A recipe destined for a summer barbecue
Grilled Butter Garlic Pepper Prawns
Along the Malabar Coast grilled seafood and bold, aromatic sauces have always been inseparable. Black pepper, one of the most storied spices to come out of Kerala, finds its way into everything: marinades, butters, into the kind of sauces that cling to a prawn and demand to be mopped up with whatever bread is closest to hand.
Our Butter Garlic Pepper Prawn recipe draws on all of that and translates it beautifully to a home grill or backyard barbecue.
The heart of the recipe is a brown butter: slowly cooked until nutty and golden, then loaded with garlic, crushed black pepper, green chilli and curry leaf. The prawns for this recipe are big Madagascan prawns, worth sourcing from a good fishmonger. Butterflied and grilled over fierce heat, the shell does the work of protecting the flesh as it cooks, taking on a faint char while everything inside stays sweet. Best eaten immediately.
If Madagascan prawns are not available, the recipe works equally well with smaller shell-on king prawns, crab or lobster.
Ingredients
Prawns
- 8 large tiger prawns (size 4 to 6). Ask your fishmonger to source these, or use smaller shell-on prawns, allowing 3 per person.
Brown Butter Emulsion
- 180g unsalted butter
- 80g water
- 30g garlic, finely chopped
- 8g crushed black peppercorns
- 5g green chilli, finely chopped
- 10g fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 6g curry leaves, chiffonade
- 30ml fresh lime juice
- 4g salt
To Serve
- 8 large butterflied tiger prawns
- 325g butter garlic pepper emulsion
- 5g Maldon salt
- 4 lime wedges
- 4 laccha paratha (optional)
- 20g chopped coriander
The Method
Prawns
Butterfly each prawn from the tip of the tail all the way to the head. Remove and discard the intestinal tract. Set aside until ready to grill.
Brown Butter Emulsion
Add the water to a pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Slowly whisk in the butter to form a loose emulsion. Add the garlic, chilli, peppercorns and curry leaves, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until the garlic softens and the flavours begin to open up. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice, salt and coriander.
To Serve
Get your BBQ as hot as it will go. You want the coals fierce and the grill very hot before the prawns go on. Place them directly on the grill and cook for 5 to 10 minutes depending on size, brushing generously with the butter sauce throughout. The shell will protect the flesh as it cooks; look for a faint char on the outside and flesh that is just opaque.
Season well with Maldon salt. Transfer to a large serving plate, cascade over the remaining sauce and scatter with fresh coriander. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges alongside and good bread for scooping.
A few notes
- If Madagascan prawns are not available, shell-on king prawns work beautifully. Allow 3 per person, and reduce the cooking time to 3 to 4 minutes.
- The sauce works equally well with crab or lobster. It is also wonderful spooned over grilled fish or roasted vegetables.
- The brown butter can be made ahead of time and gently rewarmed before serving. Laccha paratha is a natural partner for scooping, and can be found at most South Asian grocery stores. Warm flatbread or naan works just as well.
