Topic: Input Needed: Best way to Marinate King Prawn Tikka

[joshallen2k]

Hi All,

I've been trying for years to recreate the King Prawn Tikka I used to get from my local BIR. They were very large (almost small lobster tail size) and you would get about 4 or 5 in a TA portion. They would literally melt in your mouth they were so tender.

Whenever I've made KP TIkka at home, no matter how large the prawns, they have always ended up much tougher than what I remember.

I read somewhere that shrimp should not be marinated in acidic ingredients (yoghurt, lemon juice...) for very long, or it goes tough.

Just wondering what others do to marinate KP Tikka? I use Blade's tikka recipe on chicken. I'm wondering if I should eliminate the lemon juice (instead a squeeze before serving) and cut down the marination time.

Anyone else wrestled with this? And better yet, anyone found a marination technique for Prawns that gets that BIR texture.

Thanks,
Josh

[haldi]

I've seen King Prawns cooked at two takeaways
They both used frozen and raw king prawns.
Before cooking they looked a grey colour
They were simply deep fried and added to the cooking curry
There was no marinading involved at all
I've read recipes for marinading them, but I don't know a takeaway that does that

[joshallen2k]

Thanks Haldi.

Deep frying, that's a new one for prawns going into a curry. May have to try that.

What I was really getting at was Tikka prawns. These must be marinated so some extent, no?

-- Josh

[haldi]

Thanks Haldi.

Deep frying, that's a new one for prawns going into a curry. May have to try that.

What I was really getting at was Tikka prawns. These must be marinated so some extent, no?

-- Josh

It's only the king prawns that are deep fried and that is because they are bought uncooked.
These are big, you might only get eight in a curry portion.
I don't think that takeaways/restaurants marinade normal sized prawns.
They come out of a bag & they run water through them until they are thawed out a bit.
Then they squeeze some of the water out of the prawns & add them to the curry.
Perhaps some of the classy places marinade prawns but I have never seen or heard of it

[Unclebuck]

Hi All,

I've been trying for years to recreate the King Prawn Tikka I used to get from my local BIR. They were very large (almost small lobster tail size) and you would get about 4 or 5 in a TA portion. They would literally melt in your mouth they were so tender.
Whenever I've made KP TIkka at home, no matter how large the prawns, they have always ended up much tougher than what I remember.
I read somewhere that shrimp should not be marinated in acidic ingredients (yoghurt, lemon juice...) for very long, or it goes tough.
Just wondering what others do to marinate KP Tikka? I use Blade's tikka recipe on chicken. I'm wondering if I should eliminate the lemon juice (instead a squeeze before serving) and cut down the marination time.
Anyone else wrestled with this? And better yet, anyone found a marination technique for Prawns that gets that BIR texture.
Thanks,
Josh

Hi J,

Lemon in the first part of Blades Tikka recipe is for de-greasing the chicken which helps marinading.

This is what i do -

- blades Tikka no lemon.

- fresh KP's.

- marinade in fridge for a few hours.

- skewer up and BBQ quickly high heat [ideal tandoor]

- serve with crunchy salad and fresh lemon.

They would literally melt in your mouth they were so tender.
Whenever I've made KP Tikka at home, no matter how large the prawns, they have always ended up much tougher than what I remember

Cooking quickly at high heat is key the longer KP's cook the tougher they get... Yummy KP Tikka 

[joshallen2k]

Thanks Guys.

Will post pics later.

-- Josh

[haldi]

These must be marinated so some extent, no?
-- Josh

Sorry Josh
          It sounds like UB has come across this, and I may have misled you.
I guess it must be done (although not at my local haunts)
In fact I could even try this in my tandoor
It sounds like you need to be really quick though
I find tandoor cooking very inconsistant
You have to keep testing if things are cooked
Sometimes the tandoor heat is so intense, other times it's much cooler
This isn't due to the time the gas is on, it's more to do with how cold a day it is
I suppose if I was cooking all evening it would make no odds, but I cook for only about two hours