Spicy Chettinad Prawn Masala / Chettinad Eral Masala

chettinad-prawn-masala

I don’t do much of prawn dishes at home as my husband is allergic to shell fish. But I love prawns. This recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala is my favorite. More than a decade ago, we were on an Air India flight to Mauritius for our honey moon. They had just served prawn curry for in flight meals and we were just casually talking and eating. He ate the bread and then went on to have a big bite of rice and the curry. Suddenly he started coughing. Coughing really badly and his eyes were all red. He did not realize that it was prawn curry and he told me that he was allergic to prawns. He was suffering. I froze for a minute. That was the first time I was seeing someone react to food allergy. I am severely allergic to pollen etc.. myself and so I carry anti-histamines with me all the time. He had one of those and he kind of became OK after a couple of hours. Poor guy. I love prawns. My son is kind of getting to like prawns nowadays. So I do it at home once in a while when my husband is travelling. Little perks of things when husband is not home. Prawns cook very fast and this Chettinad Prawn Masala is so easy to make. This dish can be put together in less than 20 minutes.

Use only sesame oil for this recipe. Add the curry leaves lavishly. The aroma of curry leaves fried in sesame oil is to die for in this Chettinad Prawn Masala.
Heat sesame oil (gingely oil / nallennai ) in a pan and add in the fennel seeds (sombu), cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.

chettinad-prawn-masala-onion

Add in the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.

chettinad-prawn-masala-spices

Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.

chettinad-prawn-masala-eral

Serve Chettinad Prawn Masala with some piping hot rice and a dollop of ghee. yum o yum!
This dish can also be served with thengai paal saadam   or  egg biryani.

chettinad-prawn-masala-recipe

Chettinad Prawn Masala is Ready.

Here is a printable recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala.

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chettinad-prawn-masala

Spicy Chettinad Prawn Masala / Chettinad Eral Masala

Recipe for Tamilnadu Chettinad style Prawn Masala. Spicy Eral masala Recipe. Easy Prawn Masala Recipe.

  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 3 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Main Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2 cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
  • 3 sprigs curry leaves
  • 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 250 grams prawns, cleaned and de-veined
  • 2 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped

Spice Powders

  • 1 teaspoon pepper powder
  • 1 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder

Instructions

  1. Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
  2. Add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
  3. Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
  • Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Tamilnadu

prawn-chet

79 thoughts on “Spicy Chettinad Prawn Masala / Chettinad Eral Masala”

  1. I’m really looking forward to making this Prawn Chettinad recipe – such positive reviews. I’ll be cooking for a party and will be making 1.5 kgs of prawns – do the ingredients increase in exact ratio or should I be toning down some of the spices?

  2. I made this yesterday for lunch to have with my leftovers Biriyani with no meat. Came out very well and tasty and easy. The color was not your color. May be the chili powder I have. Thank you.






  3. making prawns in only this recipe since i made it first time last year. Turns out yummy.






  4. This was delicious. First recipe I’ve tried from your site. I’ll definitely be returning for more.
    Thank you!






  5. Amazing Recipe. Tasted great and just loved it. I never thought I could make such Prawns at home !!The recipe is so flavourful. Thanks for sharing 🙂






  6. Thank you. I have just made it, but not tasted it.

    I am vegetarian, my mother is not.

    Just made it for her, without tasting, and she said it is perfect.

    She is 89, lives with me, but I dont want her to feel she is missing out.






  7. Hi ! If I want to substitute with chicken what quantity of chicken should I use and should I marinade it ?

  8. Kannamma’s Spicy chettinad prawn fry was just too good. I don’t usually use gingerly oil. But this I tried with gingerly oil. It enhanced the flavour of the masala. Thank u so much.






  9. Kannamma’s Spicy chettinad prawn fry was just too good. I don’t usually use gingerly oil. But this I tried with gingerly oil. It enhanced the flavour of the masala. Thank u so much.

  10. I have tried the recipe twice now and it turn of well. The taste is good. Thanks for the sharing the recipe. What I really like is so simple.. Fast to cook n delicious.






  11. Kannamma,
    Beautiful work on the blog!
    Please tell me if u are using whole cardamom or the cardamom seeds? Could not make out in the picture.

  12. Annette Paul

    I have made this recipe, it came out quite well, my family, especially my son loved it






  13. Sherry Weber

    I have been searching for a Spicy Prawn Masala especially one from South India. Am thrilled I came upon your page Thank you for this recipe that sounds straight forward and so delicious. Am about to try it out.

    I just love the format of the printable page as well. Thank you again.

  14. Lourdes Louis

    Your chettinad prawn fry is really very tasty and goes well with lemon rice.

    Lourdes Tirouvanziam Louis

    Author of PONDICHERY KITCHEN A WESTLAND PUBLICATION






    1. Dear Madam, I am a great great fan of your book. It brings me so much joy to know that you have visited my space here. This means a lot to me. Thank you so much. You made my day!!!!

  15. Aravinth Sekar

    Dear Sis,

    I’m Cook in offshore field rig. i had tried your recipe it was fabulous. thank you. if any other recipes do you have like this plz mail me in [email protected].






  16. Hi Suguna,

    Just tried out the Chittanad Prawn Masala and it came out super!!

    Thank You!

    Regards,
    Krish.

  17. Just loved this simple recipe and we have done this the II time! It turned out just awesome both the times! Thanks for this delicious recipe! psst. have stocked up on prawns just to make this thokku again & again 🙂

    1. Tried this recipe today using cooked/frozen shrimp and it turned out delicious 🙂






  18. I tried this dish today, n it cane out very nicely my kids loved it so much. Thankyou very much for sharing this recipe






  19. I tried this today with coconut oil instead of gingerly oil. It came out nicely. Not very spicy, but tasted awesome with white rice






  20. I chanced upon your website a few months back while searching for a nice prawn recipe and boy am I glad I ended up on this page. I luckily saved the recipe but never got the time to try it. Today was the lucky day I guess. This recipe is out of the world. I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to this recipe. Everybody loved it at home. I would definitely try more recipes from your page.

  21. I tried today.. It cane out superb.. 🙂 but i used sunflower oil, since gingelly oil was not handy.. But superb.. Thank u soooo much 🙂






  22. Samuel Wankhade

    Hi Suguna, I attempted this recipe for my wife and father and it worked out very well. those pictures tempted me to cook and yes, it’s the first time we tried sesame oil. We are maharastrians in bangalore so it was a different experience. Took your suggestion and had it with egg biryani; sadly I couldn’t taste it as I am allergic to shell fishes but family loved it.






  23. I tried the Chettinad Prawn Masala and it turned out superb. My family members really loved this delicious recipe. Thanks a lot for the recipe.






  24. Tried this recipe today and it was a big success. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.






  25. This sounds awesome! Cannot wait to try it out. I feel sad for those with food allergies, they miss out on some great food!






  26. Michelle Pederson

    Hi Kannamma. This turned out delicious. Could you recommend a vegetable side dish to go with it?

    Thanks!






  27. I tried out this prawn masala today and it came out very delicious and reminded me of my mom’s cooking. Thanks a lot for the recipe!!!

  28. Nandhini mani

    Tried this recipe and it came out awesome and really tasty.. felt like eating a dish in a restaurant.. my husband loved it so much.. we both love shrimp dishes so much.. This is the first time I am trying at home and the result was amazing.. Thank u so much Suguna for the dish..






  29. Hi Suguna,

    Can we use cooked shrimp (Frozen) in this recipe? When I tried with Cooked shrimp, it became so watery. Please advise.






  30. I made prawns for d first time with this recipe and this came really tasty.. gave me confidence to cook more of it.. another thank you and a salute !

  31. Hi. Tried this prawn masala. Came out so tasty. Thank you!!
    Hope to see more prawn dishes from you 🙂






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