Prawns Pickle/Chemmeen achar is a simple delicious pickle. The non-vegetarian pickles are typical of Malayali Christian and Muslim cuisine. Chemmeen in Malayalam refers to Prawns. Always use small prawns for preparing pickles.
Prawns Pickle is first fried and then tempered with spices and ingredients. I use coconut oil to fry prawns and sesame oil for tempering the pickle. Prawns Pickle goes well with any dish. Really it is a delicious side for rice or roti.
Check our other NON-Veg Recipes like Kanthari Fish Tawa Fry, Pepper Chicken, etc. Our dessert recipes like Caramel Custard Pudding, Cherupayar Parippu Payasam, etc.
Prawns Pickle/Chemmeen achar
Course: Sides, PicklesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy12
servings30
minutes20
minutes50
minutesHome made Chemmen achar in a simple and delicious way.
Ingredients
500 gms Prawns
3 tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 Green chilies chopped
1″ Ginger Chopped
1 Stalk Curry leaves
1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
2 head garlic
1 tablespoon red Chili powder
1 tablespoon Kashmiri red Chili powder
½ teaspoon Asafoetida powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup white vinegar
- For Marination
1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon red Chili powder
Directions
- De-shell, de-vein, and wash well the fresh prawns or if your using frozen then just thaw it and wash well.
- Combine turmeric powder, chili powder, and salt for marinating.
- Marinate the prawns for 1 hour by refrigerating.
- Heat coconut oil in a Pan, then shallow fry the shrimp until light brown. If you don’t prefer shallow frying, then deep fry it.
- Fry the prawns for 5 minutes both the sides. Drain the excess oil in the paper towel and keep it aside.
- Heat little oil from the fried shrimp pan , or use sesame oil /gingely oil /nalenna.
- Add the mustard seed, when it starts spluttering, add fenugreek seeds.
- Add the chopped garlic, ginger, green chilies into it, and reduce the fire over medium flame saute for a couple of minutes till the raw smell goes.
- Simmer the flame and add chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder, and mix well so that the chili powder does not get burnt.
- Add vinegar, asafoetida and mix well.
- Add in the fried shrimp/prawns and mix well, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Remove from the fire and allow to cool completely.
- Transfer it in an air tight glass jar or container without any gap.
Notes
- Use only a clean dry spoon to scoop the pickle from the jar. Do not use a wet spoon which adds moisture and the pickle very easily gets “fungus” and that spoils the whole pickle.
- Using sesame oil gives authentic & special flavor to the pickle and it helps the pickle stay longer.
- Adjust the number of green chilies and chili powder, according to your taste.
- For best results, keep the pickle undisturbed for 1 or 2 days for the flavor to develop.
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Directions
- De-shell, de-vein, and wash well the fresh prawns or if your using frozen then just thaw it and wash well.
- Combine turmeric powder, chili powder, and salt for marinating.
- Marinate the prawns for 1 hour by refrigerating.
- Heat coconut oil in a Pan, then shallow fry the shrimp until light brown. If you don’t prefer shallow frying, then deep fry it.
- Fry the prawns for 5 minutes on both sides. Drain the excess oil in the paper towel and keep it aside.
- Heat little oil from the fried shrimp pan, or use sesame oil /gingely oil /nalenna.
- Add the mustard seed, when it starts spluttering, add fenugreek seeds.
- Add the chopped garlic, ginger, green chilies into it, and reduce the fire over medium flame saute for a couple of minutes till the raw smell goes.
- Simmer the flame and add chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder and mix well so that the chili powder does not get burnt.
- Add vinegar, asafoetida, and mix well.
- Add in the fried shrimp/prawns and mix well, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Remove from the fire and allow to cool completely.
- Transfer it in an air tight glass jar or container without any gap.
