Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Dried Shrimps

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On 25/07/2009 05:07pm, Winton wrote:

Dear Mamta,

You recommended a recipe a while back using dried shrimps. I've now managed to track down my dried shrimps but now of course have forgotten what the recipe was! Doh!

Please can you kindly remind me what it was likely to have been? Thanks

On 25/07/2009 08:07pm, AskCy wrote:

I've just done a quick search of the recipes and come up with -

wonton (dumpling) noodle soup which has dry shrimp in the ingredients

also -

Thai Curry Paste thats using a shrmip paste

I you click on the SEARCH link above and simply type "shrimp" it will bring up several recipes using the shrimp paste as well.

hope this helps

Steve

On 25/07/2009 09:07pm, Mamta wrote:

Hello Winton

It was probably Prawn Balchao.

Mamta

On 25/07/2009 10:07pm, Winton wrote:

Thanks Mamta, that's the one!

Now got everything except the Nigella Seeds, will have a scout round tomorrow, if I can't find can I substitute anything else?

On 25/07/2009 11:07pm, Mamta wrote:

Yes, try mustard seeds. the flavour will be slightly different, but acceptable.

On 26/07/2009 09:07am, AskCy wrote:

Ah! hidden under the guise of "dry prawns" ! LOL

Steve

On 26/07/2009 12:07pm, Kavey wrote:

Mum have edited the prawn balchao to read dry prawn/ shrimps - is that OK?

On 26/07/2009 12:07pm, Lapis wrote:

there is very often confusion between shrimp and prawns. Firstly, they are different animals (several different genera and species of each). BUT, the confusion is one of language. Shrimps are not just 'small prawns'. I have seen prawns as big as a large fist, and they are usually graded according to size by allocating a number (between 0 and 100, I think), the smaller the number the larger the prawn.

The confusion is probably due to some people calling prawns shrimp, when they are in fact prawns. This is most prevalent in the US, where shrimp almost without fail refer to prawns.

Then there is confusion over the types of prawn and shrimp, most are sea water species, but some are found in brakish water, and even fresh water. In the UK, we have all varieties, but AFAIK, only sea water types are consumed in any quantity.

The main differences between prawns and shrimp, at least as far as 'construction' is concerned, is that they have a different number of claws, and the body plates overlap differently between the two. As for taste, I've only had Morecambe Bay shrimp (sold cooked, and found in a local Lake District street market); they are enjoyable, but no substitute for prawns, IMHO.

As for dried shrimp/prawns, these are most likely prawns. There is a paste used in SE Asia, called Blachan, which like some other food products, tastes (and smells) disgusting, but seems to be an essential ingredient in SE Asian cuisine. I have a small pot in the fridge.

HTH

On 26/07/2009 12:07pm, Winton wrote:

Apparently the United Nations needed to catalogue the difference between prawns and shrimps. They concluded:

"we may say that in Great Britain the term 'shrimp' is the more general of the two, and is the only term used for Crangonidae names and most smaller species. 'Prawn' is the more special of the two names, being used for Palaemonidae and larger forms, never for the very small ones.

In North America the name 'prawn' is practically obsolete and is almost entirely replaced by the word 'shrimp' (used even for the largest species, which may be called 'jumbo shrimp'). If the word 'prawn' is used at all in America it is attached to small species."

LOL!

I'd certainly call the dried crustaceans from Oriental supermarkets 'shrimps.'

On 26/07/2009 05:07pm, Mamta wrote:

Yes Kav, that is absolutely fine. By the way, I was looking at your pictures of jams and jellies on your blog, they are very nice. You should take mine out and post yours!

That is very interesting Lapis. I understood that tiny prawns are called shrimp, except in USA, where all are shrimps. They have this habit of changing our English words ;-) LOL, like a lollypop is called a ?sucker?, I tell you!

The dry shrimps/prawns smell disgusting when you buy them, but the pickle is really quite tasty, I was taken by surprise first time I made it. Balcaho is made differently in many countries and its name is also spelt differently. I always compare them to asafoetida, disgusting to smell when raw, but add flavour when added to hot oil for ?tarka?.

On 26/07/2009 06:07pm, Lapis wrote:

just shows you that even The United Nations haven't a clue, either. They are talking about common parlance, whereas there is a scientific definition, which, had the UN bothered to consult, may have been able to sort it all out. However, knowing of the complete intransigence of most Americans, we can expect the confusion to continue.

I take issue with one thing the UN has said, in the UK (note they say GB, which does not include N. Ireland, wonder why!) that shrimp is the norm . I would argue that prawn is the norm in the UK (it is in Indian restaurants!) and shrimp are thought of (incorrectly) as little prawns.

However, whatever it says on the packet, I would think either would surfice, generally.

On 26/07/2009 09:07pm, Winton wrote:

Agree Lapis, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN are right in 'shrimp' being the US generic term, but wrong for the British definition which is Prawn not shrimp. (It wasn't a typo on my part.)

What hope is for them negotiating World Peace when they can't even differentiate between a shrimp and a prawn!

On 30/07/2009 06:07pm, Winton wrote:

Finally think I have found Nigella/Kalonji seeds masquerading as 'Black Onion Seeds.' They are the same thing aren't they?!

On 30/07/2009 08:07pm, Mamta wrote:

They are not really onion seeds but are often called so mistakenly. I used to think they were the same, so you may find them as onion seeds in a few older recipes. If you see that, please let me know.

Mamta

On 30/07/2009 08:07pm, Winton wrote:

Another naming minefield! The misinformation came on the back of a jar of Schwartz Black Onion Seed "also known as Nigella or Kalonji"!!

Would the black onion seeds however be a better substitute for Nigella seeds than black mustard seeds for the Prawn Balchao Pickle?

On 31/07/2009 06:07am, Mamta wrote:

The thing is that I still get confused between Allium (onion) and Nigella sativa. I think I will ask this question on BBC messaae board garden section later (opend after 10 I think). Many gardeners visit there and may be we will have a difinite answer! Perhaps Lapis will see the thread and answer.

On 31/07/2009 05:07pm, Winton wrote:

Reading around it seems that poor Nigella seeds/Kalonji must have a complete identity crisis as they get erroneously called everything under the sun, from black onion seeds, black cumin, black sesame to black caraway plus a whole lot more.

To be a nigella seed it must come from the Nigella Sativa plant (Ranunculacea family;) onion seeds from the allium family, true black cumin from Bunium Persicum etc...

Given it supposedly has a wide range of health benefits you'd have thought there would have been a narrowing of the wide variety of names as it seems unless you are an expert you could be getting anything in the jar!

On 31/07/2009 08:07pm, Mamta wrote:

You see, I know that onion is allium and kalaunji is nigella, but even chefs describe nigella as onion seeds at times and that is where lies the confusion!

On 01/08/2009 09:08am, Lapis wrote:

I wouldn't ask a gardener, they may have been the origin of the confusion in the first place!

OK, this is a definitive answer.

We do not eat onions seeds. Full stop.

We do eat Nigella sativa seeds, which are called kalonji in India.

Some people have mistaken nigella seeds for onion seeds, because they look similar. Many older (and not so old) books on SE Asian cookery continued the misidentification because the authors knew no different.

Other confusions are as follows:

black cumin seed is Bunium Persicum, it is not a true cumin, it is definitely not caraway. In Bengal, sometimes, kalonji is called black cumin!!

tej patta is the leaf from a cassia tree, it is not a bay leaf, which is from temperate and subtropical Europe. Its flavour is like cassia, itself like cinnamon, whereas bay leaves are similar to green cardamom.

Dal chini refers to cassia, an open bark of the cassia tree, and is similar in flavour to cinnamon, which is normally sold as tight quills. Even in India, cassia is sold as cinnamon, as it is in Europe and the US.

Lovage is not the same as carom or ajwain. Lovage has a flavour of celery, carom has a flavour of thyme.

Other examples may come to mind, eventually ;?)

On 01/08/2009 12:08pm, Mamta wrote:

Thank you for that Lapis. I knew about cassia and cinnamon. In India, most people actually do not know that what they are useing is cassia, not cinnamon, except perhaps in southern India, where it grows. I only discovered the difference here in UK.

I also know about jeera and kala jeera difference.

Now tejpatta info. that you have given is new on me. I have always understood these to be leaves of Laurus nobilis L., see http://www.indianspices.com/html/s062jbay.htm . I have one in my garden and I use its leaves all the time.

On 01/08/2009 02:08pm, Lapis wrote:

hello Mamta,

of cousre, tej patta has been used in Indian cooking as long as bay has been in Mediterranean cooking. Though it is interesting that he Romans knew of tej patta, they called it malabathrum, maybe a connection with the Malabar coast?

Like many confusions in Indian/English names, when more recent European travellers came across tej patta in India, they no doubt thought of their European equivalent, and called it bay. Either that, or cook book authors thought of the nearest equivalent, I know not.

But it is interesting to note that the tej patta leaf is said to have a flavour similar to its tree's bark, that is cassia, although species may vary. So, if you have cassia (or even true cinnamon) in your dish as an ingredient, you don't need tej patta. Likewise, bay contains the same main flavouring as green cardamom, that is cineol (also known as eucalyptol), so if you have green cardamom in your dish, no need to add bay leaf. This doesn't take into account minor flavourings, which may, indeed be different, but the tej patta that I've found in the UK is not very strongly flavoured, and rather lost in a dish!

On 02/08/2009 06:08am, Mamta wrote:

That is very interesting. It is true that the bay leaf here is less flavoursome than I remember it from my mums cooking.

So, could one use use Eucalyptus leaves in cooking, instead of bay leaves?

On 02/08/2009 10:08am, Lapis wrote:

it isn't bay, Mamta, its cassia leaf!!

I would stay with a bay leaf, why import all the way from Australia?? I know they grow here, too, but there are so many different kinds (as there are Bay, most of which are toxic!! after all, they are a member of the laurel family ....laurel nobilis, the ones they hung around the knecks of winners of sports, and of the same botanical family as the Britich laurel, which contains cyanide!).

I don't use either in Indian cooking, and as I use home made coarsely ground garam masala, any subtlety from tej patta would be swamped!

On 02/08/2009 11:08am, Winton wrote:

Intrigued as to the culinary uses of Eucalyptus leaves, as I have seen them for sale on Indian cooking websites (also my Father has a tree in the UK, and there are several Australian contributors to this site.)

It sounds rather medicinal to me, like adding a teaspoon of Vicks vapour rub to your curry!

On 07/08/2009 12:08am, Winton wrote:

Dear Mamta,

I finally made the Prawn Balcao Pickle. I made it in Mustard Oil and it is delicious! I could not resist having a few ladle fulls on plain rice while it was still hot, yum yum.

Think the recipe method needs an addition as it says to add the chopped half of chopped prawns at stage 7 but doesn't say when to add the non-chopped half. I just guessed and added them half way through the ten minute simmering time which to seemed work fine.

On 07/08/2009 06:08am, Mamta wrote:

Thanks Winton, corrected :-).

Mamta

On 07/08/2009 10:08am, Winton wrote:

Ahh Mamta, the advantage of having a global team of recipe testers who can give feedback in such an accessible way!

Having made the pickle what uses do you recommend? I have had it on rice; would be good on bread/toast and just as a condiment on the table to 'pep up' any dish?

Also what would be the best minimum/maximum keeping times? It is just I can see several difficult Christmas presents being solved by Prawn Balchao Pickle!

Read that although originally a Goan dish (hence the heavy use of vinegar!) it also has a long history in Cochin where the fishermen would live off it during the monsoon season, when it was too dangerous to put to sea.

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