can sprinke this with coriander leaves if you like but I did not.

Now taste your creation and eat it with fresh chapaties and bless the Kolin from Alibaag who introduced me to such a lovely dish. Hope you like it and please do leave me a feedback.