Shrimp is one of my favourites. So is coconut. Here, in Kerala, almost all dishes have coconut in them. Coconut gives a beautiful savoury kind of sweetness to any dish. Coconuts are extremely versatile. They’re great in savoury dishes as well as in desserts. Coking with coconut is also very simple. You can use almost any part of the coconut. The shell can be used for plating, the flesh in puddings and in curries, and the coconut milk as a substitute for dairy in almost all recipes. For this recipe, I used desiccated coconut as I didn’t want any extra liquid from the fresh coconut. Also, the desiccated coconut has a very delicate flavour to it.
The recipe for this is very similar to the onion rings, except, I have used coconut here for the extra flavour.
First, in a bowl, make the desiccated coconut mix- Flour, coconut, bread crumbs, salt and pepper.
In a plastic bag or a mixing bowl, add in some flour, salt and pepper. I prefer a plastic bag because it is easier to coat all the shrimp with it. Add the shrimps and coat in the flour mixture.
Take out the shrimp on a plate and keep aside. Add in some water to the plastic bag with the flour to make a thick pancake like batter. Put the shrimps back in, 5-6 at a time. Coat well in the batter and transfer it to the coconut breadcrumbs mixture.
Refrigerate the shrimp for 15 minutes to let the coating stick to the shrimps.
Deep fry the shrimps and serve with any condiments like a spicy sriracha mayo, or sweet chilli dip.
I made a taco with some homemade flour tortillas, pineapple salsa, and sriracha mayo.
For the Pineapple salsa, I mixed chopped pineapple, green chillies, coriander, pepper, salt and lemon juice. For my quick sriracha mayo, I just mixed in some mayo with sriracha sauce.
Recipe
Coconut shrimp:
Flour- 1 Cup + 1/4 Cup
Salt- To taste
Pepper- To taste
Bread Crumbs- 1/2 Cup
Desiccated coconut- 3/4 Cup
Prawns- 250 grams
Pineapple Salsa:
Pineapple- 1/2 cup, chopped
Coriander leaves- 4-5 sprigs
lemon juice- 3 tablespoon
Green chilli- 2, chopped
Sale and pepper- To taste
For the coconut shrimp, Mix together bread crumbs, 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper and desiccated coconut. Keep it aside. In another bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, salt, and pepper. Coat the prawns in this mix and keep it aside. In the same flour mix, add 1/2- 3/4 cup water to make it a thick batter. Add the shrimps back in and coat them in the batter. Take it out and put it in the bowl with the desiccated coconut and breadcrumbs mix. Coat well in that mix and refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Deep fry them shrimps and serve with some mayonnaise or sweet chilli dip.
You can also make a taco with these shrimp. Roll the deep fried shrimp in some tortillas, top off with mayo and salsa.
For the pineapple salsa, Mix together all the ingredients.
NOTE:
You can even oven bake these shrimps. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Lay the crumb coated shrimp on an oiled baking sheet in one layer. Drizzle some oil over the top and bake for 25 minutes, turning once in between.
-ISHANI SHENOY- 