Gongura Prawns Recipe / Royyalu Gongura

Gongura and Avakaya deserve a special mention in Andhra cuisine and it’s difficult to find any one from this region who doesn’t like both of these. Among gongura recipes Gongura Pachadi, Gongura Prawns Recipe or Royyalu Gongura, Gongura Mutton and Gongura Chicken are very popular. Gongura or Sorrel leaves is known for its distinctive sour and tangy taste. It is also used in making the tangy pickle, in dals, and the rice based dish gongura pulihora…all of which just taste out of the world.

Gongura Prawns Recipe is an exotic dish which tantalises the taste-buds with flavours that are sour, salty and spicy all at once and makes you crave for more due to its unique taste. It’s basically prawns/shrimps cooked in gongura/sorrel leaves with a few spices. You can either prepare this as a dry or gravy version. Today I’m going to share the dry version of this recipe.

The highlight of this recipe is that it is a ZERO OIL RECIPE. Isn’t that awesome?

Gongura has high source of iron, vitamin C, folic acid and anti-oxidants essential for human nutrition. They are rich in calcium, zinc and Vitamin A.  In addition, it is also a very good source of riboflavin, another important B vitamin for cardiovascular health since it is necessary for the proper functioning of B6. There are two varieties of gongura – green leaves and red leaves, red leaves being more on the sour side.

Gongura Prawns Recipe is so simple to prepare and requires no oil. I will also give the option of uisng oil, but according to me the zero oil version tastes equally good. The gongura leaves are slightly cooked with onions, green chillies and red chilli powder. The prawns are seasoned with some spices and cooked. Finally both are mixed and nicely cooked till it’s done.

So friends, spell the magic with simple ingredients in this Gongura Prawns Recipe, which is sure to leave you drooling. I think I can eat this every single day and still not be satiated. Oh it’s delicious beyond words.

Step-by Step process for Gongura Prawns Recipe:

The process for Gongura Prawns Recipe involves 3 main steps and one optional step –

1. Prepare the gongura base
2. Prepare prawn curry base
3. Mix both to make royyalu gongura
4. Optional step for tempering

1. For the Gongura base:

• Pluck Gongura/Sorrel leaves and separate them from the stems. Discard the stems and wash the leaves twice or thrice to remove the dirt and soil from it. Drain the water well.
• First chop onions and green chillies required for Gongura base.

• Mix chopped onion, green chillies, red chilli powder, salt under the heading “For gongura base” along with Gongura/Sorrel leaves in a pan. Cook over medium heat till all the water evaporates.
• Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• You can use the same pan for further process.

2. For the Prawn base:

• Clean prawns and wash a few times with running water. Drain away all the water. I have used frozen raw shrimps.
• Chop onions and green chillies required for Prawn base.
• Take all the ingredients under the heading “For prawn gravy base”. Mix chopped onions, green chillies, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and prawns.
• Give it a nice stir and cook over medium heat till you get a thick gravy.

3. Gongura prawns:

• To the above cooked prawns, add in the cooked gongura from the first step.
• Give it a nice stir and cook on low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes so that the prawns absorb the tangy flavour of the Gongura.
• Turn off the heat and garnish with finely chopped coriander.

4. Tempering (Optional step):

• If you want you can finally temper with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. For this heat oil in a small pan over medium heat.
• Add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and cumin seeds, 3 to 4 crushed garlic pods and 2 dry red chillies.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter and the garlic turns light brown, add curry leaves and tun off the heat.
• Transfer the tempering to the Gongura Prawns and give it a nice stir and serve.
• I have not used any tempering in today’s recipe.
• If you would like to store it for 3 to 4 days, then it’s better to temper to increase the shelf life.

For those who are sea food lovers, Gongura Prawns comes as an excellent choice to tang up the weekend meal adding up to the much needed flavour and zing here.

Don’t be intimidated with the quantity of green chillies!! Trust me do not compromise on either the green chillies or the onions. This curry tastes best the next day after the prawns, inions and green chillies absorb all the flavours.

Try out this amazingly simple Gongura Prawns Recipe and satiate your taste buds.

Print Recipe

Gongura Prawns Recipe / Royyalu Gongura

Gongura Prawns Recipe, an exotic dish where prawns are cooked in tangy Gongura or Sorrel leaves along with spices to add up to the much needed flavour & zing.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 3 to 4

Author: Padma

Ingredients

• For Gongura base:
• 3 cups tightly packed Gongura/Sorrel leaves
• 3 to 4 Green Chillies
• 1 Medium Onion finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• For Prawn gravy base:
• 250 grams Prawns/Royyalu/Shrimps
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 5 to 6 Green Chillies
• 1 Medium Onion finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
• 1½ teaspoons Ginger Garlic Paste
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Other Ingredients:
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped Coriander

Instructions

• For the Gongura base:
• Mix all the ingredients under the section "For gongura base" in a pan and cook over medium heat till all the water evaporates.
• Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• For the Prawn gravy base:
• Mix all the ingredients under the section "For Prawn Curry".
• Give it a nice stir and cook over medium heat till it forms a thick gravy.
• For Gongura prawns:
• To the above cooked prawns, add in the cooked gongura from the first step.
• Give it a nice stir, and cook on low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes so that the prawns absorbs the tangy flavour of the Gongura. Adjust salt if required.
• Turn off the heat and garnish with finely chopped coriander.
• Optional step- Tempering:
• If you want you can finally temper with 2 tablespoons of oil. For this heat oil in a small pan over medium heat.
• Add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and cumin seeds, 3 to 4 crushed garlic pods and 2 dry red chillies.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter and the garlic turns brown, add curry leaves and tun off the heat.
• Transfer the tempering to the gongura prawns and give it a nice stir and serve.

Notes

1. This recipe required a lot of green chillies to balance out the tanginess of the gongura. Still if you wish you can green increase or decrease green chillies according to your taste.
2. The quantities of gongura leaves and the prawns is flexible. You can increase/decrease quantities of both. If you increase gongura, then you have proportionately balance out the tang with spice and salt..
3. When the gongura/sorrel leaves are cooked, it becomes very soft and reduces in volume.
4. Sorrel leaves with red stem have are sourer in taste than with green stem.
5. I have not used any tempering in today’s recipe.

Happy Cooking 🙂

Cheers!!

Padma.