Prawn or Shrimp Fritters || Isso Wade

The other day I watched a south India based TV show chef making some awesome snack varieties popular in Chennai. He even called them "merasal" dishes (It's a colloquial Chennai term which means something like "Splendid"). I liked the way how he presented yellow pea fritters with a gravy and a dash of mint chutney... It seems to be a widely loved street food so much so that the chef himself recalled some of his childhood memories linked to that dish.

Similarly in Sri Lanka we have a lot of popular street food. When he demonstrated that said recipe, what came to my mind was, my super favorite Isso Wade which means prawn fritters. I think the famous phrase "finger lickin' good"  should be the ideal description for it. Galle face green is the place for it. It's not too expensive; They serve with finely chopped onions and chilli, and sometimes a spicy gravy is also added on request. I can proudly name it as one of the merasal street food of my country.

Number of Servings : 10 - 12 medium size fritters

Ingredients:

Fresh Prawn or Shrimp (cleaned, de-veined & shell on) - 1 1/2 Cup

Split Yellow Peas (kadalai paruppu) - 1 1/2 Cup

Grated Ginger - 1 Tbsp

Garlic - 3 Cloves

Small Onion/Shallots - 3

Dried Red Chilli - 5-6

Curry Leaves - A Sprig

Red Chilli Powder - 2 Tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 Tsp

All Purpose Flour as needed

Water as needed

Salt - to taste

Lime Juice as needed

Very finely chopped onion ad green chilli (Optional)

Oil for frying

Method:

1. Soak the split yellow peas in water for 3 hours. Once soaked well, drain the excess water and add ginger, garlic, onion, dried chilli and curry leaves. Take 5 prawns, remove the shell and add them in too. Mix everything and grind in a food processor adding no water at all. It should be ground to a semi-coarse consistency and NOT too fine.

2. Transfer the ground paste to a bowl. Add chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix well. If the paste is too crumbly and is not able to hold its shape, add few teaspoons of all purpose flour little by little. Mix well and set aside. 

3. Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and enough salt. Keep covered for 5-10 minutes.

4. Heat the oil in a pan. Meanwhile prepare a semi thick paste with flour and water. This is used to stick the prawns on the fritter.

5. Wet your palm. Take a big lemon sized ball of fritter mixture. Press it on your palm to make a thin patty. 

6. Now take 3 or 4 prawns. Dip them in the flour+water mixture one by one and stick on the patty.

7. Very gently drop it into the hot oil and let it fry undisturbed for a minute or so. Next, turn the other side and fry.

8. When you see it turning golden brown, remove from oil and place it on a kitchen paper towel or a steel colander to drain the excess oil. Repeat the same process with the rest too.

9. Squeeze some fresh lime and serve it hot right away or dress it with a generous amount of finely chopped onion and green chilli.

Notes:

*Click here to learn how to clean prawns or shrimps.

*I added few drops of orange food color to get that mouthwatering color. You can skip this if you do not like.

* Heat of the oil is very important. It should be neither boiling hot nor too cold. Just check the readiness by dropping few pinches of fritter mixture.