Passport & Plate - Prawn Varai
Sri Lanka | Tuesday, March 3, 2015 | 1 photos
Ingredients
500g prawns, shelled and cleaned
150g grated coconut
2 tsp chilli powder
Pinch of turmeric powder
¼ tsp black peppers
½ tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 shallots, sliced
3 dried chillies, soaked and cut into 1cm lengths
Leaves from 1 sprig of curry leaves
How to prepare this recipe1. Steam the prawns until tender. Allow to cool and chop into little chunks, but do not mince.
2. Mix prawns with grated coconut, chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper, cumin powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok and fry the sliced shallots, dried chillies and curry leaves over medium heat until shallots are golden.
4. Add prawn mixture and fry, stirring constantly, until dry and coconut turns lightly golden, 12-18 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
The story behind this recipeI consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit Sri Lanka, and Jaffna especially, in August 2003 during a ceasefire in the country’s civil war. It was not the most comfortable trip I have been on as a journalist — travelling with 10 others in a cramped mini bus through the length and breadth of the island in as many days was tiring — but it was certainly an unforgettable one.
We were fed well on hotel food, but there was nothing special about it. Not until we got to Yarl Beach Inn in Jaffna. From the first meal — homemade onion fritters that were waiting for us when we got in after six hours on the bumpy A9 highway — to the baked stuffed crabs on our final night, Mr Siluvairasu, the proprietor and cook, made sure we had the most authentic Sri Lankan food on offer.
My favourite dish was served for dinner the first night. Shark varai is flaked shark meat cooked with grated coconut and spices. Mr Silu’s signature dish was deliciously ‘fishy’ but light enough that I could have polished it off on its own! To me, shark varai is Jaffna on a plate because it contains everything that the area is famous for.
If I thought I was fortunate to visit Sri Lanka then, I felt even luckier when I asked Mr Silu for his recipe and he obliged, giving me almost exact ingredient amounts to jot down It was only when I asked for a substitute for the shark that he hesitated. I knew why: as a proud cook who had perfected a dish he was well-known for, he wouldn’t change a thing. He finally said, ‘use prawns’.
Whenever I make prawn varai, I remember Mr Silu's story of how he had to leave Jaffna with just two changes of clothing when his guest house was destroyed in an aerial bombing which killed two of his family members, and how he returned during the ceasefire to rebuild it.
In the years since my visit, Sri Lanka faced war again and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. I am relieved that peace has returned and the country has recovered, but I hope very much that Mr Silu is well.
