Shrimp Mozambique is a dish of Portuguese and African origin made with Peri Peri chilli, a variety of bird chilli. A spicy, tangy, buttery sauce and juicy shrimp, it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. I serve it with white rice as a main course and sometimes throw in green peas into the rice so the meal has vegetables in it. As an appetiser you can serve it with a variety of dipping breads.

Choose your peri peri, also spelt piri piri sauce carefully. Taste it for salt, sugar and spiciness before you prepare the dish. this way you can adjust seasonings. I use a mild one because you can build up the spiciness to your taste by adding cayenne pepper or a fresh bird chilli into the sauce. You need red chilli powder to enhance the colour of the sauce as most Peri Peri sauces have a pinkish colour. Use a thick sauce with body not a thin liquid one. To create a quick shrimp stock use the leftover heads from your shrimp you can boil them with some smashed garlic cloves in a pot of water.

Cream is not traditional in a shrimp Mozambique but it helps alleviate the spiciness for some and brings a silken richness to the sauce.

Ingredients serves 4-5

For the Sauce

1 cup mild, thick Peri Peri Sauce (Nando’s, Habanero, Veeba, Sprig)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup shrimp stock plus 1-1.25 cups for the shrimp

1 cup soft, fresh crumbs of white sandwich bread, blitzed in a food processor

3 garlic cloves peeled

1 teaspoon fresh powdered black pepper

For the prawns/shrimp

500 grams extra-large shrimp (40-50 per kg weight is 500 grams after cleaning ), peeled, deveined, and tails on

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup finely sliced onion

6 garlic cloves, sliced wafer thin

1 cup dry white wine or blonde beer (lager)

2-3 teaspoons paprika or Bedgi or Mathania chilli powder

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon sugar or to taste

Salt to taste

1/2 cup thick cream (optional)

METHOD

For the sauce: Blitz all ingredients in a mixer until smooth. Reserve.

For the prawns or shrimp: Heat oil in a wide approximately 12-inch round or 10 inch oval saucepan or skillet on a medium flame. When oil is warm add onion and lower flame. Stir and cook until soft and opaque, do not brown onions. Add the sliced garlic and one teaspoon salt and cook until garlic is soft and aromatic, stirring constantly to prevent browning. Add 3/4 cup stock and wine or beer and boil on high heat until volume has reduced to half.

Reduce flame to low and add the blitzed peri peri sauce mix. Stir well and continue to cook until thickened about 2 minutes. Stir in sugar. Add more stock and a little wine or beer if the sauce thickens too much.

Add shrimp. Lay them down flat one next to the other so they all cook evenly. Turn them over as they cook if required. When shrimp are just done stir in butter into the sauce and incorporate evenly into the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with plain white rice, sliced baguette, French bread, Kadak pao, sourdough or ladi pao.

Hara Bhara meaning ‘packed with greens’ is a vegetarian kebab made with several fresh green vegetables like peas and spinach and lightly pan fried. You can omit the cashews in this recipe, even the paneer filling if you prefer a vegan version. The key is to use fresh vegetables, process them so you retain the colour and spice delicately so as not to over power the flavours of delicious vegetables. Watch IGTV @deshpandetara for the recipe video

INGREDIENTS Makes 12 2 inch Hara Bhara Kebabs

2 cups of fresh cooked spinach, drained

1.5 cups of cooked (preferably blanched) fresh or frozen green peas

1 loosely packed cup of coriander or cilantro leaves, stalks removed

2-3 Indian green chillies coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon chana dal or yellow Bengal gram

2 tablespoons of unsalted cashew pieces

FOR TEMPERING

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil plus more for frying

1 tablespoon of ghee or oil

2 whole green cardamom

3 whole cloves

1/4 inch stick cinnamon

1-2 tsp of good quality mild, lighter coloured garam masala

1/4 teaspoon powdered seeds of green cardamom

Half a cup of fresh paneer crumbled and rolled into 12 small balls

Salt to taste

FOR FRYING

2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy bottom non stick skillet

1.5 cups of breadcrumbs plus 1.5 tablespoons

Paste made with 1/4 cup cornflour and a little water

METHOD

Toast the cashews in a skillet until golden on a medium flame. Cool and chop into small pieces. Reserve.

Toast the chana dal until golden brown in a skillet on medium flame. Cool and powder. Reserve.

Heat oil and ghee in the skillet on a high flame. Add spices for tempering and saute one minute until fragrant. Drain and discard spices and lower flame to medium. Add the spinach to the spiced oil and saute lightly 1 minute stirring to prevent burning. Add the garlic and ginger paste and saute 2 minutes.

Add green chillies, garam masala, coriander leaves and cardamom powder. Saute well.

Add the peas and saute 1-2 minutes until there is no liquid left in the spinach and all the spices and oil are evenly incorporated. Overcooking will affect the colour of the vegetables.

Salt to taste.

Blitz in a food processor to a coarse consistency. Do not puree into a paste.

You want a chunky consistency that holds together when you form the kebabs.

Manually mix in the roasted channa flour and roll into 10-12 kebabs. Taste for salt and adjust.

Flatten each kebab in your hand and place a small ball of the paneer in the centre. Close the spinach dough around it so as to completely conceal the paneer.

Lightly dip into the cornflour paste and then gently press into the breadcrumbs to coat evenly. Repeat with all the other 11 balls.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a skillet on medium flame.When oil is hot but not smoking fry 5-6 kebabs at a time until golden brown on all sides.

Drain over paper towels. Serve hot.

Makes 6, 4.5 inch long cutlets 

Ingredients

400 grams shelled and cleaned
medium small to medium prawns 40-50 per kg), washed and drained 
250 grams of boiled peeled and mashed potatoes 
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
1/2 cup finely chopped red onions
2-3 Indian green chillies finely chopped or to taste
2 tablespoons garlic and ginger paste 
1/2 tsp turmeric powder 
1/2 tsp chilli powder 
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder 
1/4 cup finely chopped mint leaves 
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves 
2 tbsp hot and sweet sauce or to taste
Or use 1 tsp vinegar and 2 tbsp ketchup and 1 tsp sugar 
1.5 cups breadcrumbs 
3 eggs beaten 
Salt to taste 
Lime wedges to serve 

Method

Peel and mash your potatoes only when you are ready to prepare the cutlets.

Heat oil in a wide saucepan on high heat. Add onions and green chillies and sauté till soft about 3 minutes . Add garlic ginger paste and sauté about two minutes, scraping the bottom to prevent burning.  
Add the prawns, turmeric, powdered coriander, cumin, hot and sweet sauce mint leaves. and stir well about 3-5 minutes until prawns are just short of being cooked through. 
Put this prawn mixture in a food processor, add 1.5 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and blitz a few times till the mixture is mushy. Do not turn it into a paste. You want a chunky mixture. 
Remove into a mixing bowl and stir in potatoes, 2 tsp salt, chopped coriander and mix well. 
Shape one small 2 inch ball to test the flavours. Later you can make yours round or oval and any size you want. Small balls for appetisers and larger cutlets for a main course. Roll the small ball in egg then dip to coat in breadcrumbs. Roll in eggs again and back into the breadcrumbs to coat completely. 
Heat 2 inches of oil in a large saucepan on high heat. When oil is hot but not allowing lower heat to medium and fry one cutlet until golden brown on all sides. Taste for seasoning and adjust the rest of the prawn ‘dough’ before making the remaining cutlets. Coat in egg wash and crumbs and fry in hot oil. Serve with potato chips, green salad, boiled veggies, mashed potatoes