Fried prawn, curry leaf and leek khichdi, spiced prawn jus

This is a recipe from my well worn Rasoi: New Indian Kitchen cookbook by Vineet Bhatia.  A couple of minor differences, I used Omani prawns rather than lobster and I used leek in the khichdi instead of broccoli.

This dish is superb.  The sauce is simply heaven made with prawn heads.  I assume it'd be just as gorgeous with lobster shell as the base.

I fried the prawns in their shells once the heads were removed (for the sauce stock) and I had cut down the back to remove the goop.  The shells were soft so completely edible (love prawn shells and prawn heads for that matter...) once they'd been shallow fried.  The finishing touch by the way and recommended by Mr Bhatia is a sprinkling of roasted crushed curry leaf mixed with decent quality cocoa powder.  The slight bitter added depth that I wouldn't ever considered doing myself. Culinary brilliance.

A heady combination of balanced indian spice with the essence of seafood.  Delicious.