Kamini Pather’s garam masala prawn risotto

YOU know her as the winner of

season 2 and intrepid foodie on Netflix’s but now you can finally bring Kamini’s hearty recipes into your own kitchen with her new e-cookbook,

SA

World.

Girl Eat World,

Serves 2 Cooking time: 30 minutes Chef’s Notes Buying prawns:

Girl

MasterChef

Eat Glocal: South African Indian Home Cooking.

Bon Appétit’s

With fans

like Sohla El-Waylly and

Sonia Chopra, you know you’re onto a good thing.

You can purchase your copy from Kamini’s website, likeharmony.co.za

GARAM MASALA PRAWN RISOTTO

I. Adore. Risotto. (So does my mum). Yes, it takes a bit of time to cook and you are standing over a pot while stirring but it’s also completely worth it. Risotto is the Milanese dish that I learnt while shooting

The addition of garam masala in the dish didn’t skip a beat. The Gruberg cheese, with its sweet, nutty flavour is the perfect compadre to these warm spices.

Eat

I prefer to buy whole prawns with their heads and shells on. The flavour is so much more pleasing and I save the heads for pesce stock.

Gruberg cheese: It’s South African Gruyere, to put it bluntly. It’s sweet and nutty but also packs a mature cheese flavour. You’re going to love it!

INGREDIENTS

750ml aromatic chicken broth 45ml olive oil

25g butter

1 garlic clove

1 white onion, diced 1 red chilli

2tsp salt

100g carnaroli rice

1tsp salt

80g gruberg cheese, grated ¼cup petit pois peas 2tsp garam masala

6 prawns, butterflied with veins removed, shells left on

DIRECTIONS

Add chicken broth to a small pot and place on a low heat. The broth shouldn’t boil but lightly simmer.

De-head, de-vein and butterfly the prawns. Toss in 1tsp of salt and 1tsp of garam masala.

In a heavy-based pan, melt 20g of butter with olive oil. (Yes, there is a lot of oil and fat but the risotto was not designed to be anything but indulgent. So lean into it).

Add the garlic, onion and chilli. Saute on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Don’t allow the onions or garlic to take any colour.

Add in the rice and stir through. You want to coat each grain of rice in the aromatics. Allow the grains to absorb the fat. You will know it’s ready when the edges of the rice grains turn glassy.

Add in the warm chicken broth in ladle fulls. The first ladle will bubble away quickly and be absorbed almost instantly. When it has been absorbed by the rice, add the next ladleful and stir between ladles. Continue until the broth is almost finished. When there is about a cup of broth left (eyeball it), taste the rice. The rice should be soft but still have a bite to it.

Add in the Gruberg cheese and petit pois. Taste again for salt.

In a frying pan, add in 5g of butter. Flash fry the prawns and set aside.

Divide the risotto between the plates. Shake the plates to dispense the risotto, which should be gliding across the plate. Arrange the prawns and microplane over a final garnish of Gruberg.

To serve: